From ASME San Francisco Section October 1997 Newsletter:

Small Business Report: October 1997
by Eric E. Worrell, P.E., Small Business Committee Chair, ASME Region IX and San Francisco Section

This column, past editions, upcoming small business events, The Small Business and Consultants Referral List and more are on the web at http://www.ccnet.com/~eew/asmesfsb/.

In September, I mentioned small business initiatives at the ASME National Level. This month we'll take a look at ASME Region IX efforts.

In this newsletter, you have seen what San Francisco Section has going for small business. Our neighbor to the south, Santa Clara Valley Section is kicking off their efforts on October 17, with Patent Attorney Steve Beyer's talk on "Patenting Your Invention." On November 12, Elza Minor, Director of the Small Business Development Center in Sunnyvale will discuss SBDC programs. Look for more info elsewhere in this newsletter. (In November, this Small Business Report will talk about SBDC offerings and Small Business Incubators in the Bay Area.)

Small Business outreach and support efforts in Region IX are being led by Region IX Industrial Relations Chair Joann Heberer , and Region IX Professional Development Chair Fred Barez .

At the August 3 Regional Operating Board Meeting, a Small Business breakout section discussed, ways to better serve ASME members in small business and to connect them with other small business support, such as small business partnerships in NIST. Feedback from local section Industry Breakfasts is also being used to guide efforts. Keep and eye out for details on Region IX Small Business Forums in Los Angeles on December 7, 1996 and in the San Francisco Bay Area on April 5, 1997.

On the professional development side, Fred Barez has been working hard to provide affordable and accessible continuing education programs for Region IX members. Check the sidebar for details on the ten courses planned at the time of this writing.

If you missed the September 25 Section Meeting, you missed a great talk by Attorney Robert Lueck of Boornazian, Jensen and Garthe in Walnut Creek. Key points follow:

In the 16 years since he began specializing in construction and insurance defense litigation, Bob has been close witness to increasing litigiousness of our society. In the early 70's, it was very difficult to get an engineer and other professional to testify against a colleaugue. Now we have engineers specializing in litigation advertising their services while the working engineer must carefully practice "risk avoidance" to avoid the trap of an unintended meaning in the wording of a contract.

Bob emphasized care in wording and performing contracts to avoid legal risks ranging from "ordinary negligence", which requires no expert to recognize, to "negligence per se" which allows a finding of negligence for practically any failure to adhere to even a small point of law, code, standard or regulation regarding engineering practice. Especially with building codes, economic constraints conflict with the need to check details carefully to guard against negligence per se. In some cases, grandfather clauses give some protection. In others, products will be measured against non-mandatory, non-governmental standards.

Carefully define the service that you are to perform. Make it clear who agreed to what. If the firm offers a service that is not part of a given contract, the contract should detail that exclusion. In joint ventures and subcontract situations, clear language to assign or indemnify against liability risk needs to be included. Contract and insurance paperwork has to be complete before work starts for this language to be valid.

Language should be tempered to avoid "warranty language" that promises compliance with a given standard as opposed to meeting a prevailing standard of care. For example, use "observe" or "monitor" instead of "inspect", "supervise"or "certify". Exceptions need to be in the contract, not a note or addendum on page 21 of the plans. Document decisions and communications.

In summary, avoid lawyers when you can, but be aware that an ounce of prevention beats a pound of cure -- budget a contract review early.

At the time of this writing, the Small Business Web Page is still under construction, having not been ready before my drive back to Maryland for my 20 year high school reunion (some surprises, a lot of fun.) Keep eyes peeled on the Section Page for an active link or drop me an e-mail for the address. As always, if you have comments or input for small business activities, this column or the small business web site, please contact me at: Eric E. Worrell, P.E., The Ergonomic Energy Works, PO Box 271923, Concord, CA 94527-1923, Phone/Fax (510) 689-4579, .

Affordable and Accessible Continuing Education comes to Region IX!!!. Contact Fred Barez at Tel: 408-924-4298 e-mail: if you are interested in any of the following Region IX Professional Development Courses. For updates, check the Region IX Calendar on the Web at http://www.primenet.com/~asmer9/.

All courses are from 9:00AM to 4:00PM.
Fee schedule is $60 for members, $90 for non-members and $20 for students.
All San Jose courses are at San Jose State University except otherwise noted.
All Los Angeles courses are at Loyola Marymount University except otherwise noted.

PD9-961 Using the Internet and Creating Websites
San Jose 19 October 1996
PD9-962 How to Market Programs, Products, and Services for Engineers
San Jose 26 October 1996
PD9-963 PC Based Solids Modeling
San Jose 2 November 1996
PD9-964 PC Based CAD/FEA for Mechanical Engineers
San Jose 9 November 1996
PD9-965 Management Skills
Los Angeles 23 November 1996
PD9-966 Vibration-Based Semiconductor Product Characterization
San Jose 7 December 1996
PD9-977 Microprocessors for Mechanical Engineers
San Jose 25 January 1997
PD9-978 ASME Codes & Standards Process Overview
Los Angeles 1 February 1997
PD9-979 ISO 9000 Quality Standards
San Jose 8 February 1997
PD9-9710 Electronics for Mechanical Engineers
Los Angeles 29 March 1997

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