Section 6 Licensing by State Board

• Library: Prof Liability 2005

Section 327.041, RSMo Supp. 2004, sets out the powers and duties of the State Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, and Land Surveyors.

The Board promulgates regulations and rules of professional conduct that establish and maintain appropriate standards of competence and integrity in the professions of architecture, professional engineering, land surveying, and landscape architecture. In addition, as an administrative agency, the Board can make findings that bear on the liability of design professionals. See the discussion of Duncan v. Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers & Land Surveyors, 744 S.W.2d 524 (Mo. App. E.D. 1988), in §4.7 below regarding the differences between an administrative disciplinary action under the statute and a civil action against a design professional.

While there can be many reasons to discipline the holder of a professional license, in general, to discipline a licensee, there must be a showing of one or more of the following:

• Conviction of fraud, dishonesty, or an act of violence or moral turpitude

• Incompetence, misconduct, gross negligence, fraud, misrepresentation, or dishonesty in the performance of the functions or duties of the licensed or regulated profession

• Violation of any professional trust or confidence

• Use of any advertisement or solicitation that is false, misleading, or deceptive to the general public or persons to whom the advertisement or solicitation is primarily directed

Section 327.441.2, RSMo 2000.

Section 327.401.1, RSMo Supp. 2004, indicates that the right to practice architecture, professional engineering, or land surveying is a personal right, based on the qualifications of the individual. But the statute allows for the practice of design work in a professional corporation if the documents prepared by the corporation are affixed with the personal seal of the design professional by whom or under whose immediate personal supervision the documents were prepared. That person becomes personally responsible for the contents of the documents.

Licensing in the state can have other significance, particularly as it relates to the enforceability of the design professional’s contract. Section 327.461, RSMo 2000, states:

Every contract for architectural or engineering or land surveying services entered into by any person who is not an architect or professional engineer or professional land surveyor, as the case may be, and who is not exempt from the provisions of this...