Florida Statute 481.213 - Full Text and Legal Analysis

The 2025 Florida Statutes

Title XXXII
REGULATION OF PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS

Chapter 481
ARCHITECTURE, INTERIOR DESIGN, AND LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE

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481.213 Licensure and registration.—

(1) The department shall license or register any applicant who the board certifies is qualified for licensure or registration and who has paid the initial licensure or registration fee. Licensure as an architect under this section shall be deemed to include all the rights and privileges of registration as an interior designer under this section.

(2) The board shall certify for licensure or registration by examination any applicant who passes the prescribed licensure or registration examination and satisfies the requirements of ss. 481.209 and 481.211, for architects, or the requirements of s. 481.209, for interior designers.

(3) The board shall certify as qualified for a license by endorsement as an architect or registration as a registered interior designer an applicant who:

(a) Qualifies to take the prescribed licensure or registration examination, and has passed the prescribed licensure or registration examination or a substantially equivalent examination in another jurisdiction, as set forth in s. 481.209 for architects or registered interior designers, as applicable, and has satisfied the internship requirements set forth in s. 481.211 for architects;

(b) Holds a valid license to practice architecture or a license, registration, or certification to practice interior design issued by another jurisdiction of the United States, if the criteria for issuance of such license were substantially equivalent to the licensure criteria that existed in this state at the time the license was issued; or

(c) Has passed the prescribed licensure examination and holds a valid certificate issued by the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, and holds a valid license to practice architecture issued by another state or jurisdiction of the United States.

An architect who is licensed in another state who seeks qualification for license by endorsement under this subsection must complete a 2-hour class approved by the board on wind mitigation techniques.

(4) The board may refuse to certify any applicant who has violated any of the provisions of s. 481.223, s. 481.225, or s. 481.2251, as applicable.

(5) The board may refuse to certify any applicant who is under investigation in any jurisdiction for any act which would constitute a violation of this part or of chapter 455 until such time as the investigation is complete and disciplinary proceedings have been terminated.

(6) The board shall adopt rules to implement the provisions of this part relating to the examination, internship, and licensure of applicants.

(7) For persons whose licensure requires satisfaction of the requirements of ss. 481.209 and 481.211, the board shall, by rule, establish qualifications for certification of such persons as special inspectors of threshold buildings, as defined in ss. 553.71 and 553.79, and shall compile a list of persons who are certified. A special inspector is not required to meet standards for certification other than those established by the board, and the fee owner of a threshold building may not be prohibited from selecting any person certified by the board to be a special inspector. The board shall develop minimum qualifications for the qualified representative of the special inspector who is authorized under s. 553.79 to perform inspections of threshold buildings on behalf of the special inspector.

(8) A certificate of registration is not required for a person whose occupation or practice is confined to interior decorator services or for a person whose occupation or practice is confined to interior design as provided in this part.

History.—ss. 8, 19, ch. 79-273; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; ss. 9, 23, 24, ch. 88-383; s. 5, ch. 89-66; s. 9, ch. 89-162; s. 4, ch. 91-429; ss. 155, 236, 302, 308, ch. 94-119; ss. 5, 6, ch. 95-389; s. 129, ch. 98-166; s. 38, ch. 2000-141; s. 189, ch. 2000-160; s. 28, ch. 2012-61; s. 17, ch. 2014-18; s. 45, ch. 2020-160.

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Amendments to 481.213

Annotations, Discussions, Cases:

Cases Citing Statute 481.213

Total Results: 6 | Sort by: Relevance | Newest First

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O'Kon & Co., Inc. v. Riedel, 588 So. 2d 1025 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991).

Cited 2 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1991 WL 224984

...sonnel of the corporation or partnership who act in its behalf as architects in this state are registered as provided by this act; and (b) The corporation or partnership has been issued a certificate of authorization by the department as provided in s. 481.213....

...e appellant's contract claim required additional fact finding. It is therefore my view that O'Kon I necessarily presented this court with the following issue: Does the appellant corporation's failure to secure certification as prescribed in sections 481.213(4) and 481.219(1)(b), Florida Statutes, bar the corporation from recovering fees for architectural services? My reading of O'Kon I suggests that we answered this issue in the negative....

...denied enforcement of its contract for architectural fees. Conversely, however, paragraph (1)(b) of the section, requiring certification by the department, does not appear to have a similar purpose. When paragraph (1)(b) is read in conjunction with section 481.213(4), it is apparent that certification is automatic where the corporation is in compliance with 481.219(1)(a)....

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Dist. Bd. of Trs. v. Morgan, 890 So. 2d 1155 (Fla. 5th DCA 2004).

Cited 1 times | Published | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2004 Fla. App. LEXIS 19293, 2004 WL 2922479

...ign and preparation of bidding documents associated with the construction of the St. Johns River Community College's visual and performing arts complex. Mr. Morgan and Mr. Stresing are both licensed Florida architects, having met the requirements of section 481.213, Florida Statutes (1999)....

