327.401. Right to practice not transferable--corporation, certificate of authority required. - Missouri Statutes

Right to practice not transferable--corporation, certificate ofauthority required.

327.401. 1. The right to practice as an architect or to practice asa professional engineer or to practice as a professional land surveyor orto practice as a landscape architect shall be deemed a personal right,based upon the qualifications of the individual, evidenced by suchindividual's professional license and shall not be transferable; but anyarchitect or any professional engineer or any professional land surveyor orany landscape architect may practice his or her profession through themedium of, or as a member or as an employee of, a partnership orcorporation if the plans, specifications, estimates, plats, reports,surveys or other like documents or instruments of the partnership orcorporation are signed and stamped with the personal seal of the architect,professional engineer, professional land surveyor, or landscape architectby whom or under whose immediate personal supervision the same wereprepared and provided that the architect or professional engineer orprofessional land surveyor or landscape architect who affixes his or hersignature and personal seal to any such plans, specifications, estimates,plats, reports or other documents or instruments shall be personally andprofessionally responsible therefor.

2. Any domestic corporation formed under the corporation law of thisstate, or any foreign corporation, now or hereafter organized and having asone of its purposes the practicing of architecture or professionalengineering or professional land surveying or landscape architecture andany existing corporation which amends its charter to propose to practicearchitecture or professional engineering or professional land surveying orlandscape architecture shall obtain a certificate of authority for eachprofession named in the articles of incorporation or articles oforganization from the board which shall be renewed in accordance with theprovisions of section 327.171 or 327.261 or 327.351, as the case may be,and from and after the date of such certificate of authority and while theauthority or a renewal thereof is in effect, may offer and renderarchitectural or professional engineering or professional land surveying orlandscape architectural services in this state if:

(1) At all times during the authorization or any renewal thereof thedirectors of the corporation shall have assigned responsibility for theproper conduct of all its architectural or professional engineering orprofessional land surveying or landscape architectural activities in thisstate to an architect licensed and authorized to practice architecture inthis state or to a professional engineer licensed and authorized topractice engineering in this state or to a professional land surveyorlicensed and authorized to practice professional land surveying in thisstate, or to a landscape architect licensed and authorized to practicelandscape architecture in this state, as the case may be; and

(2) The person or persons who is or are personally in charge andsupervises or supervise the architectural or professional engineering orprofessional land surveying or landscape architectural activities, as thecase may be, of any such corporation in this state shall be licensed andauthorized to practice architecture or professional engineering orprofessional land surveying or landscape architecture, as the case may be,as provided in this chapter; and

(3) The corporation pays such fees for the certificate of authority,renewals or reinstatements thereof as are required.

(L. 1969 S.B. 117, A.L. 1981 S.B. 16, A.L. 1996 H.B. 1368, A.L. 1999 H.B. 343, A.L. 2003 S.B. 478)

(1993) Although individual engineers providing defendant with designs were registered under Missouri law, contracts were unenforceable, because chapter 327, RSMo clearly requires that a corporation which practices engineering obtain a certificate of authority from the board for architects, professional engineers, and land surveyors, in addition to the registration of individual engineers. Ellers, Oakley, et al. v. St. Louis Air Cargo, 984 F.2d 1108 (10th Cir.).