Expert Witness in Standard of Care
Bernstein & Associates, Architects, through its principal William N. Bernstein, AIA, has provided expert witness services for standard of care for the design and construction industries. Attorneys litigating cases that involve alleged professional negligence, errors and omissions, design defects, construction defects, or failure to meet the standards expected of a qualified design or construction professional require an expert witness architect who understands both the technical requirements of the profession and the practical realities of how those requirements are applied in the design and construction of real projects.
About Standard of Care
In the design and construction industries, standard of care refers to the degree of skill, care, and diligence that a reasonably prudent design professional or construction professional, practicing in the same locality and at the same time, would have exercised under similar circumstances. It is the benchmark against which the performance of architects, engineers, contractors, and construction managers is measured in cases of alleged professional negligence. Standard of care is not a guarantee of a perfect outcome or a defect-free project — it is a measure of conduct, and is established by reference to the customary practices of the profession, the applicable codes and regulations (for example, the New York City Building Code and the International Building Code), published industry standards (AIA documents, ConsensusDocs, ASTM standards, and others), the requirements of the contract, and the body of professional literature and education in the field. Disputes commonly arise when a project experiences a defect, delay, cost overrun, or failure, and a party alleges that the responsible design or construction professional did not meet the standard of care expected of a reasonably qualified practitioner.
Expert Witness Services Related to Standard of Care
Expert witness services in standard of care matters typically include a careful review of the project documents (drawings, specifications, contracts, change orders, correspondence, RFIs, submittals, and meeting minutes), evaluation of the professional services actually performed against the contractual scope of work, comparison of the work performed against the customary practices of the profession and the applicable codes and standards, and the preparation of clear, well-supported opinions regarding whether the design or construction professional met, exceeded, or fell below the standard of care, and the relationship between any such deficiency and the damages claimed. An effective standard of care expert witness must be able to explain professional practice, contractual scope, and technical requirements in plain language to judges, juries, arbitrators, and mediators, and must have the credentials, written record, and courtroom-ready communication skills to render credible opinions.
Mr. Bernstein is Yale-trained, NCARB-certified, LEED-accredited, registered architect. He has expertise in architectural design, engineering design, and construction as the founder/owner of an architectural firm, Bernstein & Associates, Architects, (1990-present) and as the founder/owner of a construction project management firm, Empire Projects, Inc. (2003-Present). He has been the expert witness (as of May 2026) on (40) cases involving design and construction (2006-present) across the United States and Internationally.
Contact
Please contact Bernstein & Associates, Architects, regarding expert witness services for standard of care for design and construction