OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorable Zaomas 0. Broad, Searetsry-Treaeuzm 

State Board of Arohltectural lZxaminex~~ 

Burt BulldIng 

Dallas, Texar 

Dear Sir: 

brought to our 

of Abllene, Texas, 

Olds, Arohiteotsregistered architect 

Ids is a reglrtered 

ti 

of \ 

ra*noe df opinion about thla among the membera 

ur Bqu&+*%herefore, ve would like your legal 

inte&m3tat,on. ’ 

“d 

Section 11 of Article 249a, Vernon~a Annotated Civil 

Statutes, reads, in part, as follow8 t 

.- 

_~. 

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i - -- ...+..,r.-^.,.a c ^mwr e...-,..- . . , -...-“....., . ..I”.,.” .I”. -. . ....O”.nL”~.*n.“...~” . . . . n.n.“...a.T.CT 
Honorable Tholpoa D. Broad, Seoretary-Treasurer, page 2 

%O. 11. Any P-.-a Or fill4, VhO fO2' 8 

fee or other direct compensation therefoti, ah811 

engage In the planning, or desigalng, or superolalug the oonstruotion of buildings to be emoted 

or altered In this State, bg or for other persons 

than themselves, as a profeselon or buslnesr, and 

shall represent or advertise themselves as arehiteats, arohitectwal designers, or other title of 

profesrion or business using some form of the.vord 

*srahlteot, 9 shall be considered a8 praoticing the 

profession of erohiteoture in thlr State, and shall 

be required to oomply tith the provisions of this 

Aotj and no person or flm shall engage in or oonduot the praotloe of arohiteotum as aforesaid in 

thle State unless a reglstratlon oertlfloate or 

oertlflcstes therelor haQe beea duly Issued to euoh 

person or the members of such firm se provided for 

by thle Act, and no flm or partnership shall engage In, or conduct, the praotfoe of arohlteoture 

81 afolvsald vlthln this State exoept by and through 

persona to vhom reglstr.&lon csrtlflcatea have been 

duly Issued, and vhlch oertlflcatee are In full effect; but nothing In thle Act shall prevent draftsmen, students, clerks of vorlc, superintendents, or 

other employees or assistants of those legally praotlelng archlteature under reglatratlon certificates 

as herein provided for, from acting under the instruction, control, or supervision OS such reglstered arohlteots.” 

Section 1 of Article 32718, Vernon’s Annotaked Cl011 

Statutes, prlvlderr 

%eotlon 1. That In order to safeguard life, 

health, and property, any person practlclng or offering to practice the profession of engineering 

as hereinafter defined shall hereafter be required 

to submit evidence that he 18 qualified 80 to practlce and shall be registered 84 her&miter provldedl 

and it shall be unlavful for any person to practioe 

or offer to practice the profession of engineerIn this state, or to use ln oonnectlon vlth his name 
--- 

J 

. 

Honorable Thomar D. Broad, tage 3 

It vi11 be noted that under Seotlon 11 of Artlole 

249a a 'flm l l l vh0 l 8 + 8h8ll + l l reprerrent or advrrttse 

thenumlver a8 ~uahiteots, arohiteotural designers, or other 

title 0s prore88ion or bu8i.11048 urbg 80010 r0rpl or the rord 

'architeot, ' shall be oonsldered 88 praotlolng the prof8sslon 

ofarchlteotum ln thlr state, 8nd shdllba required to comply vlth the provisions of thl8 ActI and no person or firm 

rhall engage in or oonduot the praotlce of arohlteoture a8 

aforerreld ln t&i8 state unle44 a registration aertlflcate or 

oertlfloatea therefor have been duly 184ued to suah person or 

the member8 0s suoh rim4 a8 provided for by thlr Aot, and no 

flm or partnership shall engage in, or oonduot, the prsotloo 

of erohlteoture aa aroreaald vfhin thi8 8tate exoept by and 

-through per8on8 to vhom registration aertlfloatea have been 

; 44ue erfeot 8 l í 

~nder soor Sng o ur 8 J 

Under the raotr a8 we under8tand them thr only peraon praotlclng the profeeslon of architecture ln the 0880 you 

have preronted Is th8 duly lloermed archlteot and thle 18 

prealaely in aooordanoe vlth the provlrlons of the Seotlon 

above quoted that 'no firm or partnership l l l ah811 practloe 

l + l a r c h lteo tur e l l + except by and through person8 to 

whom reglrtratlon certlflcate8 have been duly 188ued.' 

Seotlon 11 simply raises a presum~tlon that by uslug 

the term "architect" a firm 14 pr8otloing architecture' and 

It Is required that thla profeesrion be praotloed only by the 

member of the flrin duly llcen4ed to practice It. 

In Interpreting Section 1 of Article 3271a, Vernon's 

Annotated Civil Statutea, this department held ln opinion NO. 

O-1901 (conference opinion X0. 3101) that 'The Leglalature ha4 

not men fit to deny, ln speolflo 18nguage, to anyone the right 
Honorable l9m4a8 D. Broad, Page 4 

to advertise hhmr slmpl~ as an 'engineer,' 8nd that a 

person 18 not guilty 88 8 matter 0s lav 0s vlolatlng the 

provisions of Artlole 3271a, Vernon’s Qmotatdd 01~11 

Statutes, when he advertises himself olmpl7 as an 'englneer. I" 

In the absence of a shoving that a member of 

! 

( 

the firm not llaensed a8 such IS hold+ himself out as 

8 flpr0r446i0a engineer’ or "arohiteot (or praotiokng 

such profes8lon8)~ It 14 our oplnlon and you are advised 

that it is not unlavful for a rFrn to us11 it&elf "A & 

B- Arohiteots - lQ@neers' vhen Mr. ‘A’ 14 a registered 

profesrlonal engineer and Hr. aB' 18 a duly lloensed 

arohlteot. 

YOIWB V&r7 tmily 

ATTO- OERBRAL OF TEXAS 

. sullen 

AaBiBtEUit 

JDS:ej 

APPNMD 

OPlNlON 0 COMMITfu 

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