Illinois Construction Law Blog : Illinois Construction Lawyer & Attorney : Foran Glennon Palandech & Ponzi Law Firm : Chicago IL

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When Senate Bill 122 was introduced, it appeared as another formality required to reissue the Illinois Architecture Practice Act and the Illinois Structural Engineering Practice Act given the current acts’ sunset provisions of January 1, 2010. The addition of certain amendments and the augmentation of provisions of the act that design professionals have come to rely on make it necessary for any practicing architect or engineer to revisit their respective acts, as passed (read the changes here) to gain a better understanding of the new standards and rules that are applicable to the professions in Illinois.

The Bill, now passed by both houses, is awaiting the signature of the governor. We address most of the changes below:

ARCHITECTS

• The new act will require that draftsmen, students, project representative and other employees of those lawfully practicing as licensed architects act under the “responsible” control of the licensed architect. The old act required that they act under the “direct supervision” and control of the licensed architect. This appears to provide a broader definition of the acceptable use of unlicensed employees than was allowed before given that “responsible” is not as descriptive as “direct supervision.”

• The new act has a provision for designating someone as “Architect, Retired” which is defined as a person who has been licensed, but chooses inactive status or not to renew the license. This may have roots in the recent events involving Mr. Netsch and should have been done sooner.

• The new act also has a designation for “Architectural intern” – an unlicensed person who has a degree and is actively participating in professional training and maintains a training record as required for licensure – the term was already included in the act but not explicitly defined.

• The new act explicitly incorporates sections of the Illinois Administrative Code regulating the profession. It defines “Design build” in accordance with §1150.85. It makes explicit the duty of an architect to adhere to the standards of professional conduct enumerated in §1150.90.

• The new act prohibits any officer, board, commission or other public entity from accepting for filing or approval any submissions that do not bear the seal and signature of a licensed architect. It is unlawful to affix the seal to any submissions if it masks the true identity of the person who actually exercised responsible control of the preparation of the work.

• The new act states that an architect who seals and signs technical submissions is not responsible for damage cause by subsequent changes to or uses of those submissions where the subsequent changes or uses, including changes or uses made by State or local governmental agencies, are not authorized or approved in writing by the architect who originally sealed and signed the submissions. This is an interesting statement and should likely be fleshed out, but it could be used to try and disclaim liability for certain actions of individuals using plans multiple times or for changes made as required by local agencies.

• The new act gives the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation the power to hire outside legal counsel to investigate claims and also allows for the use of outside prosecutors.

• The new act sets a limit of 5 years from the passage of the first examination for the successful completion of all examinations.

• The new act changes the definitions for the professional design firm registration and requires that the resident architect be “in responsible charge of” the architectural practices in the office rather than “overseeing” the practices and requires that the resident architect be designated as the managing agent of the firm.

• The new act requires that every entity registered as a professional design firm display its certificate of registration or a facsimile in a conspicuous place in each of its offices.

• The new act defines the term “address of record” and makes it the duty of the architect to keep the information updated.

• The new act adds the powers of probation or other disciplinary action to the Departments remedies and changes the recourse to individual licenses rather than to the corporations, persons, or firms as previously done.

• The new act gives the Department the power to force an architect so submit to an examination by a physician to enforce its powers of refusal, revocation or suspension without the showing of probable cause that was previously required.

• The new act mandates the denial or non-renewal of a license if the applicant defaults on an educational loan or scholarship provided by the Illinois Student Assistance Commission or other Illinois agency, if the applicant is in arrears for child support, or if the applicant hasn’t paid their taxes (the tax amendment isn’t new, but before the Department had discretion in such a determination).

• The new act increases the civil penalty for unlicensed practice to $10,000 from $5,000.

• The new act augments the Department subpoena power to include documents and records as well as people.

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS

• The new act adds “analysis” to the “design or supervision” activities definition.

• The new act gives the Department the power to review an applicant’s qualifications to sit for an exam.

• The new act changes the enforcement of rules for revocation, suspension or refusal of licensure to be effective against individual “licensees” rather than the previous corporations, firms or partnerships.

• The new act also allows for the compulsion to examination by a physician as above and includes the same mandates for denial based on non-payment of school loans, child support and taxes.

• The new act augments the subpoena power as above.

Architects and Structural Engineers should familiarize themselves with the new requirements.