Get any contracts reviewed by your company legal council before submittal and especially before signing.

This should especially include liability, indemnity, insurance, and liquidated damages clauses.

Tagged with: legal

Filed under: Contract

Work on the assumption that anything you put in the project file may some day be looked at in a court of law.

Be careful with every document, photo, memo, drawing, email that is put in the project folder. Make sure it is something that you would be happy for anyone to see.

Don’t put project instructions in the same email as a personal note.

If you want to congratulate a client on a personal topic for example the birth of a child), do not also include project information, questions or instructions in that same email. Send a completely separate email, even if it just a moment later. It is important to separate these, as project related correspondence may and probably should by filed in the project file.

Tagged with: correspondence • email • legal

Filed under: Documentation

Copy notes or minutes of meetings with the client to the client. Don’t just keep them in the project file.

This is important for legal reasons, as you can then prove that the client was informed.

Keep a record of when and to whom the documents were sent to.
Get confirmation (email or writing) that they were received.

Tagged with: legal • meetings • minutes • records

Filed under: Client • Communication • Documentation

Don’t admit to errors or omissions until you consult with a proper internal team (managers, project director, financial, legal).

If you are admitting an error, make sure it is actually you or your company at fault and not the client or contractor.

However, don’t waste a lot of resources on the above if it is a small mistake on your company’s part and can be fixed easily, cheaply and with no other ramifications. (e.g. you specified table E flange on one pipe but pump to match it comes with table D flange, this may be only $100 to fix, you should make sure that as project manager you have the authority to authorize small fixes like this quickly and easily).

Tagged with: errors • legal

Filed under: Contract