digital data disclaimer

How does this sound?

The attached electronic document is an instrument of service prepared by Eastham & Associates and is being provided solely as a convenience to the user. Eastham & Associates makes no representation regarding fitness for any particular purpose or suitability for use with any software or hardware. Due to the easily alterable nature of electronic documents, through either intentional or unintentional means, Eastham & Associates does not make any express or implied warranty for the accuracy or completeness of this information. Hard copies (i.e., prints, paper copies, etc.) shall prevail in any dispute over accuracy or sufficiency of electronic documents. This information is proprietary and shall not be copied or used for any purpose not authorized in writing by Eastham & Associates. By and through its use of the information contained hereon, the user agrees to indemnify and hold Eastham & Associates harmless from any loss, damage, liability or cost, including reasonable attorney's fees, arising from any use or reuse of any electronic document or information.

Not to sound like a smart a$$ or anything, but on a project of this scale you'd probably be better served running it by your attorney and insurance carrier rather than a bunch of surveyors on a message board. Just sayin'

I agree with James F. but here is the one we use:

Date:________________

Project or parcel:____________________

Data:________________________________

The electronic data being transferred is the property of ******. The data is for informational purposes only.

******* makes no representation as to the completeness or accuracy of the Data and any reliance thereon or use thereof by any individual or any entity shall be at such party’s sole risk. Moreover any entity or party which chooses to rely upon or use this data agrees to accept full responsibility for such use or reliance and, to the fullest extent permitted by law, to indemnify and hold ******* harmless for any and all liabilities in any way arising from or relating to the use of or reliance on the Data.

I have received the Data and accept its’ use based on the above conditions.

The undersigned further agrees that he/it will not give the Data to any third party.

____________________________
Signature

____________________________
Print Name

As an aside, what I generally do is provide the digital files to the client for them to distribute. As part of the original contract, the client would have agreed to the following:

Client agrees not to use or permit any other person to use instruments of service prepared by Consultant which are not final and/or which are not signed and sealed by Consultant. Client shall be responsible for any such use of non-final instruments of service and/or other documents not signed and sealed by Consultant. Client hereby waives any claim for liability against Consultant for such use.

i stole this one from someone years ago on the old board:

ELECTRONIC FILES
RELEASE FORM

Date:
Re:
File No.

Dear

Enclosed is the electronic file(s) or data which you have requested with regard to the above referenced project. Please be aware, however, that later revisions may have been made to the plan or plans and may not be reflected in the data, which you are being sent. As such, we are not responsible for the information on the provided disc, CD or electronic transfer files. The user has the obligation to confirm that the data you have been sent is consistent with the latest revised, final signed and sealed drawings.

The electronic file or magnetic media, are being provided to you as a courtesy. The information contained herein is proprietary in nature and may only be utilized for the current project. All drawing information contained herein including, but not limited to, symbol libraries, blocks, details, etc., may not be reproduced, sold, distributed or utilized in any form on other projects without the expressed written permission of Perry S. Williams LLC.

Due to the unsecured nature of electronic files and the inability of the originator to establish controls over the use of these electronic files; Perry S. Williams LLC assumes no responsibility for any consequences arising out of the misuse of this data. It is the sole responsibility of the user to check the validity of all information contained therein. The user shall at all times refer to the latest revised, final signed and sealed drawings.

Please contact our office if you should have any questions regarding the data, which you have received.

Very truly yours,

For the Firm

I understand and accept the foregoing terms and conditions.

SIGNATURE

Check your email

in our contracts we reserve ownership of all digital data and all plans
we would share, but we would writeblock just the information depicted on the finish plans

do not give them your traverse, monument locations or other underlying information
make those underbidding SOBs work for their meager monies! of course, if there is a relationship with this outfit, you can provide the information, but if not DON'T

i had one where we knew it would be a beast of a project
we were underbid
the other surveyor had the audacity to call me and ask about the old GPS disk (he called it a benchmark even though it was off vertically by 0.25') located near the site. a snowplow wiped it out two years before. i offered to give him another for a fee and he declined.

In this day and age, does anyone create PAPER Plans that a surveyor could actually stake out a project of that scope? Seriously, I can't recall the last time I saw a set of plans that had enough information on them for construction without use of the electronic data.

Assuming that is the case, how much liability do you think can be limited by these statements?

