Defining a Standard of Care for Urban Stream Restoration Projects

Abstract

Design engineers are expected to meet an accepted standard of care, which provides assurance that reasonable care and quality of service have been performed by the professional. Although this expectation exists for engineers in the design of urban stream restoration projects, no guidelines currently exist that provide the design engineer with a reasonable set of expectations. In this paper, a guideline for a standard of care appropriate to urban stream restoration projects is developed based on skills and knowledge needed by the design engineer that have been identified in prior studies. Communication between the design engineer and the funding and permitting agencies is critical to agree upon and acknowledge the standard of care expectations prior to a project start.