700 Landscape Architects in the State

The impetus of Ohio Senate Bill 225 is to attract more architectural firms to the state. The code also addresses landscape architecture firms.

Ohio Senate Bill 225, sponsored by state Sen. Tim Schaffer, R-Lancaster, was signed into law March 21, 2008.

Sec. 4703.331 states: “A firm, partnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation may provide landscape architectural services in this state as long as the services are provided only through natural persons registered to provide those services in this state and subject to the requirements of this chapter.

(B) No firm, partnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation shall provide landscape architectural services, hold itself out to the public as providing landscape architectural services, or use a name including the word “landscape architect” or any modification or derivation of the word, unless the firm, partnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation files all information required to be filed under this section with the state board of landscape architect examiners and otherwise complies with all requirements of this chapter. A nonprofit membership corporation may use a name including the word ‘landscape architect’ or any modification or derivation of the word without complying with this section.

“No firm, partnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation shall provide or offer to provide landscape architectural services in this state unless more than 50 per cent of the partners, members, or shareholders, more than 50 per cent of the directors in the case of a corporation or professional association, and more than fifty per cent of the managers in the case of a limited liability company the management of which is not reserved to its members, and more than fifty per cent of the trustees in the case of an employee stock ownership plan, are professional engineers, surveyors, architects, or landscape architects or a combination of those professions, who are registered in this or any other state and who own more than fifty per cent of the interests in the firm, partnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation; unless the requirements of this division and of section 1785.02 of the Revised Code are satisfied with respect to any professional association organized under Chapter 1785. of the Revised Code; or unless the requirements of this division and of Chapter 1705. of the Revised Code are satisfied with respect to a limited liability company formed under that chapter.

(E) Each firm, partnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation through which landscape architectural services are offered or provided in this state shall designate one or more trustees, partners, managers, members, officers, or directors as being in responsible charge of the professional landscape architectural activities and decisions, and those designated persons shall be registered in this state.

Each firm, partnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation of that type shall annually file with the state board of landscape architect examiners the name and address of each trustees, partner, manager, officer, director, member, or shareholder, and each firm, partnership, association, limited liability company, or corporation of that type shall annually file with the board the name and address of all persons designated as being in responsible charge of the professional landscape architectural activities and decisions and any other information the board may require. If there is a change in any such person in the interval between filings, the change shall be filed with the board in the manner and within the time that the board determines.

(F) No corporation organized under Chapter 1701. of the Revised Code shall engage in providing landscape architectural services in this state without obtaining a certificate of authorization from the state board of landscape architect examiners. A corporation desiring a certificate of authorization shall file with the board a copy of its articles of incorporation and a listing on the form that the board directs of the names and addresses of all trustees, officers, directors, and shareholders of the corporation, the names and addresses of any individuals providing professional services on behalf of the corporation who are registered to practice landscape architecture in this state, and any other information the board requires. If all requirements of this chapter are met, the board may issue a certificate of authorization to the corporation. No certificate of authorization shall be issued unless persons owning more than fifty per cent of the corporation’s shares and more than fifty per cent of the interests in the corporation are professional engineers, surveyors, architects, or landscape architects, or a combination of those professions, who are registered in this or any other state. Any corporation that holds a certificate of authorization under this section and otherwise meets the requirements of this chapter may be organized for any purposes for which corporations may be organized under Chapter 1701. of the Revised Code and shall not be limited to the purposes of providing professional engineering, surveying, architectural, or landscape architectural services or any combination of those services. The board, by rules adopted in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code, may require any firm, partnership, association, or limited liability company not organized under Chapter 1701. of the Revised Code that provides landscape architectural services to obtain a certificate of authorization. If the board so requires, no firm, partnership, association, or limited liability company shall engage in providing landscape architectural services without obtaining the certificate and complying with the rules.