I agree. I had an engineering company that would not release their cad file. After about 5 phone calls placed 10 minutes apart asking for dimensions for layout because the plans lacked the proper information, the file was sent to me. 😉

"In this day and age, does anyone create PAPER Plans that a surveyor could actually stake out a project of that scope? Seriously, I can't recall the last time I saw a set of plans that had enough information on them for construction without use of the electronic data."

My firm does...

Assuming that is the case, how much liability do you think can be limited by these statements?

Ask your attorney and/or insurance agent.

I hear that Andy,,,

Most of the time I'm seeing what engineers these days call "bid documents"...
Most young "engineers/designers" aren't getting good mentoring on how to
produce a construction plan set anymore.

Guess they cost too much to provide to the client these days. Then, turn around and blame all that extra calculation time and expense on those darn surveyors..... riiiggghhhtttt.... Engineers are the "hero" again for keeping their costs down by not doing the work.

Mind you, they're not ALL like this, but I'm seeing a disturbing trend.

I've even seen one that tells his "employees/designers/(young)engineers" he supervises to take all that detailed construction information off their plan sets.
Reason? "It makes it look too complicated, and the bids come in too high"....

And he's still "mentoring" 4 engineering design work teams..... Priceless

Disclaimers on either side of the fence have unfortunately become all too neccessary these days... sad lack of good work and accountability these days.....

Job security??

> What type of disclaimer should go along with these plans?

Whatever wording you use as a disclaimer (actually, you want to word it as a hold harmless - use at your own risk thing) make sure you make a password zip file of the data. Have a statement pop up when anyone attempts to open the zip file (It can be done) that basically says that by using the password the end user is agreeing to hold you harmless and etc etc.

> What type of disclaimer should go along with these plans?
Rather than focusing on the disclaimer, we should be focusing on providing a product that will meet the needs of the one relying upon it. The best protection from liability is to do your best to ensure that the person who will rely upon the drawing can do so easily and without a need for "converting" the data.

Sure, I can provide an electronic drawing file. How would you like that? .pdf? .dwg? .dgn? .xyz? .***? What layering standard would you like? What standard symbols would you like? All of those questions have specific answers to the one relying upon the data. They all have costs associated as well.

We make money by providing a product that meets the needs of our client. Your client contract should already cover the scope of work and the limitation of liability clauses. All you should need to do at this point is determine the format of the product and how much value it brings to the client.

Your client wants a product? Provide a product designed to meet their needs and provide a product that will mean less chance of problem for everyone relying upon it. That will lessen your liability more than a disclaimer ever will.

JBS

Yeah for JB. Completely agree. I abhor those long winded disclaimers. In fact, I don't like any of them.

True story. I did a topo for a proposed restaurant. The engineer accepted the AutoCAD drawing and used it. After the site was built the city wanted me to mark up the plans for the record drawing. All standard, all known in advance to all parties. A week later the engineer's office was still fussing over what to give me, what disclaimer to use, etc. I pointed out that I didn't run them through the mill when they wanted the topo drawing, fast. Ten days later one of the high mucky-mucks returned from somewhere and said, "Just give it to him."

I agree as well. If a CAD file is done properly, there should be no worries about sending it out or using it (with checks) for construction. I share my files with design professionals all the time, and get them in return. I can't control what they do with them any more than I can stop them from misreading a paper file or making copies at Kinkos all day long. I put a red note on my PDF files that its not a valid survey without signature and raised seal (Florida Law). If I send a cad file, I always reference it as "for your review" .

> <> writeblock just the information depicted on the finish plans
>
>

I see this as a major key to the problems most people have...
I have been in several offices where someone would turn off or freeze all those working layers, then just send it off.
The folks on the other end globally thaw it all and work from the etch a sketch data! Duh!

Of course a better practice is to use Xrefs and not include final data in the production drawings or final surveys... but that is over the heads and skill levels of many.

===
In my opinion, drawings that are not full and complete for full construction without outside data are simply Crap. What if the designer/surveyor is not available (or capable and willing) to provide that data? All you have provided to the client is very expensive toilet paper.

Pulling numbers off of Cad Drawings with out checking the printed stations and offsets/coordinates? Those kids with that Black Box magic will be the end of us all.

/rant :-X

Use a digital signature. When the original drawing is edited, your signature is removed thus allowing you to prove that the data was manipulated if it comes to the need.

John