1 STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2 1st Session of the 59th Legislature (2023)
3 HOUSE BILL 1793 By: Osburn
4
5
6 AS INTRODUCED
7 An Act relating to professions and occupations;
amending 59 O.S. 2021, Sections 46.1, 46.2, 46.3,
8 46.4, 46.7, 46.9, 46.10, 46.11, 46.12, 46.14, 46.17,
46.18, 46.19, 46.20, 46.21, 46.21b, 46.24, 46.25,
9 46.28, 46.31, 46.34, 46.38, 46.39, 46.40, 46.41,
46.42, 46.45, 46.46 and 46.47, which relate to the
10 State Architectural and Registered Commercial
Interior Designers Act; modifying various provisions
11 of the act; changing name of act; changing name of
registered commercial interior designers; providing
12 for licensure; removing certification requirements;
modifying definitions; changing name of the Board of
13 Governors of the Architects, Landscape Architects and
Licensed Interior Designers of Oklahoma; modifying
14 powers and duties of the Board; modifying use of
certain title; modifying renewal of license;
15 modifying grounds for suspension, revocation or
nonrenewal of license; providing exemption; providing
16 an effective date; and declaring an emergency.
17
18
19 BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
20 SECTION 1. AMENDATORY 59 O.S. 2021, Section 46.1, is
21 amended to read as follows:
22 Section 46.1 Section 46.1 et seq. of this title shall be known
23 and may be cited as the "State Architectural and Registered
24 Commercial Licensed Interior Designers Act".
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1 SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 59 O.S. 2021, Section 46.2, is
2 amended to read as follows:
3 Section 46.2 In order to safeguard life, health and property
4 and to promote public welfare, the professions of architecture,
5 landscape architecture and registered commercial licensed interior
6 design are declared to be subject to regulation in the public
7 interest. It is unlawful for any person to practice or offer to
8 practice architecture or, landscape architecture, or licensed
9 interior design in this state, as defined in the provisions of the
10 State Architectural and Registered Commercial Licensed Interior
11 Designers Act, use in connection with the person's name, or
12 otherwise assume the title of architect, landscape architect or
13 registered commercial licensed interior designer, or advertise any
14 title or description tending to convey the impression that the
15 person is a licensed an architect or landscape architect or
16 registered commercial licensed interior designer unless the person
17 is duly licensed or exempt from licensure or registration under the
18 State Architectural and Registered Commercial Licensed Interior
19 Designers Act. The practice of architecture and, landscape
20 architecture and the use of the titles architect, landscape
21 architect and registered commercial licensed interior designer are
22 privileges granted by the state through the Board of Governors of
23 the Licensed Architects, Landscape Architects and Registered
24 Commercial Licensed Interior Designers of Oklahoma based upon the
Req. No. 5049 Page 2
1 qualifications of the individual as evidenced by a certificate of
2 licensure or registration which shall not be transferable.
3 SECTION 3. AMENDATORY 59 O.S. 2021, Section 46.3, is
4 amended to read as follows:
5 Section 46.3 As used in the State Architectural and Registered
6 Commercial Licensed Interior Designers Act:
7 1. "Architect" means any person who is licensed in the practice
8 of architecture in the State of Oklahoma as hereinafter defined;
9 2. "Practice of architecture" means rendering or offering to
10 render certain services, in connection with the design and
11 construction, enlargement or alteration of a building or a group of
12 buildings and the space surrounding such buildings, including
13 buildings which have as their principal purpose human occupancy or
14 habitation. The services referred to include planning, providing
15 preliminary studies, designs, drawings, specifications,
16 investigations and other technical submissions, the administration
17 of construction contracts, and the coordination of any elements of
18 technical submissions prepared by other consultants including, as
19 appropriate and without limitation, consulting engineers and
20 landscape architects reviewing and coordinating technical
21 submissions prepared by other licensed professionals for use in the
22 construction or alteration of any building in the Code Use Groups
23 subject to the State Architectural and Licensed Interior Designers
24 Act; provided, that the practice of architecture shall include such
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1 other professional services as may be necessary for the rendering of
2 or offering to render architectural services;
3 3. "Registration" or "license" "License" means a certificate of
4 registration or license issued by the Board. The definition of
5 "license" shall apply to those persons licensed under a practice
6 act. The definition of "registration" shall apply to those persons
7 registered under the title registered commercial interior designer
8 under this act;
9 4. "Building" means a structure consisting of a foundation,
10 walls, all floors and roof, with or without other parts;
11 5. "Board" means the Board of Governors of the Licensed
12 Architects, Landscape Architects and Registered Commercial Licensed
13 Interior Designers of Oklahoma;
14 6. "Certificate of authority" means the authorization granted
