Masonry Magazine May 2008 Page. 38
CONSULTING
Whereas a consultant is usually brought in as a problem solver, the field inspector is more like a warranty for the owner, showing that he is getting the construction he paid for. When the inspector is on site, he will, for example, check to assure materials are up to code while he is taking samples.
"Code, remember, is the minimum criteria," says Miller. "You may have something better than the code that's required. The inspector will pick that up."
There also can be structural observation, which is done by a design consultant during critical stages of a project. After the observation, the consultant files a report based on what was seen. If there are any problems, the consultant typically goes to the general contractor before he moves on to the next phase, so the problem can be corrected.
Most states have laws requiring a consultant to be brought into a project if the construction is larger than a pre-set square footage or span.
What the consultant is inspecting depends on the job. Johnson likes to walk the site and observe everything that is happening, and then he will discuss the problem at hand. Most consultants agree that they're almost always called into a job too late. Often, the consultant is the last resort before the problem is turned over to lawyers for litigation.
"My goal as a consultant is to avoid litigation," says Johnson. "By the time the problem reaches the attorneys, everyone has lost. There is no solution that is going to be a compromise anymore."
In a perfect world, he adds, the consultant would be brought in during the design phase to assure the design is right from the beginning, not after construction has begun. Or, Painter adds, if you aren't going to bring the consultant in at the beginning of the project, he should be called the moment someone notices and identifies a problem, rather than trying to rectify or ignore the problem.
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Ask An Expert
Understanding Workers' Comp Insurance
C. Allen Bradley, Jr.
President and CEO
AMERISAFE
Masonry: How are rates determined for workers' compensation insurance?
Bradley: Every state has a "statistical agent." In many states, this is the National Council of Compensation Insurance (NCCI). Insurance companies and self-insured employers report loss and payroll information by job description (class code) to the statistical agent who develops a loss cost (LC) per $100 of payroll. This LC is the anticipated cost of losses for each job description and serves as the building block for rates in most states.
Some states, like Florida and Wisconsin, publish premium rates that all insurers must use. However, in most states, the regulatory body approves the LC for each job description. Those states allow carriers to obtain an approved loss cost multiplier (LCM) to cover the overhead cost for their services: safety services, claims handling, investigation costs, filing costs, audit expenses, policy issuance and governmental compliance.
For example, if the approved LC for a given job description was $10, and the carrier used an approved LCM of 1.40, the manual premium rate would be $14 per $100 of payroll ($10 X 1.40=$14). These LCMs vary from carrier to carrier. And, as loss experience and state-approved loss costs change, carriers make changes to their LCMs for that particular state. As LC decrease, carriers' overhead does not. It costs pretty much the same to handle a $5,000 premium account as it does a $20,000 account. Therefore many carriers have minimum premiums. State departments of insurance must approve a carrier's LC multipliers and rating plans.
Finally, insurers can apply a debit or a credit to their manual premium rate (LC x LCM) based upon the characteristics of a particular account. This debit or credit is called "schedule rating." The purpose of schedule rating is to customize the pricing on the account, based on the carrier's opinion of the risk relative to the average risk. Employers need to remember that one carrier's credit may be another carrier's debit in most states. Comparing net rates and services is a better gauge than labels of credits or debits, or even estimated annual premiums.