Section 740. Professional responsibility

A. Unless exempt by statute, all architectural, engineering, land surveying, landscape architectural, and interior design work must be completed by a professional or a person performing the work who is under the direct control and personal supervision of a professional.

B. A professional shall be able to clearly define his scope and degree of direct control and personal supervision, clearly define how it was exercised, and demonstrate that he was responsible within that capacity for the work that he has sealed, signed, and dated. For the work prepared under his supervision, a professional shall:

1. Have detailed professional knowledge of the work;

2. Exercise the degree of direct control over work that includes:

a. Having control over decisions on technical matters of policy and design;

b. Personally making professional decisions or the review and approval of proposed decisions prior to implementation, including the consideration of alternatives to be investigated and compared for designed work, whenever professional decisions are made that could affect the health, safety, and welfare of the public involving permanent or temporary work;

c. The selection or development of design standards and materials to be used; and

d. Determining the validity and applicability of recommendations prior to incorporation into the work, including the qualifications of those making the recommendations;

3. Have exercised his professional judgment in all professional matters that are embodied in the work and the drawings, specifications, or other documents involved in the work; and

4. Have exercised critical examination and evaluation of an employee's, consultant's, subcontractor's, or project team member's work product, during and after preparation, for purposes of compliance with applicable laws, codes, ordinances, regulations, and usual and customary standards of care pertaining to professional practice.

C. The regulant shall not knowingly associate in a business venture with, or permit the use of his name, by any person or firm when there is reason to believe that person or firm is engaging in activity of a fraudulent or dishonest nature or is violating statutes or any of these regulations.

D. A regulant who has direct knowledge or reason to believe that any individual or firm may have violated or may currently be violating any of these provisions, or the provisions of Chapters 7 (§ 13.1-542.1 et seq.) and 13 (§ 13.1-1100 et seq.) of Title 13.1 or Chapters 1 (§ 54.1-100 et seq.) through 4 (§ 54.1-400 et seq.) of Title 54.1 of the Code of Virginia, shall immediately inform the board in writing and shall cooperate in furnishing any further information or assistance that may be required by the board or any of its agents.

E. Upon request by the board or any of its agents, the regulant shall produce any plan, plat, document, sketch, book, record, or copy thereof concerning a transaction covered by this chapter and shall cooperate in the investigation of a complaint filed with the board against a regulant.

F. Except as authorized by 18VAC10-20-760 A 2, a regulant shall not utilize the design, drawings, specifications, or work of another regulant to complete or to replicate any work without the written consent of the person or organization that owns the design, drawings, specifications, or work.

G. Utilization and modification of work.

1. A regulant who utilizes the designs, drawings, specifications, or work of another regulant pursuant to subsection F of this section or 18VAC10-20-760 A 2, or who modifies any plats or surveys, shall conduct a thorough review of the work to verify that it has been accomplished to the same extent that would have been done under the direct control and personal supervision of the regulant affixing the professional seal, signature, and date. The regulant shall assume full responsibility for the utilization of any unsealed work or any changes or modifications to previously sealed work.

2. The information contained in recorded plats or surveys may be utilized by another regulant without permission.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR130-01-2 § 12.6, eff. October 18, 1985; amended, Volume 04, Issue 08, eff. March 1, 1988; Volume 06, Issue 20, eff. September 1, 1990; Volume 07, Issue 14, eff. May 8, 1991; Volume 08, Issue 07, eff. February 1, 1992; Volume 10, Issue 15, eff. May 19, 1994; Volume 13, Issue 23, eff. October 1, 1997; Volume 16, Issue 03, eff. December 1, 1999; Volume 18, Issue 07, eff. March 1, 2002; Volume 23, Issue 01, eff. February 1, 2007; Volume 32, Issue 06, eff. January 1, 2016.

Statutory Authority

§§ 54.1-201 and 54.1-404 of the Code of Virginia.