Do you need insurance to work as a consultant if you don't sign or seal anything?

[civil-nj]

I quit my civil engineering job recently with the intention of getting into another field. In the meantime I received an unsolicited offer to work part time for a friend of the family's as a civil engineer, probably for just a few months. I could use the extra cash while I figure out my next move and am somewhat interested.

The company is mech/electrical, and I would be the only civil consultant for a few projects. I just passed the Civil PE and don't have a seal or license number yet, but even if I did I doubt I would be willing to sign or seal anything. I don't think they even know I passed the exam yet, so I don't think they were expecting me to anyway.

Do I need to carry any kind of insurance to work for them, even if I'm not signing and sealing any documents? What happens if I screw something up? Can they sue me?

 

[udpolo15]

define "they" (clients, company?).

it all depends on the nature of your arrangement with the company. I would get an indemnification clause in your contract, but you still may want to carry some insurance on your own. you probably want to get some kind of legal advice.

Also, I am not sure what kind of work you are doing for them. if the projects are only 10-20K for instance, your need for insurance is probably less than if you are providing them advice on million dollar projects. i would be willing to "self insure" for the 10-20K project, but probably not a million dollar one.

 

[civil-nj]

define "they" (clients, company?).

By "they" I mean both client and company, along with anyone else who might think it would be fun to sue civil-nj.

it all depends on the nature of your arrangement with the company. I would get an indemnification clause in your contract, but you still may want to carry some insurance on your own. you probably want to get some kind of legal advice.

I don't know yet whether I'd be a consultant with a contract or a part time employee on their payroll. I assume a consultant would need to carry insurance and an employee would be covered under the company policy. But I'm just guessing here.

The company is not in civil engineering, so they don't have a civil PE on staff. Maybe I wouldn't be covered under their insurance for that reason? Are insurance policies discipline-specific?

Also, I am not sure what kind of work you are doing for them. if the projects are only 10-20K for instance, your need for insurance is probably less than if you are providing them advice on million dollar projects. i would be willing to "self insure" for the 10-20K project, but probably not a million dollar one.

I'm not sure what type of work I'd be doing either! Not yet, anyway. I'll be sitting down with them to get more details soon, I just wanted to see what the verdict was on insurance first since it could be a deal-breaker.

Since we're not talking about a ton of work here, I'm wondering if it might not be worth my time if they want me to act as a consultant because of the time and effort spent to get legal counsel, insurance, etc. Also, I'm not looking to set up shop as a consultant long term. I'm hoping to move into a different field altogether.

 

[sehad]

I would find out more information on what type of work. My uncle did this, but his extent was design of concrete slabs, pipe sizing, erosion control measures, rehab of floor slabs, etc...Something of this nature is really not the taste of "sue" happy people. If you're designing public buildings of any type, anything the public will be in or around on a regular basis I would ask them about their insurance. Maybe an agreement signed by both stating that if you get sued by someone having to deal with a design you did while working with them, they will cover the costs of defending you.

They may or may not want to do this. But just my thoughts