15 by the Board for persons to practice or offer to practice
16 architecture, or landscape architecture, or licensed interior design
17 through a partnership, firm, association, corporation, limited
18 liability company or limited liability partnership;
19 7. "Certificate of title" means the authorization granted by
20 the Board for a partnership, firm, association, corporation, limited
21 liability company or limited liability partnership to use the title
22 registered commercial interior designer or any modification or
23 derivation of these terms;
24
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1 8. "Technical submissions" means drawings, plans,
2 specifications, studies and any other technical reports or documents
3 which are issued in the course of practicing architecture, landscape
4 architecture or registered commercial licensed interior design with
5 the intent that they be considered as formal or final documents, but
6 shall not include record drawings. Prototypical plans are not
7 technical submissions;
8 9. 8. "Responsible control" means the amount of direct control
9 and personal supervision of architectural, landscape architectural
10 or registered commercial licensed interior designer's design work
11 and detailed knowledge of the content of tactical and technical
12 submissions during their preparation as is ordinarily exercised by
13 licensed architects, landscape architects or registered commercial
14 licensed interior designers applying the required professional
15 standard of care. The terms direct control and personal
16 supervision, whether used separately or together, mean active and
17 personal management of the firm's personnel and practice to maintain
18 charge of, and concurrent direction over, architecture, landscape
19 architecture or the work of a registered commercial licensed
20 interior designer's decisions design and the instruments of
21 professional services to which the licensee or registrant affixes
22 the seal, signature, and date;
23 10. 9. "Landscape architect" means a person licensed to
24 practice landscape architecture as provided in the State
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1 Architectural and Registered Commercial Licensed Interior Designers
2 Act;
3 11. 10. "Landscape architecture" means the performance of
4 professional services defined as teaching, consultations,
5 investigations, reconnaissance, research, planning, design,
6 preparation of construction drawings and specifications,
7 construction observation and the coordination of any elements of
8 technical submissions prepared by others in connection with the
9 planning and arranging of land and the elements thereon for public
10 and private use and enjoyment, including the design and layout of
11 roadways, service areas, parking areas, walkways, steps, ramps,
12 pools, parks, parkways, trails and recreational areas, the location
13 and site of improvements including buildings and other structures,
14 and the grading of the land, surface and subsoil drainage, erosion
15 control, planting, reforestation, and the preservation of the
16 natural landscape, in accordance with accepted professional
17 standards, and to the extent that the dominant purpose of such
18 services or creative works is the preservation, conservation,
19 enhancement, or determination of proper land uses, natural land
20 features, ground cover and plantings, or naturalistic and aesthetic
21 values.
22 The practice of landscape architecture shall include the
23 location and arrangement of tangible objects and features as are
24 incidental and necessary to the purpose outlined for landscape
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1 architecture. The practice of landscape architecture shall not
2 include the design of structures or facilities with separate and
3 self-contained purposes for habitation or industry, or the design of
4 public streets, highways, utilities, storm and sanitary sewers and
5 sewage treatment facilities, that are statutorily defined as the
6 practice of engineering or architecture;
7 12. 11. "Code" means the nationally recognized codes adopted by
8 the Uniform Building Code Commission of the State of Oklahoma;
9 13. 12. "Applicable building official" means the official
10 responsible for the application of the adopted building code as
11 implemented by the local, municipal or county jurisdiction in which
12 a building is located. Where no building code has been adopted by
13 the local, municipal or county jurisdiction, the applicable building
14 official shall be defined as the State Fire Marshal;
15 14. "Registered commercial interior designer" means a person
16 recognized by this state who is registered, qualified by examination
17 and meeting all the requirements set forth in the State
18 Architectural and Registered Commercial Interior Designers Act and
19 the Board's rules;
20 13. "Licensed interior designer" means a person licensed to
21 practice licensed interior design as provided in the State
22 Architectural and Licensed Interior Designers Act;
23 15. 14. "Plans" means technical documents issued by the
24 licensed and/or registered professionals intended to meet all
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1 current and applicable codes as adopted by the Uniform Building Code
2 Commission of the State of Oklahoma, other statutory codes and
3 applicable federal codes and which shall be submitted to all
