Academy/Working With Professionals
Experts and consultants
How to vet anyone the board hires who isn't an attorney, CPA, architect, engineer, or insurance producer.
Not every expert a board hires is licensed the same way. Attorneys, CPAs, architects, engineers, and insurance producers answer to a state licensing board; construction managers, project managers, landscape professionals, and security consultants often do not. Ask each candidate what license or certification applies, verify it independently, and put the scope of work in writing.
Know which roles answer to a licensing board
Attorneys, CPAs, architects, engineers, and insurance producers are licensed through a state board, so a board member can usually verify the license directly. Insurance is the clearest example: a producer license is required by law before anyone can sell or advise on coverage.
"A person shall not sell, solicit or negotiate insurance in this state for any class or classes of insurance unless the person is licensed as a producer for that line of authority in accordance with this Act."
Source: Producer Licensing Model Act, National Association of Insurance Commissioners
Construction managers, project managers, landscape professionals, and security consultants are different. These trades are often licensed, if at all, at the municipal or local level rather than through a single state professional board. Whether a license or certification exists at all for a given trade, and who issues it, varies by state and municipality. Ask each candidate directly what applies to their specific trade in your association's location, and verify it yourself rather than taking their word for it.
Following advice protects the board only if the advice fits
A board's decision is judged by whether it was reasonable and made in good faith, not by whether it turned out to be right. Hiring a qualified professional and following what that professional actually says is strong evidence of reasonableness. That protection is a shield for the decision, not a guarantee.
"(1) 'good faith'; (2) with care of an 'ordinarily prudent person in a like position would exercise under similar circumstances'; and, (3) 'in a manner the director reasonably believes to be in the best interests of the corporation.'"
Source: The Business Judgment Rule, Colorado Homeowners Association Law
Reliance on advice only counts toward that protection if the board reasonably believed the advice was within the consultant's actual competence, not just because someone with a title was in the room.
Put the scope of work in writing before anyone starts
A written scope of work is what turns "we hired someone good" into something the board can actually manage. The written, engagement letter or contract that defines a professional's scope controls that relationship; a verbal understanding does not bind either side the same way. The architecture industry's own standard contracts show what a rigorous scope looks like.
"services listed are divided into basic, supplemental, and additional services"
Source: AIA Contract Documents, B-Series Owner/Architect Agreements guide, American Institute of Architects
The same structure works for any consultant. Write down what is included, what counts as extra, who owns the deliverable, and how disagreements get resolved, before the first invoice arrives.
Check yourself
Answer before you read the explanation, recalling it is what makes it stick.
A board hires a security consultant a neighbor recommended, never asks what credential applies, and follows the advice without question. A lawsuit argues the board acted unreasonably. What did the board skip?
A landscape consultant describes the project over the phone, no written agreement follows, and the two sides later disagree about what was promised. What went wrong from a governance standpoint?
Which of these is most likely to have a license the board can verify directly with a single state licensing board?
Sources
- Understanding the Business Judgment Rule for Boards, Barker Martin, P.S.
- The Business Judgment Rule, Colorado Homeowners Association Law
- Producer Licensing Model Act, National Association of Insurance Commissioners
- AIA Contract Documents, B-Series Owner/Architect Agreements guide, American Institute of Architects
Related elsewhere in the Academy
Working With Professionals
Next, get specific: see what to ask before hiring a construction manager or a security consultant.
Whether a license or certification exists at all for a given trade, who issues it, and whether a written scope of work is legally required rather than simply good practice vary by state and municipality.