The definitive definition of the professional standard of care remains “…in all the work done for the client, the architect or engineer owes a duty to exercise the skill, care, and diligence which may reasonably be expected of a person of ordinary competence, measured by the professional standard of the time.”

The quoted excerpt comes from The Canadian Law of Architecture and Engineering by Beverley M. McLachlin and Wilfred J. Wallace (Toronto: Butterworths, 1987). (McLachlin went on to become the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Canada.)

Since this is the duty of care required at law, it is what a professional liability insurance policy covers. Agreeing to or requiring anything more than this may result in the exclusion of professional liability coverage.

Consistent with the Architects Act, the OAA 600 contract states the Architect or Licensed Technologist OAA shall “exercise such professional skill and care as would be provided by Architects practicing in the same area in the same or similar locality under similar circumstances”. The standard of care does not require performing services perfectly.

Voltaire said that “perfection is the enemy of good.” Similarly, we suggest that perfection in architecture is the enemy of quality design and expression. Typically, we are hired by clients because of our ability to give expression and quality to the buildings we design. It is still our professional responsibility to develop our projects with the skill and care noted above. For more information, you can refer to the Quality Management (Chapter 5.4) section of the Third Edition of the Canadian Handbook of Practice (CHOP).

It is important we have a standard of care conversation with our clients, especially when they are new or inexperienced at the initiation of a project (ideally, prior to signing the contract) in order to adjust or establish appropriate expectations. This would include expectations of perfection, or that Architects or Licensed Technologists OAA will pay for the construction costs attributed to errors, omissions, or coordination issues.

This short reflection was written in response to a call from a member on the OAA’s Hotline. The member had been asked by a client to be responsible for paying for addressing changes attributed to lack of perfection on a multimillion-dollar project.