HB 0699

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to architecture and interior design;
3	amending s. 481.219, F.S.; revising provisions on
4	architectural and interior design services certifications
5	to include applicability to limited liability companies;
6	amending s. 481.221, F.S.; authorizing the use of an
7	electronic seal under certain circumstances; providing for
8	the adoption of certain rules; applying requirements on
9	the display of certificate numbers to limited liability
10	companies; amending s. 481.225, F.S.; revising grounds for
11	disciplinary actions; amending s. 481.229, F.S.; revising
12	an exemption relating to interior design services and
13	titles to include applicability to certain limited
14	liability companies; providing an effective date.
15
16	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
17
18	Section 1.  Section 481.219, Florida Statutes, is amended
19	to read:
20	481.219  Certification of partnerships, limited liability
21	companies, and corporations.--
22	(1)  The practice of or the offer to practice architecture
23	or interior design by licensees through a corporation, limited
24	liability company, or partnership offering architectural or
25	interior design services to the public, or by a corporation,
26	limited liability company, or partnership offering architectural
27	or interior design services to the public through licensees
28	under this part as agents, employees, officers, or partners, is
29	permitted, subject to the provisions of this section.
30	(2)  For the purposes of this section, a certificate of
31	authorization shall be required for a corporation, limited
32	liability company, partnership, or person practicing under a
33	fictitious name, offering architectural services to the public
34	jointly or separately. However, when an individual is practicing
35	architecture in her or his own name, she or he shall not be
36	required to be certified under this section. Certification under
37	this subsection to offer architectural services shall include
38	all the rights and privileges of certification under subsection
39	(3) to offer interior design services.
40	(3)  For the purposes of this section, a certificate of
41	authorization shall be required for a corporation, limited
42	liability company, partnership, or person operating under a
43	fictitious name, offering interior design services to the public
44	jointly or separately. However, when an individual is practicing
45	interior design in her or his own name, she or he shall not be
46	required to be certified under this section.
47	(4)  All final construction documents and instruments of
48	service which include drawings, specifications, plans, reports,
49	or other papers or documents involving the practice of
50	architecture which are prepared or approved for the use of the
51	corporation, limited liability company, or partnership and filed
52	for public record within the state shall bear the signature and
53	seal of the licensee who prepared or approved them and the date
54	on which they were sealed.
55	(5)  All drawings, specifications, plans, reports, or other
56	papers or documents prepared or approved for the use of the
57	corporation, limited liability company, or partnership by an
58	interior designer in her or his professional capacity and filed
59	for public record within the state shall bear the signature and
60	seal of the licensee who prepared or approved them and the date
61	on which they were sealed.
62	(6)  The department shall issue a certificate of
63	authorization to any applicant who the board certifies as
64	qualified for a certificate of authorization and who has paid
65	the fee set in s. 481.207.
66	(7)  The board shall certify an applicant as qualified for
67	a certificate of authorization to offer architectural or
68	interior design services, provided that:
69	(a)  One or more of the principal officers of the
70	corporation or limited liability company, or one or more
71	partners of the partnership, and all personnel of the
72	corporation, limited liability company, or partnership who act
73	in its behalf in this state as architects, are registered as
74	provided by this part; or
75	(b)  One or more of the principal officers of the
76	corporation or one or more partners of the partnership, and all
77	personnel of the corporation, limited liability company, or
78	partnership who act in its behalf in this state as interior
79	designers, are registered as provided by this part.
80	(8)  The department shall adopt rules establishing a
81	procedure for the biennial renewal of certificates of
82	authorization.
83	(9)  The department shall renew a certificate of
84	authorization upon receipt of the renewal application and
85	biennial renewal fee.
86	(10)  Each partnership, limited liability company, and
87	corporation certified under this section shall notify the
88	department within 30 days of any change in the information
89	contained in the application upon which the certification is
90	based. Any registered architect or interior designer who
91	qualifies the corporation, limited liability company, or
92	partnership as provided in subsection (7) shall be responsible
93	for ensuring responsible supervising control of projects of the
94	entity and upon termination of who terminates her or his
95	employment with a partnership, limited liability company, or
96	corporation certified under this section shall notify the
97	department of the termination within 30 days.
