Responsibility and Liability of Inspection

There is much confusion over who is responsible for inspection of construction. This paper argues that the designer is the most appropriate individual to inspect the work. The designer is the individual most intimately familiar with the design concepts and assumptions and can best spot significant deviations and errors. Engineers' attempts to avoid responsibility and liability by contractual wording have generally failed in courts of law. Since the designer cannot avoid the responsibility for his actions, he must face it and be compensated for it. The engineer cannot carry out inspections alone, however, and he must rely on trained and qualified inspectors. Today, unfortunately, such inspectors are scarce.