Continue to Site

Eng-Tips is the largest engineering community on the Internet

Intelligent Work Forums for Engineering Professionals

Register Log in
  • Congratulations waross on being selected by the Eng-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!

E&O Coverage for Government Engineers? 2

Status
Not open for further replies.
caenright

caenright

Civil/Environmental
Feb 28, 2018
15
Hello all,

I am a somewhat freshly licensed PE working for a State DOT. I'm about to be moved into the PE-1 pay grade, so it will be a part of my job description to sign and seal drawings and specs for our construction projects. The question that shows up in my mind is if I need any sort of professional liability or E&O insurance. Arguably the state does not have any such insurance, and is simply covered by a governmental immunity law, but should I as an individual engineer have my own coverage? It doesn't seem inexpensive, so it's not straightforward if it's worth it.

We don't have any given policy to guide us as individuals, and most of the other licensed engineers in my workgroup haven't been involved in delivering designs in quite some time.

Any thoughts or advice? Thanks!
 
Replies continue below

Recommended for you

Sort by date Sort by votes
Your office probably has some interaction with a state attorney's office for legal counsel when the need arises. You may ask a supervisor about information to set up a 15 minute meeting with that office to verify the immunity law covers you. Or you could consult with a private attorney. A few in my area will do a basic 30-60 minute consultation for $100 (no work product/deliverables).

Do you have an employee manual specific to professional employees? Does it mention anything about immunity or indemnification?

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
caenright: Going after individual engineers in a lawsuit is pretty rare, and would only happen under very narrow circumstances which go well beyond making a mistake. I have never even heard of a case of it, though lawsuits against companies happen all the time. Occasionally individuals do buy their own insurance however, and again I have never heard of it actually protecting them.

As an individual you don't have a lot of assets, and those assets you do have are hard to go after. Insurance actually makes you more of a target in that respect bc the lawyers know how to get paid.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
caenright said:
I am a somewhat freshly licensed PE working for a State DOT
...should I as an individual engineer have my own coverage?.
Click to expand...

Read what the General Counsel for the National Society of Professional Engineers has to say on this subject: Liability of Employed Engineers

Here is an excerpt:

Insurance-_NSPE-600_pr26qi.png

Insurance-600_a0vswk.png


I worked for a quasi-state agency, sealed drawings on rare occasions, never had E&O insurance, and have never lost one second of sleep for having done so. What you decide depends on your risk tolerance.

[idea]
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
@SRE...exactly right as usual! When I grow up I want to be like you![lol]

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Thank you all! @SRE - solid information and a good source, thank you for sharing.

-----------------------------
Chris Enright
PE, Colorado
Roads and Trains
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

racookpe1978
  • Locked
  • Question
GA PE & LS Board: Contact Changes Effective May 2024
Replies
3
Views
998
racookpe1978
racookpe1978
XR250
  • Question
Tech. Gathering Data for a PE
Replies
12
Views
2K
gte447f
gte447f
pittguy12
  • Locked
  • Question
Charging for CAD / Electronic files 2
Replies
10
Views
775
gte447f
gte447f
sheafromme
  • Question
How to find a PE for consult and stamping of tower plans
Replies
6
Views
5K
CWB1
CWB1
jwilliamsonpe
  • Locked
  • Question
List of Professional Engineers by Discipline
Replies
3
Views
403
kaeinc
kaeinc

Part and Inventory Search

Sponsor

Back
Top Bottom