...1st DCA 1991) (" O'Kon II "). The problem is that both Mr. Morgan and Mr. Stresing, the sum total of persons offering architecture services through MSA, are both fully licensed by the State of Florida as architects. The licensing statute for architects is section 481.213, not section 481.219....

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Cases v. Dep't of Bus. & Prof'l Reg., Bd. of Architecture & Interior Design, 651 So. 2d 772 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1995).

Published | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1995 Fla. App. LEXIS 2280, 1995 WL 91864

...on of the statute means that the requirement of a five year degree has been eliminated. If section 481.209 were the only statute involved, we would be inclined to agree. However, there are three statutory sections which must be read in pari materia. Section 481.213, Florida Statutes (1993), defines the criteria for licensure. The statute provides, in part, that “[t]he board shall certify for licensure by examination any applicant who passes the prescribed licensure examination and satisfies the requirements of ss. 481.209 and 481.211, for architects." Id. § 481.213(2) (emphasis added)....

...ure and the Master of Architecture degrees. The two alternatives do not include the Bachelor of Science of Architecture degree held by the applicant. All three of the above cited statutory sections must be read in pari materia. That is so because subsection 481.213(2) explicitly requires applicants to comply with both section 481.209 and 481.211. All three sections were extensively revised by chapter 88-383, Laws of Florida. We conclude that the Board’s reading of the statute is correct. The applicant argues alternatively that he should be licensed under the provisions of paragraph 481.213(3)(b), Florida Statutes (1993)....

...order for the New York license to be accepted here by endorsement, the New York criteria for issuance of the license must be “substantially equivalent to the licensure criteria which existed in this state at the time the license was issued.” Id. § 481.213(3)(b), i.e., in 1992....

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O'Kon & Co., Inc. v. Riedel, 540 So. 2d 836 (Fla. 1st DCA 1989).

Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1988 WL 134442

...ice in this state if, (a) one or more of the principal officers or partners and all personnel who act in its behalf as architects are registered, AND (b) the corporation has been issued a certificate of authorization by the department as provided in section 481.213, Florida Statutes....

...nd inspection by the board of the curriculum of accredited schools and colleges of architecture in the United States, including those schools and colleges accredited by the National Architectural Accreditation Board. (Emphasis supplied.) * * * * * * 481.213 Licensure....

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Ellinwood v. Bd. of Architecture & Interior Design, 835 So. 2d 1269 (Fla. 1st DCA 2003).

Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2003 Fla. App. LEXIS 962, 2003 WL 215054

...Sellers of Sellers Law Firm, P.L., Tallahassee, for Appellant. Charlie Crist, Attorney General, and Ann Cocheu, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Appellee. PER CURIAM. Dwight Ellinwood appeals the denial of his application for an architect's license under section 481.213(3), Florida Statutes....

...Ellinwood received a bachelor of design in architecture from the University of Florida in 1977. He has been a licensed architect in Georgia since 1986, and also is licensed in Virginia and Pennsylvania. In March 2000, Ellinwood applied for a Florida license, seeking licensure by endorsement pursuant to section 481.213(3), Florida Statutes. Section 481.213(3) states: The board shall certify as qualified for a license by endorsement as an architect or as an interior designer an applicant who: (a) Qualifies to take the prescribed licensure examination, and has passed the prescribed licens...

...Section 481.209(1)(b) states that an applicant must have degree from a school or college accredited by the National Architectural Accreditation Board, which effectively requires an applicant to have a five-year degree in architecture. Under the Board's interpretation of section 481.213(3), the five-year degree requirement applies to paragraphs (b) and (c)....

...n overturn the agency's interpretation if it is clearly erroneous. See Ocampo v. Dep't of Health, 806 So.2d 633, 634 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002). The Board's application of the five-year degree requirement to both paragraph (b) and (c) is clearly erroneous. Section 481.213(3) is unambiguous and must be given its plain meaning....

...2 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Based on these circumstances, the five-year degree requirement plainly applies only to paragraph (c). Therefore, we reverse the Board's denial of Ellinwood's application and remand for reconsideration of the application under section 481.213(3)(b), Florida Statutes....

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Ellinwood v. State, Bd. of Architecture & Interior Design, 889 So. 2d 1006 (Fla. 1st DCA 2004).

Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 2004 Fla. App. LEXIS 19996, 2004 WL 2996835

PER CURIAM. Appellant seeks a Florida architectural license by endorsement under section 481.213(3)(b), Florida Statutes (1999)....

...See Cases v. Dep’t of Bus. & Prof'l Regulation, 651 So.2d 772, 774 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995); see also, e.g., Ellinwood, 835 So.2d at 1270 . Accordingly, we AFFIRM the Board’s denial of appellant’s application for licensure by endorsement under section 481.213(3)(b)....

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