North Carolina Lawyers who handle professional liability claims in the construction context

LRRC represents individual homeowners, homeowners associations, commercial owners, and general contractors in claims against engineers, architects, and surveyors. North Carolina law imposes a duty upon architects, engineers, and surveyors to exercise the ability, care, and skill customarily used by such professionals. Importantly, there is no requirement for a person to have a contract with an engineer, architect, or surveyor to file a lawsuit against them for their negligence. Rather, the standard is whether it is reasonably foreseeable that the person filing the lawsuit would rely on the engineer, architect, or surveyor to perform services in a reasonable and professional manner. Often times, engineers, architects, and surveyors maintain what is known as "errors and omissions" insurance to protect themselves in the event they act in a negligent manner while performing their work. Our law firm strives to maximize your recovery against these design professionals.

The practice of engineering in North Carolina is defined as any service or creative work, the adequate performance of which requires engineering education, training, and experience, in the application of special knowledge of the mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences to such services or creative work as consultation, investigation, evaluation, planning, and design of engineering works and systems, planning the use of land and water, engineering surveys, and the observation of construction for the purposes of assuring compliance with drawings and specifications, including the consultation, investigation, evaluation, planning, and design for either private or public use, in connection with any utilities, structures, buildings, machines, equipment, processes, work systems, projects, and industrial or consumer products or equipment of a mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic or thermal nature, insofar as they involve safeguarding life, health or property, and including such other professional services as may be necessary to the planning, progress and completion of any engineering services.

Any person who practices any branch of the profession of engineering; or who holds oneself out as being a professional engineer; or who does perform any engineering service or work, or any other service designated by the practitioner which is recognized as engineering; shall be considered engaged in the practice of engineering under North Carolina law.

North Carolina defines the practice of architecture as performing or offering to perform or holding oneself out as legally qualified to perform professional services in connection with the design, construction, enlargement or alteration of buildings, including consultations, investigations, evaluations, preliminary studies, the preparation of plans, specifications and contract documents, administration of construction contracts and related services or combination of services in connection with the design and construction of buildings, regardless of whether these services are performed in person or as the directing head of an office or organization.

In North Carolina, the practice of surveying is defined as providing professional services such as consultation, investigation, testimony, evaluation, planning, mapping, assembling, and interpreting reliable scientific measurements and information relative to the location, size, shape, or physical features of the earth, improvements on the earth, the space above the earth, or any part of the earth, whether the gathering of information for the providing of these services is accomplished by conventional ground measurements, by aerial photography, by global positioning via satellites, or by a combination of any of these methods, and the utilization and development of these facts and interpretations into an orderly survey map, plan, report, description, or project.

If you have a potential claim against an engineer, architect, surveyor, or someone who held himself or herself out as an engineer, architect, or surveyor, call Lea, Rhine & Rosbrugh, P.L.L.C. at 910-772-9960 or toll free 866-772-9960 or submit an online questionnaire. The initial consultation is free of charge. A lawsuit must be filed before an applicable expiration date, so please call right away to ensure that you protect your rights.