“The faintest of ink is more powerful than the strongest memory” – Ancient Chinese Proverb

Documentation of the design and construction process is something that it is not terribly hard to do but it seems to be very easy not to do it.  In the rush of business, so many things seem self-evident at the time and their documentation seems almost superfluous.  But, memories fade, staffs change, and information becomes unavailable.  More than once, when a problem came up, I’ve read documentation that I had prepared several months earlier and didn’t really remember that I had documented many of the details.  What a relief when I found that which was needed to respond to my client!

Trial attorneys will tell you that in most professional liability cases, the litigant with the best documentation usually wins.  So, I recommend that you print out the Proverb above and post it on your wall above your telephone.