On behalf of the membership of the Virginia Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID Virginia), I strongly support the continued certification of Landscape Architects in Virginia.  Interior Designers and Landscape Architects have a rich history of working together on multidisciplinary design teams.  Though we may be seen as operating in different domains, our disciplines are more intertwined than one would think since the aim of great design is to bring the outside in and the inside out.  This is a design outcome that everyone understands as a vital component of safe and healthy spaces.  This has become even more universally understood as we navigate the demands of the current pandemic – often living, learning, playing, dining and even worshiping in outdoor spaces.

The expertise needed requires years of training and a commitment to continued learning, which demonstrates a high degree of professionalism and pride that is well earned.  We hold our Landscape Architect colleagues in the highest esteem – on par with any other professionally licensed designer or engineer.  They bring a critical, trained design eye and technical know-how that provides aesthetically pleasing spaces that are underpinned by detailed design elements that protect the public from physical and monetary harm, provide accessibility for all users and deliver enduring landscapes that impact our lives on a daily basis.

Eliminating this certification would be detrimental to the design industry and to Landscape Architects that have dedicated their lives in service to a loved profession and in service to the citizens of the Commonwealth and beyond.  ASID Virginia views the elimination of voluntary certification to be poor public policy and urges the Board of Professional and Occupational Regulation to recommend the continued certification of Landscape Architects.

Please also consider the thoughtfully laid out points below.

Protection of Public Health, Safety, and Welfare

• Landscape architects directly impact public health, safety, and welfare. Licensure is the most appropriate form of regulation to ensure that the public is adequately protected.
• Licensure of landscape architects ensures that professionals are qualified by virtue of their education, experience, and examination.
• Licensure of landscape architects ensures that untrained individuals are prevented from engaging in professional practice that substantially (or significantly) impacts public health, safety and welfare. Licensed landscape architects fulfill educational training and examination requirements that prepare professionals to protect the public from both physical and monetary harm.
• Landscape architects are called upon for complex services that require highly technical skills, making it difficult for prospective clients to evaluate the competency of professionals. Licensure as a measure of competence can assist consumers in identifying appropriate professionals for design services.
• The scope of landscape architectural practice includes site plans, plans of development, grading plans, vehicular roadways and pedestrian systems design, stormwater and erosion control plans, and the siting of buildings and structures, all work that localities and federal agencies require to be sealed by licensed professionals. Consequently, the scope of landscape architecture overlaps with other licensed design professionals including architects, engineers, and Class B land surveyors.

Fair Competition and Economic Impact

• Without licensure, landscape architects would likely be prohibited from leading multidisciplinary teams. Currently, landscape architects serve as the prime consultants on projects where they coordinate and administer the services of engineers, architects, and land surveyors.
• Without licensure, landscape architects will be unfairly disadvantaged in the marketplace. Oftentimes, federal, state, and local contracts require the work to be completed by licensed individuals.
• Virginia landscape architects would be excluded from federal, state, and local work in Virginia that requires licensure.
• Licensure of landscape architects is necessary to keep the profession on an equal footing with its related licensed design professions, architecture and engineering. This equality enables landscape architects to lead projects, form certain business partnerships, and serve as principals in multidisciplinary firms.
• Licensure for one profession, and certification, registration, or no regulation for the other, can cause confusion in the marketplace and may be perceived by the consumer as an endorsement of the skill and competence of one profession over the other. Where the professions overlap, it provides a state-sanctioned advantage for one profession over the other. This destroys the competitive, free market in which design professionals compete.

Thank you for consideration.

Sincerely,

Matthew Lee, CID, ASID, LEED BD+C, WELL AP

President, ASID Virginia