Professionals tend to get caught up in construction disputes, no
matter their involvement in the project. Much of the reason is that
provisions of the Civil Code of Quebec make engineers and
architects particularly vulnerable to lawsuits when they have
directed or supervised work. With the rise in the number of
construction disputes over the years, these professionals have
first-hand experience with growing liability risks in the current
project environment, where it is more a matter of "when"
you will be sued, rather than "if" you will be.
There have been other changes that have had an impact on
defending against legal actions for professional liability. On
January 1st, 2016, reforms to the Code of Civil Procedure
came into force, with new rules governing the use of a joint expert
to promote access to justice, and reduce costs and
delays1. Now courts can impose a joint expertise on the
parties, but ironically this can have the unintended effect of
making the legal
