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Bus. & Prof. Code, § 5536.25 · Article 3. Application of Chapter

Bus. & Prof. Code, § 5536.25

Verbatim from the official edition

Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)

(a) A licensed architect who signs and stamps plans, specifications, reports, or documents shall not be responsible for damage caused by subsequent changes to or uses of those plans, specifications, reports, or documents, where the subsequent changes or uses, including changes or uses made by state or local governmental agencies, are not authorized or approved in writing by the licensed architect who originally signed the plans, specifications, reports, or documents, provided that the written authorization or approval was not unreasonably withheld by the architect and the architectural service rendered by the architect who signed and stamped the plans, specifications, reports, or documents was not also a proximate cause of the damage.

(b) The signing and stamping of plans, specifications, reports, or documents which relate to the design of fixed works shall not impose a legal duty or responsibility upon the person signing the plans, specifications, reports, or documents to observe the construction of the fixed works that are the subject of the plans, specifications, reports, or documents. However, this section shall not preclude an architect and a client from entering into a contractual agreement that includes a mutually acceptable arrangement for the provision of construction observation services. This subdivision shall not modify the liability of an architect who undertakes, contractually or otherwise, the provision of construction observation services for rendering those services.

(c) (1) For purposes of this section, “construction observation services” means periodic observation of completed work to determine general compliance with the plans, specifications, reports, or other contract documents. However, “construction observation services” does not mean the superintendence of construction processes, site conditions, operations, equipment, or personnel, or the maintenance of a safe place to work or any safety in, on, or about the site.

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, “periodic observation” means visits by an architect, or their agent, to the site of a work of improvement.

Notes and commentary — not statutory text

History

Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 482, Sec. 5. (SB 1452) Effective January 1, 2025.

Source of truth

Edition
As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
Official file
https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=BPC&sectionNum=5536.25.
Text hash
sha256 da7dab6b0f63720985604a580bfb96ea323b907631b9f255b44afdf28464b4a7
Composed by
compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section

Cited by 1 provision

Provisions in this library whose text cites Bus. & Prof. Code, § 5536.25. Each shows the citation as that text prints it.

Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.