Insurance, scope, and a defined revision process. Three questions that prevent most of the disputes we see.
Independent professionals are the right answer for a large amount of work. The problems that arise almost always trace back to three things nobody confirmed at the start.
First, insurance. Ask for proof of active liability and errors-and-omissions coverage, and check the dates. A certificate that expired four months ago is not coverage. If the work carries any risk of property damage or professional loss, this is not optional diligence.
Second, scope in writing. Not a quote — a scope. What is being produced, in what format, by what date, and what is explicitly excluded. The word 'excluded' is doing the heavy lifting there. Most scope disputes are really disagreements about something neither party thought to name.
Third, the revision process. How many rounds of revision are included, what counts as a revision versus new work, and what the rate is beyond that. Agreeing this while everyone is optimistic is much easier than agreeing it when a deadline is close.
Within CoreGrand's network these are handled at admission rather than per engagement — insurance verification, background checks where the engagement requires them, credential confirmation, and ongoing performance scoring. But if you are engaging someone directly, ask the three questions yourself. They take ten minutes and prevent most of what goes wrong.
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