Sec. 20-306b. Formation of corporation or limited liability company for joint practice. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 20-306b. Formation of corporation or limited liability company for joint practice. (a) One or more architects, each of whom is licensed under the provisions of chapter 390, one or more professional engineers or one or more land surveyors each of whom is licensed under the provisions of this chapter, may form a corporation or limited liability company for the joint practice of architecture, professional engineering and land surveying services, or for the joint practice of architecture and professional engineering services, or for the joint practice of architecture and land surveying services, or for the joint practice of professional engineering and land surveying services, provided (1) persons licensed as architects, engineers or land surveyors under chapter 390 or this chapter together own not less than two-thirds of the voting stock of the corporation or not less than two-thirds of the voting interests of the limited liability company, and the members of each profession forming the corporation or limited liability company together own at least twenty per cent of the voting stock of the corporation or at least twenty per cent of the voting interests of the limited liability company, (2) the personnel in responsible charge of the practice of architecture for such corporation or limited liability company shall be licensed under chapter 390 and the personnel in responsible charge of the practice of engineering or land surveying for such corporation or limited liability company shall be licensed under this chapter, and (3) such corporation or limited liability company has been issued a joint certificate of registration by the Department of Consumer Protection at the direction of the Architectural Licensing Board and the appropriate members of the State Board of Examiners for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors designated to administer the provisions of this chapter with respect to professional engineers or land surveyors. Such corporation or limited liability company shall, upon request by the Architectural Licensing Board or the State Board of Examiners for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, provide the requesting board with information concerning its officers, directors, members, beneficial owners and all other aspects of its business organization. Corporations for such joint practice in existence as of July 1, 1992, may continue to be governed by the provisions of this subsection as revised to 1989, provided the certificate issued under this section did not expire more than two years before that date.

      (b) Application by such corporation or limited liability company for a certificate of registration under this section shall be made to both boards jointly on a form prescribed by the department and accompanied by an application fee of four hundred fifty dollars. Each such certificate shall expire annually and shall be renewable upon payment of a fee of three hundred dollars, if all requirements of chapter 390 and this chapter with respect to corporate or limited liability company practice are met. The boards by joint action may refuse to authorize the issuance or renewal of a certificate if any facts exist which would entitle the boards to suspend or revoke an existing certificate.

      (c) Any corporation or limited liability company issued a certificate under this section shall be required to comply with all provisions of chapter 390 and this chapter with respect to corporate or limited liability company practice.

      (d) No such corporation or limited liability company shall be relieved of responsibility for the conduct or acts of its agents, employees, members or officers by reason of its compliance with the provisions of this section, nor shall any individual practicing architecture, engineering or land surveying be relieved of responsibility for services performed by reason of his employment or relationship with such corporation or limited liability company.

      (e) All fees collected under this section shall be paid to the State Treasurer for deposit in the General Fund.

      (f) The Commissioner of Consumer Protection, with the advice and assistance of the Architectural Licensing Board and the appropriate members of the State Board of Examiners for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors designated to administer the provisions of this chapter with respect to professional engineers or land surveyors, shall adopt regulations, in accordance with chapter 54, to carry out the provisions of this section.

      (P.A. 73-470, S. 1; P.A. 77-614, S. 260, 261, 610; P.A. 81-361, S. 15, 39; P.A. 82-317, S. 5, 8; 82-370, S. 10, 16; P.A. 83-574, S. 17, 20; 83-587, S. 36, 37, 96; P.A. 87-271, S. 3; P.A. 89-251, S. 122, 203; P.A. 92-74, S. 1, 7; P.A. 94-36, S. 12, 42; P.A. 98-3, S. 19; 98-137, S. 27, 62; 98-219, S. 33, 34; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, S. 146(c), (d); P.A. 04-169, S. 17; 04-189, S. 1.)

      History: P.A. 77-614 required that fees be paid to treasurer for deposit in general fund rather than that they be "shared equally by the boards" in Subsec. (e) and transferred regulatory power from boards to consumer protection commissioner in Subsec. (f), retaining boards in advisory capacity, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 81-361 amended section to provide that application forms are to be prescribed by the department instead of the board and that issuance or renewal of certificates is to be done by the department upon the authorization of the board; P.A. 82-317 amended Subsec. (b) to increase renewal fee from $50 to $200; P.A. 82-370 referred to certificate of registration rather than certificate of authorization issued by consumer protection department, changed board's name from architectural registration board to architectural examiner's board, replaced references to registration with references to licensure and provided that regulations be adopted in accordance with chapter 54, eliminating the reference to Secs. 4-166 to 4-174; P.A. 83-574 required that at least two-thirds of voting stock of corporation for joint practice be owned by persons licensed to practice engineering or architecture with at least one-third of such stock owned by licensed architects and that corporations furnish information concerning officers, directors, etc. upon request by licensing boards; P.A. 83-587 substituted architectural licensing board for architectural examiners board in Subsecs. (a) and (f); P.A. 87-271 extended the provisions of this section to practice which includes the practice of land surveying; P.A. 89-251 increased initial application fee from $150 to $450 and increased the renewal fee from $200 to $300; P.A. 92-74 amended Subsec. (a) to replace reference to "registered" architects with reference to "licensed" architects, to replace requirement re joint practice that persons licensed as architects under chapter 390 could not own less than one-third of the voting stock of any joint corporation with language providing that members of each profession forming a joint corporation together own at least 20% of the voting stock of the corporation, and to add language providing that corporations for joint practice in existence as of July 1, 1992, would continue to be governed by the provisions of Subsec. (a), as revised to 1989, provided the certificate issued under this section did not expire more than two years before July 1, 1992; P.A. 94-36 amended Subsec. (b) by replacing the certificate expiration date of "one year from the date of its issuance" with "annually", effective January 1, 1995; P.A. 98-3 made technical changes; P.A. 98-137 authorized the formation of a limited liability company for the joint practice of the specified professional services and made conforming changes throughout section, effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 98-219 revised effective date of P.A. 98-137, but without affecting this section; June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6 and P.A. 04-169 replaced Commissioner and Department of Consumer Protection with Commissioner and Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 04-189 repealed Sec. 146 of June 30 Sp. Sess. P.A. 03-6, thereby reversing the merger of the Departments of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, effective June 1, 2004.

      See Sec. 21a-10(b) re staggered schedule for certificate renewals.

      See Secs. 33-182a et seq. re professional service corporations.

      Cited. 4 CA 393.

      Subsec. (b):

      Requires that at least one architect and one engineer form a corporation. 4 CA 393.