Advocacy Update: SAC Fingerprinting Requirements

Starting January 1, 2014, architects who apply for an occupational license in Texas will have to share their fingerprints with the state. Texas House Bill 1717, passed earlier this year, says that applicants seeking a license from the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners must submit "a complete and legible set of fingerprints, on a form prescribed by the board, to the board or to the Department of Public Safety for the purpose of obtaining criminal history record information." The FBI would also have access to all those fingerprints.

The requirement applies not just to new applicants, but also to licensed architects seeking to have their registrations renewed. Violators face a fine of up to $5,000 per day in which they are not in compliance with the new law. Currently only one other state (Massachusetts) even runs criminal background checks on architects. Now Texas is upping the ante.

The scuttlebutt among architects wandering the floor of the Texas Society of Architects (TSA) annual design convention and expo this November centered around one topic: fingerprinting. House bill 1717 passed both houses of the Texas legislature and became effective on September 1, making several changes to the way the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners (TBAE) operates. Sections two and five establish a new requirement for fingerprint-based criminal history checks of TBAE registrants. All active status registration renewals and or new applications for registration will require fingerprinting as of January 1, 2014.

“Sometime back, the legislature became convinced that if there was an individual licensed by the state who had access to someone’s kids, to their house, to their money, or to drugs or explosives, then steps needed to be taken to do a more thorough background check,” David Lancaster, senior advocate of Texas Society of Architects, told AN. “When we heard about it being added to our Sunset Bill this time our initial reaction was, ‘Architects? Are you kidding me?’”1

  • 1. source: http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=6976