98	(11)  No corporation, limited liability company, or
99	partnership shall be relieved of responsibility for the conduct
100	or acts of its agents, employees, or officers by reason of its
101	compliance with this section. However, the architect who signs
102	and seals the construction documents and instruments of service
103	shall be liable for the professional services performed, and the
104	interior designer who signs and seals the interior design
105	drawings, plans, or specifications shall be liable for the
106	professional services performed.
107	(12)  Disciplinary action against a corporation, limited
108	liability company, or partnership shall be administered in the
109	same manner and on the same grounds as disciplinary action
110	against a registered architect or interior designer,
111	respectively.
112	(13)  Nothing in this section shall be construed to mean
113	that a certificate of registration to practice architecture or
114	interior design shall be held by a corporation, limited
115	liability company, or partnership. Nothing in this section
116	prohibits corporations, limited liability companies, and
117	partnerships from joining together to offer architectural,
118	engineering, interior design, surveying and mapping, and
119	landscape architectural services, or any combination of such
120	services, to the public, provided that each corporation, limited
121	liability company, or partnership otherwise meets the
122	requirements of law.
123	(14)  Corporations, limited liability companies, or
124	partnerships holding a valid certificate of authorization to
125	practice architecture shall be permitted to use in their title
126	the term "interior designer" or "registered interior designer."
127	Section 2.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) and subsections
128	(4) and (8) of section 481.221, Florida Statutes, are amended to
129	read:
130	481.221  Seals; display of certificate number.--
131	(1)  The board shall prescribe, by rule, distinctively
132	different seals to be used by registered architects and interior
133	designers, respectively, holding valid certificates of
134	registration.
135	(a)  Each registered architect shall obtain an impression-
136	type metal seal, and all final construction documents and
137	instruments of service which include drawings, plans,
138	specifications, or reports prepared or issued by the registered
139	architect and being filed for public record shall bear the
140	signature and seal of the registered architect who prepared or
141	approved the document and the date on which they were sealed.
142	The signature, date, and seal shall be evidence of the
143	authenticity of that to which they are affixed. The board, by
144	rule, shall specify the use of an electronic seal as an
145	alternative to any other seal required under this section.
146	(4)  No registered architect shall affix her or his
147	signature or seal to any final construction document or
148	instrument of service which includes drawings, plans,
149	specifications, or architectural documents which were not
150	prepared by her or him or under her or his responsible
151	supervising control, as specified by board rule, or by another
152	registered architect and reviewed, approved, or modified and
153	adopted by her or him as her or his own work according to rules
154	adopted by the board.
155	(8)  Each registered architect or interior designer, and
156	each corporation, limited liability company, or partnership
157	holding a certificate of authorization, shall include its
158	certificate number in any newspaper, telephone directory, or
159	other advertising medium used by the registered architect,
160	interior designer, corporation, limited liability company, or
161	partnership. A corporation, limited liability company, or
162	partnership is not required to display the certificate number of
163	individual registered architects or interior designers employed
164	by or working within the corporation, limited liability company,
165	or partnership.
166	Section 3.  Paragraphs (b) and (g) of subsection (1) of
167	section 481.225, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
168	481.225  Disciplinary proceedings against registered
169	architects.--
170	(1)  The following acts constitute grounds for which the
171	disciplinary actions in subsection (3) may be taken:
172	(b)  Attempting to obtain or procure a license to practice
173	architecture by bribery or fraudulent misrepresentations.
174	(g)  Committing an act of fraud or deceit, or of
175	negligence, incompetency, or misconduct, in the practice of
176	architecture, including, but not limited to, allowing the
177	preparation of any architectural studies, plans, or other
178	instruments of service in an office that does not have a full-
179	time Florida registered architect assigned to such office or
180	failing to ensure the responsible supervising control of
181	services or projects, as required by board rule.
182	Section 4.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
183	481.229, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
184	481.229  Exceptions; exemptions from licensure.--
185	(5)(a)  Nothing contained in this part shall prevent a
186	registered architect or a partnership, limited liability
187	company, or corporation holding a valid certificate of
188	authorization to provide architectural services from performing
189	any interior design service or from using the title "interior
190	designer" or "registered interior designer."
191	Section 5.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.