Design Alliance, an Iowa-based practice, is getting its pipig sued off by a former client, the Flagstaff Affordable Housing Limited Partnership of Arizona. Big honk? But listen: The lawsuit establishes a precedent which, though presently pertaining only in Arizona, could bode ill for architects everywhere. Seems a while back, Design Alliance built some low-cost housing for the client—only for the Federal Gummint to declare that the housing failed to meet fair housing design regulations, leading to hefty fines for the owner. The owner, in turn, sued Design Alliance, and Design Alliance fought back: the owner’s suit was dismissed under the “Economic Loss Doctrine”, which forbids lawsuits for product defects in the event that nobody’s hurt (and nobody had been). But now the Arizona Appeals Court is reversing that decision, saying that architects can be sued for defective designs regardless of personal injury, provided they cocked up seriously enough. Ruh-roh! In other news, when Architect ran the story online they got the firm’s name wrong. So sue ‘em!

Architects Can Be Sued for Negligence [Architect]