• 2009 ASCE Hawaii Section Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award and Transportation Project of the Year - The New Saddle Road (Ala Mauna) Highway 200 [front page]
• 2nd Annual Homecoming Celebration - November 4, 2009 [page 2]
• Nominations accepted for HCES Young Engineer 2010 [page 2]
• Nominations accepted for 2010 HSPE Engineer of the Year Award [page 3]
• National Engineers Week Sponsorship Opportunities - February 14-20, 2010 [page 3]
• ASCE Hawaii Section News [page 4]
• ASCE Hawaii Section November Dinner Meeting [page 4]
• ASCE Hawaii Section Younger Member Forum News [page 4]
• Know Your ASCE History [page 5]

Dear ASCE Members:

Karen Hong of Finance Insurance, Ltd. has been very active in the past years in educating engineering firm principles about professional liability.  She was instrumental in the successful lobbying effort to revise the “defend” clause in the State of Hawaii General Conditions language.  Below is an email from Karen warning us about the new Express State Permit (ESP) process. 

Aloha,
Mike Hunnemann
ASCE Hawaii Section President
 

Dear Design Professional,

If you do State projects for DAGS, DOE, DOT or DHHL, there some projects that may be done under the new Express State Permit (ESP) procedure process. This procedure was created by the C&C of Honolulu Dept. of Planning and Permitting (DPP) to expedite the permitting process for certain State projects that may be subject to federal and state economic stimulus initiatives.  Essentially, what will happen is that the State department head will sign-off that this project will meet code and a permit will be issued.  Construction could start before a permit is issued.  For the State to do this, there are requirements to have the A/E's provide the following:  "Certificate prepared by the architect and/or engineer, certifying that to the best of his knowledge, the construction complies with the applicable codes and the intent and design specified in the permitted documents." 

I would like to remind you that professional liability policies exclude coverage for express certifications and warranties and that the standard of care usually requires that the project be in general conformance and you are not responsible for the actual construction of the project. 

In addition, the ESP process requires that the A/E seal or stamp the as-built construction plans.  As this is not normally your responsibility, and you are not usually present to observe every step of construction, your stamp on the as-builts will create additional risk that would normally be the contractors.

There are other problems associated with the ESP process, but these two are of the most concern where it affects your insurance coverage.

I urge you to visit the DPP website and review the ESP requirements.  The State will be requiring that you agree to the ESP process to qualify for these projects.  There is already an amendment posted on DAGS website at 

http://hawaii.gov/pwd/Members/PWD_admin/profsvcs_09-10

The link to DPP is http://www.honoluludpp.org   The ESP links are on the bottom right hand side of the page.

I recommend you consider the risks carefully and voice your concerns about this new procedure.  Please note that representatives of ACECH and AIA have met with the State on this matter but the parties have not been able to reach an equitable solution.  The State is waiting for responses from the consultants to see if there are enough firms willing to do ESP work (August 5, 2009 response deadline).

Aloha,
Karen Hong
Finance Insurance, Ltd.
khong@financeinsurance.com
Ph. 808.522.2095
Fax. 808.522.5592

Dr. Amadei is an internationally renowned engineer and humanitarian, and will speak at the reception on the role of engineers in solving global humanitarian problems. The EWB-UH Student Chapter wants to be sure to have a good turnout for this event. Please join ACECH in supporting their efforts; they are very enthusiastic and are doing a great job of organizing the event. If you or your firm is interested, sponsorship opportunities are also available.

• May 28-29, 2009  Seattle, WA - Structural Condition Assessment of Existing Structures (Structural)
• June 18-19, 2009  Salt Lake City, UT - Earthquake Induced Ground Motions (Structural/Geotechnical)
• June 25-26, 2009  Seattle, WA - Design of Cold Formed Steel Structures (Structural)
• July 8-10, 2009  Portland, OR - Dam Breach Analysis using the Hydrologic Engineering Center’s River Analysis System HEC-RAS (Hydraulics)
• July 9-10, 2009  Portland, OR - Design and Renovation of Wood Structures (Structural)
• July 16-17, 2009  Seattle, WA - Deep Foundations: Design, Construction and Quality Control (Geotechnical)
• August 13-14, 2009  Portland, OR - Construction Administration for Engineers (Construction)
• August 13-14, 2009  Portland, OR - Financial Management for the Professional Engineer (Management)
• August 13-14, 2009  Portland, OR - Storm Sewer System Design using SWMM (Hydraulics)
• August 14, 2009  Seattle, WA - Seismic Design of Liquid Storage Tanks (Structural)
• September 10-11, 2009 Seattle, WA - Bridge Condition Assessment and Performance Monitoring- NEW! (Structural)
• September 10-11, 2009 Las Vegas, NV - Design of Lateral Force Resisting Systems Using the 2006 International Building Code (Structural)
• September 17-18, 2009 Las Vegas, NV - Earth Retaining Structures Selection, Design, Construction and Inspection (Geotechnical)
• September 24-25, 2009 Las Vegas, NV - Liability of Engineers: How to Stay out of Trouble (Management)

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Kelly Jarvis, Continuing Education Registrar at kjarvis@asce.org.