The Issue The issue to be resolved in this proceeding concerns whether the Respondents practiced architecture without being appropriately licensed, as alleged in the Administrative Complaint, and, if so, what, if any, penalty should be imposed.
Findings Of Fact The Petitioner is an agency of the State of Florida charged, as pertinent hereto, with the responsibility of regulating entry into the practice of architecture and the practice of architecture, including regulation and enforcement concerning proper certification and licensure with regard to the practice of architecture in accordance with Chapters 20, 455, and 481, Florida Statutes. The Respondents are not certified or licensed as an architect or architectural business in accordance with Chapter 481, Part I, Florida Statutes. The Respondent, Lee Mabire, is the sole stock holder and officer of the Respondent, Lee Mabire & Company. Sometime in September 2001, the Respondent, Lee Mabire, was contacted by Mike Rush to provide drawings for a commercial construction project located at 2621 Michigan Avenue, in Pensacola, Florida. The property in question is owned by Lavonia Ives. Mike Rush, the builder, had commenced construction of the renovations requested by Ms. Ives, the owner, but the work on the renovations had ceased because Mr. Rush had never obtained a building permit. Ms. Ives was renovating the property because she intended to lease it to a biomedical company. Mr. Rush needed plans drawn for the project in order to obtain the necessary building permit. Mr. Rush provided the Respondent with a floor plan at the initial meeting he scheduled with the Respondent, Mr. Mabire. The floor plan included a reception area, a conference room, repair shop, storage, warehouse, kitchen, bathroom, and five offices. The project clearly would cost in excess of $25,000.00 as described by Mr. Rush in his request for plans made to the Respondent. The building was designed to include a reception area that had a door open to the public. The Respondent drafted the plumbing, mechanical, and electrical drawings for the project. Oscar Woody, a licensed architect, first became aware of the Ives project through the Respondent. The Respondent gave Mr. Woody several sheets of drawings that he had already prepared. Mr. Woody was responsible for assuring that the plans for the building complied with the American With Disabilities Act. The Respondent is not an employee of Woody or Oscar Woody & Associates and has never received a W-2 form from either of those entities. On November 5, 2001, Mr. Woody signed and sealed the plans prepared for the Ives project. The plans which Mr. Woody signed and sealed as an architect had been prepared by the Respondent. The plans included three pages, a floor plan, an electrical plan, and an HVAC plan. The plans for the project were submitted to the city building department for permitting on November 5, 2002. Mr. Rush told the owner, Ms. Ives, that the Respondent had prepared the architectural drawings for the project. On November 5, 2001, at a meeting outside the building department office, the Respondent gave the plans to Ms. Ives. This was the first time Ms. Ives had ever met the Respondent in person. Prior to the hearing, Ms. Ives had never met Mr. Woody nor had any discussions with Mr. Woody. On that same day, November 5, 2001, Ms. Ives gave the Respondent a check in the amount of $2,400.00 and, at the request of the Respondent, left the payee portion of the check blank. The Respondent later filled in Oscar Woody & Associates as the payee of the check. Ms. Ives requested that the Respondent prepare a receipt for the services he provided an evidencing that payment had been made. The Respondent prepared and signed the receipt for the payment dated December 4, 2001, that describes the scope of services as "Comm. Bldg. Rem. Plans to code." Mr. Woody's name does not appear anywhere on the receipt. The building department required Mr. Woody to revise the electrical and HVAC sheets contained in the plans which he had signed and sealed. Those revised drawings were prepared by the Respondent, however. Mr. Woody signed and sealed the revised drawings on December 11, 2001. On that same day, Ms. Ives gave the Respondent a check in the amount of $125.00 made payable to Lee Mabire Company. The memo on that checks states "revised blueprints, Michigan Avenue." The Respondent provided Ms. Ives another receipt for the payment and described the services as "revised blueprints to meet code." Throughout this sequence of events, the Respondent was the only person Ms. Ives had contact with regarding the architectural drawings that were filed with the building department, other than Mr. Rush and personnel from the building department itself. On February 12, 2002, Don Mathys, filed a complaint with the department against the Respondents for drawing and submitting plans to the Escambia County Building Department for a commercial project. Mr. Mathys was previously a Florida licensed architect, who was chief plans examiner for the Escambia County Building Inspections Department at the time the complaint was filed. The Respondent, Mr. Mabire, has previously been disciplined by the department for the unlicensed practice of contracting and has received a Notice and Order to Cease and Desist as to that disciplinary action on February 18, 2000. The Notice and Order to Cease and Desist pertained to a set of drawings prepared by the Respondent for an office building.
Recommendation Having considered the foregoing Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, the evidence of record, the candor and demeanor of the witness, and the pleadings and arguments of the parties it is, therefore, RECOMMENDED that a final order be entered by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation finding that the Respondents Lee Mabire and Lee Mabire Company violated the above referenced statutory provisions concerning the unlicensed practice of architecture; that an administrative fine in the amount of $2,000.00 be imposed against the Respondents, and that they be required to pay the costs, other than attorney's fees, in the amount of $2,111.25. DONE AND ENTERED this 8th day of June, 2004, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. S P. MICHAEL RUFF Administrative Law Judge Division of Administrative Hearings The DeSoto Building 1230 Apalachee Parkway Tallahassee, Florida 32399-3060 (850) 488-9675 SUNCOM 278-9675 Fax Filing (850) 921-6847 www.doah.state.fl.us Filed with Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 8th day of June, 2004. COPIES FURNISHED: David K. Minacci, Esquire Smith, Thompson, Shaw & Manausa, P.A. 2075 Centre Pointe Boulevard Tallahassee, Florida 32308-4893 Lee Mabire, pro se 4440 Bayou Boulevard, No. 25 Pensacola, Florida 32503 Sherry Landrum, Executive Director Architecture and Interior Design Department of Business and Professional Regulation 1940 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0792 Nancy Campiglia, General Counsel Department of Business and Professional Regulation 1940 North Monroe Street Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0729