4 required building code and/or permit offices required by the State
5 of Oklahoma, county, municipal and/or federal government;
6 16. 15. "Equivalent standards" means those standards adopted by
7 the Board intended to be used as alternative equivalents to
8 determine competency for education, training and testing for
9 licensing architects and/or, landscape architects and registering
10 commercial licensed interior designers and for complying with the
11 Military Service Occupation, Education and Credentialing Act for
12 military personnel and their spouses;
13 17. "Commercial interior design" means the rendering of or the
14 offering to render designs, consultations, studies, planning,
15 drawings, specifications, contract documents or other technical
16 submissions and the administration of interior construction and
17 contracts relating to nonstructural interior construction by a
18 registered commercial interior designer in a new constructed or
19 existing building when the core and shell elements are not going to
20 be changed;
21 18. "Nonstructural commercial interior construction" means the
22 construction of elements which do not include exterior components of
23 a building such as exterior walls, any load-bearing wall, any load-
24 bearing column or any other load-bearing elements of a building
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1 essential to the structural integrity of the building such as wind
2 loads and seismic loads and to any element which must be designed
3 for wind loads and seismic loads; and
4 16. "Licensed interior design" means the rendering of or the
5 offering to render services relating to nonstructural interior
6 construction by a licensed interior designer in a newly constructed
7 or existing building, including but not limited to:
8 a. analysis, research, planning, and design of the
9 interior spaces of a building for the purpose of
10 enhancing and protecting the health, safety, and
11 welfare of the public by preparation of interior
12 drawings, specifications, or other technical
13 submissions and administration of nonstructural
14 interior construction,
15 b. design and specification of code-compliant interior
16 finishes, furnishings, fixtures, or equipment,
17 c. design or modification of existing nonstructural
18 interior partitions, doors, suspended ceiling systems,
19 or constructed ceiling elements,
20 d. design or modification of existing internal
21 circulation systems or number and configuration of
22 interior exits for suite occupant load, or
23 e. review, analysis, and evaluation of building codes,
24 accessibility standards, or guidelines for interior
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1 planning, design, and nonstructural interior
2 construction compliance;
3 17. "Nonstructural interior construction" means the
4 construction of elements which do not include:
5 a. design of, or the responsibility for, architectural
6 and engineering work, except as explicitly provided
7 for in this act,
8 b. altering the building's existing primary structural,
9 fire and life safety, mechanical, electrical, and
10 plumbing systems, as set out in Oklahoma state law,
11 this act, or the current International Building Code
12 as adopted by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code
13 Commission, or other related primary building systems,
14 and
15 c. changes to the building's core and shell; and
16 l9. 18. "Fire and life safety systems" means those systems and
17 construction that pertain to fire and life safety protection, such
18 as fire sprinklers, fire alarms, smoke evacuation systems, fire
19 walls, fire barriers or smoke barriers as defined by the current
20 International Building Code adopted by the Oklahoma Uniform Building
21 Code Commission.
22 The definitions in the State Architectural and Registered
23 Commercial Licensed Interior Designers Act shall have the same
24
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1 meaning when applicable to any rule promulgated pursuant to such
2 act.
3 SECTION 4. AMENDATORY 59 O.S. 2021, Section 46.4, is
4 amended to read as follows:
5 Section 46.4 There is hereby re-created, to continue until July
6 1, 2023, in accordance with the provisions of the Oklahoma Sunset
7 Law, a board to be known as the "Board of Governors of the Licensed
8 Architects, Landscape Architects and Registered Commercial Licensed
9 Interior Designers of Oklahoma", hereinafter referred to as the
10 Board. The Board shall be composed of eleven (11) members including
11 six persons who are duly licensed to practice architecture and are
12 in good standing in this state, two persons who are duly licensed to
13 practice landscape architecture and are in good standing in this
14 state, two persons who are registered commercial duly licensed
15 interior designers and who are active and in good standing and one
16 lay member. Each member of the Board shall be a qualified elector
17 of this state, and the architect, landscape architect and registered
18 commercial licensed interior designer members shall have had five
19 (5) years' licensing or registration experience as the professional
20 position requires in this state. Re-creation of the Board shall not
21 alter existing staggered terms. Board members, other than the lay
22 member, shall be appointed for a period of five (5) years
23 thereafter; provided, that nothing herein shall affect the tenure of
24 office of anyone who is a member of the Board on May 31, 1957. A