Section 3.7.15 Defining the Standard of Care

• Library: Construction Law Practice Manual 3rd Edition 2016

§ 3.7.15 Defining the Standard of Care

The Arizona’ Supreme Court has distinguished duty from standard of care by holding that the former is “an obligation recognized by law, which requires the defendant to conform to a particular standard of conduct in order to protect others against unreasonable risks of harm.”¹⁴⁶ The RESTATEMENT’s definition of standard of care is:

Unless he represents that he has greater or less skill or knowledge, one who undertakes to render services in the practice of a profession or trade is required to exercise the skill and knowledge normally possessed by members of that profession or trade in good standing in similar communities.¹⁴⁷

The standard of care has also been expressed in somewhat circular fashion as “[w]hat the defendant must do, or must not do … to satisfy the duty.”¹⁴⁸ For Arizona design professionals, the standard of care is to exercise the degree of skill, care and diligence that other registered professionals ordinarily exercise in similar circumstances.¹⁴⁹ This is not a national standard; it is based on the practices of design professionals in the community where the defendant’s services were...