// AIA California, Working for You
Greetings from the AIA California Office,
The number one thing we hear from members: stop people who are taking work from the architectural profession, protect the license, address the corrosion of the architect’s value.
This year, we are working on a direct remedy to respond to unlicensed practice of architecture by contractors. As you know, the current solution is to report cases of unlicensed practice to the California Architectural Board. While this provided documentation of such activities and had the capability of warning the public, CAB could not directly affect a contractor’s license.
AIA California is working directly with Assemblyman Josh Hoover (R-Folsom), as co-sponsors of a bill—AB 134—which would move the reporting of this type of unlicensed practice of architecture to the Contractors’ State License Board. The board does have direct disciplinary authority over the professional licenses and can act on cases involving the “willful and deliberate disregard of the building laws of the state.”
Technically, the bill clarifies that the unlicensed practice of architecture is a violation of the “building laws of the state,” as defined in the Contractors State License Law, thus making a licensee who deliberately engages in this unlicensed practice subject to disciplinary action by the Contractors’ State License Board. In a practical way it allows for disciplinary action against a licensee who knowingly breaks these rules.
One thing that Assemblyman Hoover notes in advocating for these changes is how the proliferation of digital technology is inadvertently providing tools to those practicing architecture without a license and… the harm that befalls the public in such cases.
In May the bill cleared the Assembly with a vote of 70 – 09. It is currently on the Senate Business Professions and Economic Development Committee.
We will keep you updated as this important piece of legislation moves through the process as well as the steps our advocacy team is taking to support its passage. An architect is a deeply committed professional with extensive training to protect the safety of the public and support societal goals. Protecting the license, the financial well-being of each member, and their financial, intellectual, and time experience to attain license, is one of our most essential functions. And a crucial way AIA California is Working for You.
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Nicki Dennis Stephens, Hon. AIA, LEED Green Assoc.
Executive Vice President
The American Institute of Architects California
1931 H Street Sacramento, CA 95811
phone: (916) 642-1707 | web: http://www.aiacalifornia.org
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