§ 210. Unprofessional conduct
Unprofessional conduct means the following conduct and the conduct set forth in 3 V.S.A. § 129a:
(1) assisting the application for licensure of a person known by the licensee to be unqualified
in respect to education, training, or experience;
(2) accepting compensation for services from more than one party on a project unless the
circumstances are fully disclosed and agreed to by all interested parties;
(3) failing to disclose fully in writing to a client or employer the nature of any business
association or direct or indirect financial interest substantial enough to influence
the licensee’s judgment in the performance of professional services;
(4) soliciting or accepting compensation from material or equipment suppliers in return
for specifying or endorsing their products;
(5) rendering decisions favoring either party to a contract when acting as interpreter
of building contract documents and judge of contract performance;
(6) failing to disclose compensation for making public statements on architectural questions;
(7) offering or making any payment or gift to an elected or appointed government official
with the intent to influence the official’s judgment in connection with a prospective
or existing project in which the licensee is interested;
(8) offering or making any gifts of other than nominal value, including reasonable entertainment
and hospitality, with the intent to influence the judgment of an existing or prospective
client in connection with a project in which the licensee is interested;
(9) practicing or offering to practice beyond the scope permitted by law;
(10) knowingly designing a project in violation of applicable state and local building
laws and regulations;
(11) accepting and performing responsibilities that the licensee knows or has reason to
know that he or she is not competent to perform or undertaking to perform professional
services in specific technical areas in which the licensee is not qualified by education,
training, and experience;
(12) failing to practice with reasonable care and competence and to apply the technical
knowledge and skill ordinarily applied by licensees practicing in the same locality;
(13) making any willful material misrepresentation with respect to the qualifications of
or experience of an applicant or otherwise in the practice of the profession, whether
by commission or omission;
(14) agreeing with any other person, as defined in 1 V.S.A. § 128, or subscribing to any code of ethics or organizational bylaws, when the intent or
primary effect of that agreement, code, or bylaw is to restrict or limit the flow
of information concerning alleged or suspected unprofessional conduct to the Board;
(15) failing to report to the Board knowledge of a violation of these rules by another
licensee;
(16) failing to report to the public official charged with enforcement of applicable state
or municipal building laws and regulations any decision taken by the licensee’s employer
or client, against the licensee’s advice, which violates applicable state or municipal
building laws and regulations and which will, in the licensee’s judgment, materially
affect adversely safety to the public or the finished project;
(17) acting, while serving as a Board member, in any way to contravene willfully the provisions
of this chapter and thereby artificially restricting the entry of qualified persons
into the profession;
(18) using the licensee’s seal on drawings prepared by others not in the licensee’s direct
employ, or using the seal of another;
(19) inaccurately representing to a prospective or existing client or employer the licensee’s
qualifications and scope of responsibility for work for which the licensee claims
credit;
(20) signing or sealing technical submissions unless they were prepared by or under the
responsible control of the licensee; except that (A) the licensee may sign or seal
those portions of the technical submissions that were prepared by or under the responsible
control of persons who are licensed under this chapter if the licensee has reviewed
and adopted in whole or in part such portions and has either coordinated their preparation
or integrated them into his or her work, and (B) the licensee may sign or seal those
portions of the technical submissions that are not required by this section to be
prepared by or under the responsible control of a licensee if the licensee has reviewed
and adopted in whole or in part such submissions and integrated them into his or her
work. Reviewing, or reviewing and correcting, technical submissions after they have
been prepared by others does not constitute the exercise of responsible control because
the reviewer has neither control over nor detailed knowledge of the content of such
submissions throughout their preparation. Any licensee signing and sealing technical
submissions not prepared by that licensee but prepared under the licensee’s responsible
control by persons not regularly employed in the office where the licensee is resident
shall maintain and make available to the Board upon request, for at least five years
following such signing and sealing, adequate and complete records demonstrating the
nature and extent of the licensee’s control over and detailed knowledge of such technical
submissions throughout their preparation;
(21) in each office maintained for preparation of drawings, specifications, reports, or
other professional work, failing to have a licensee with direct knowledge and supervisory
control of such work resident and regularly employed in that office. (Amended 1985, No. 248 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1997, No. 145 (Adj. Sess.), § 33; 1999, No. 52, § 5b.)