Scheduling, Compliance, And Liaison Tasks Under The Professional Services Exclusion

Although a construction manager's scheduling and liaison responsibilities do not require specialized training, such tasks may be sufficiently related to the actor's other roles to be excluded from coverage under a liability policy's Professional Services exclusion, the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held.

In Colony Insurance Company v. Coastal Construction Management, LLC, et al., the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a grant of judgment on the pleadings for Colony Insurance Company, finding that the insurer did not owe a duty to defend its insured construction manager for underlying construction defect claims under a commercial general liability policy.¹ The court found that 1) the professional services exclusion at issue was not ambiguous, 2) it could not separate "scheduling and liaison tasks" from construction management tasks, and 3) "compliance" issues were excluded under the professional services exclusion as a matter of law. Interestingly, it does