Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2317 – Ownership of documents
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2317
- Professional services: means those services performed by an architect, engineer, or landscape architect. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2310
- Public entity: means and includes the state of Louisiana, or any agency, board, commission, department, or public corporation of the state, created by the constitution or statute or pursuant thereto, or any political subdivision of the state, including but not limited to any political subdivision as defined in Article VI Section 44 of the Constitution of Louisiana, and any public housing authority, public school board, or any public officer whether or not an officer of a public corporation or political subdivision. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 38:2211
A. Any and all plans, designs, specifications, or other construction documents resulting from professional services paid for by any public entity shall remain the property of the public entity whether the project for which they were prepared was constructed or not. Except as otherwise provided herein, such documents may be used by the public entity to construct another like project without the approval of, or additional compensation to, the design professional.
B. The designer shall not be liable for injury or damage resulting from any re-use of plans, designs, specifications, or other construction documents by a public entity, if the designer is not also involved in the re-use project.
C. The designer may re-use his design documents however he so desires.
D. The right of ownership provided for in this Section shall not be transferable.
E. Prior to the re-use of construction documents for a project in which the designer is not also involved, the public entity shall remove and obliterate from the construction documents all identification of the original designer, including name, address, and professional seal or stamp.
Acts 1982, No. 693, §1; Acts 1991, No. 177, §1, eff. July 2, 1991.