State of Missouri Passes Peer Review Process for Design Professionals

Missouri is now the first state in the nation to provide legal protection to design professionals who take part in peer review processes. Traditionally outside firms have been reluctant to take part in peer reviews for fear of being lumped together in lawsuits and legal matters resulting from projects. With protection for outside firms involved in the process, architects and designers will be able to establish best practices and omit errors in future designs more efficiently.

Ultimately, what this new law allows designers to do is catch more flaws on the front end which in turn speeds up the design process and creates safer buildings. Several other states may soon follow Missouri's example on this piece of legislation:

This bill establishes a peer review process through which design professionals evaluate, maintain, or monitor the quality and utilization of services performed and/or prepare internal lessons learned by a licensed architect, landscape architect, professional land surveyor, or professional engineer. The bill specifies the process and the participants in the process and authorizes immunity from civil liability for each third-party peer reviewer with specified exceptions if the review is performed before each substantial completion of the project. Except for documents related to lessons learned, specified information and materials from the peer review process are subject to discovery, subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion and are admissible in any judicial or administrative action. The provisions of the bill cannot limit the authority of the Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors and Landscape Architects within the Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration to obtain information by subpoena or other authorized process from a peer reviewer or to require disclosure of otherwise confidential information relating to matters and investigations within the jurisdiction of the licensing board. These provisions expire on January 1, 2023, but will continue to apply to peer reviews and lessons learned proceedings performed prior to that date.

The Official PDF of the Bill can be viewed here as well as on the Missouri House of Representatives website.