GBA Case Histories #1 through #5 Are Refreshed Possibly the most important of all GBA loss-prevention/risk-confrontation resources is its unique series of case histories; 101 examples of how projects begun with optimism can unexpectedly end in dispute. Each provides details of the project, its background, the role of the GBA-Member Firm, the problems encountered, and lessons learned. They’re sometimes painful lessons, but better to learn from others’ lessons than your own. BIG NEWS! GBA Executive Director Joel Carson has announced that GBA is committed to update and expand the Case History Series. The original cases all will be refreshed, with new graphics and keywords for efficient searches. According to Joel, “The first five updates are complete and they look fantastic!” ...

GBA has a tradition of collaborating on issues that impact the geoprofessions. One of the ways we work together is by providing lessons learned through GBA Case Histories. GBA Case Histories provide unprecedented real-world learning examples related to project and business management.

GBA Publications Committee After terminating an employee for poor attendance and inadequate job performance, a member firm is faced with alleged violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ATDA).  This Case History emphasized Project Managers must be trained in basic human resources (HR) issues and the importance of documentation when dealing with employee performance management. Learn from others.  Don’t repeat the mistakes of the past!  GBA Case Histories are being used by our members for loss prevention discussions in support of professional development and mentoring. That is why GBA case histories are so valuable, and why GBA continues to produce new ones. GBA Case Histories are FREE to all Members. Download GBA’s Ca...

The GBA-Member Firm was retained by Client 1 to conduct a Phase I ESA on a 1000-acre tract of undeveloped land prior to the property sale.  To save money, the client did not want the title information to be purchased from a third-party and instead told the Member Firm that they would provide title information for review. As it turned out, the client never provided the promised chain-of-title information that  would have contained important historical information about pipeline easements. Lessons Learned:  This case history teaches six important lessons: It’s risky to work for both the seller and buyer of real estate. Inappropriate verbal communications can increase risk of liability. When the client agrees to provide important project information, make sure you receiv...

An experienced project manager assigned an experienced field representative to be on site full time to observe construction of the building pad and MSE wall.  Confident in the field representative’s abilities, the project manager confined his involvement to occasional site visits and preparation of written progress reports.  Unfortunately, communication between the two was poor, field reports were not thoroughly reviewed, and significant issues that compromised the project including changes in design were missed. Lessons Learned in this Case History: Residential Construction Projects Involve More Risk Project Risk is Inversely Proportional to Project Size and Complexity Perform Initial and Ongoing Go/No-Go Analysis If It Isn’t in Writing, It Didn’t Happen Projec...

          Read the real-life saga of a landowner’s tenant who tries to swindle a member-firm for medical costs for his horse and for lost breeding opportunities.  The Client A real-estate development company The Project An 87-acre, single-family home subdivision Assignment of the GBA-Member Firm Perform a pre-acquisition, preliminary geotechnical-engineering study.  Background A real-estate development company – a long-time client – engaged the GBA-Member Firm to perform a preliminary geotechnical-engineering study of an 87-acre tract of land the developer was considering for a single-family residential development. The tract, still being used for cattle grazing, was enclosed with barbed-wire fencing and a single...

NEW! Case History #103 – Nuclear Gauge Management If you own or operate nuclear densometer gauges, you must read this GBA Case History. After three destroyed gauges and numerous other violations, a Member-Firm was facing civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation and revocation of their license to own and/or operate nuclear gauges. They paid a $150,000 settlement but more importantly developed a compliance program hailed as “a model for the industry”. Learn from their mistakes and from their commitment to change their culture through immediate action to create, test, launch, and monitor sustainable, institutional controls to address the underling causes of the violations, as well as specific regulatory compliance issues. GBA Case Historie...

What Are You Downloading? These are the most frequently downloaded reference documents this year! If you are not reading them, you are missing out. Important Information About This Geotechnical-Engineering Report GBA has updated one of its most frequently, all-time best-selling resource – Important Information about This Geotechnical-Engineering Report. Some of the language and sections have been modified and updated, including a new section about understanding the geotechnical engineering services. Literally millions of copies of the previous versions are in print or virtual print. Only GBA-Member Firms have the right to insert the document “as-is.”.  And members get them for free.  Stay current and get your copy now! Download Important Information about This Geote...

GBA’s 2019 Fall Conference videos and presentation slides are now available on our website for “on-demand” viewing.  Watch 2019 Fall Conference Videos:  HERE Now you can review the presentations on your time and share what you learned from these speakers with your colleagues.  They make great lunch-and-learns for professional development of small groups or your entire staff. ________________________________________________________ As a reminder, our 2019 Fall Conference lineup was: EMBRACING BIG DATA AND DISRUPTIVE INNOVATION Patrick Schwerdtfeger (Business Futurist) ADVANCED DATA ANALYTICS IN GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING Nick Machairas (New York University)  DELIVERING REAL-TIME RESULTS:  THE FUTURE OF LABORATORY OPERATIONS James “Jim” Murphy (Stra...

FA19-01 Embracing Big Data and Disruptive Innovation This video is only available to me...

You are invited to a workshop hosted by Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA) ,  Agile Framework, and TCEL on Optimizing Business Performance ad Confronting Risk, on Thursday, September 5, 2019. You will have the opportunity to earn four PDH 's including one hour of ethics training. REGISTER NOW During this workshop you will learn: How to identify, measure and solve current business process inefficiencies in your business and help you to develop a program to minimize poor or costly productivity The most frequent lessons learned from GBA Library of Case Histories, so you can learn how to avoid them in the future How  a GBA member-firm resolved an allegation that could have permanently damaged their reputation both externally and i...

SYNOPSIS The Association of Soil and Foundation Engineers (ASFE) is an association of consulting geotechnical engineering firms. Established in 1969, ASFE has developed a variety of professional liability loss prevention programs and materials. By using these programs and materials, members of ASFE have gained what reportedly is the best professional liability loss prevention record of all U.S. design professionals. In the year of ASFE’s formation, geotechnical engineers had the worst liability record of all U.S. design professionals, a situation which threatened the continuance of consulting soil and foundation engineering as a distinct practice. INTRODUCTION The Association of Soil and Foundation Engineers (ASFE) is, perhaps, the most successful of ...

The Fall Conference agenda has been finalized and this will be an incredible gathering. The theme for the conference is "Committing to Continuous Improvement" which supports our members' daily effort to build stronger, smarter, more successful businesses. Conference speakers will help you to build a high-performance culture, communicate your brand clearly to employees and clients, stay current with new technology, and in GBA's unique way, learn from the mistakes of others as we explore several case histories from our members. Join us in Music City, Nashville, Tennessee — November 1-3, 2018 Keynotes include: Principles for Building a High-Performance Culture Brent Gleeson — Former Navy SEAL combat veteran, Brent Gleeson, turned his discipline and battlefield lessons to t...

What are your Peers Reading? GBA’s Most Downloaded Resources in 2017 GBA provides hundreds of highly effective resources developed to satisfy the unique needs of geoprofessionals, giving members essential tools for achieving success. However, we also know that it can be overwhelming to sort through them all. So, to help, we’ve compiled a list of the top 10 GBA resources by numbers ordered in 2017. This is a great place to start your exploration of GBA’s resources, or to get acquainted with a publication loved by your peers and “new to you”. GBA’s CASE HISTORIES were very popular downloads with over 1,100 downloads of updated Case Histories during the year. The list below is the top 10 GBA resources, in order by popularity, with the most ordered resource at the t...