Florida “Ground Zero” for Foodservice Kitchen Designers Across the Country
By Amelia Levin, Sr. Associate Editor -- Foodservice Equipment & Supplies, 5/6/2009 5:58:00 PM
Legislative activity in Florida may impact all foodservice professionals throughout the country who design kitchens but are not licensed interior designers. Last Friday, the state’s House of Representatives passed a bill that will now exclude foodservice equipment manufacturers and their reps, dealers, and their employees from a decade-long law requiring all commercial kitchens be designed only by a licensed interior designer, and approved by a licensed architect.
The amended bill was the result of a year-long lobbying effort on behalf of the North American Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM), the Manufacturers’ Agents Association for the Foodservice Industry (MAFSI), and the Foodservice Equipment Distributor’s Association (FEDA), the Florida Restaurant Association and individual members of the foodservice industry, in conjunction with the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), the Interior Design Protection Council (IDPC), the Institute for Justice and other parties.
“It was a pretty amazing effort on everyone’s part,” said Brad Pierce, president of Orlando-based Restaurant Equipment World, whose dealership took a direct hit the existing Florida design laws. Jerry Pierce, REW chairman, led the company’s defensive efforts. “Jerry’s full-time job in relation to the foodservice industry has been this legislation for the past year,” Brad Pierce said.
Essentially, Pierce said, Florida was “ground zero,” for this matter. He and the petitioning parties had hoped that in passing this bill, other states with the same laws regarding the requirements of interior designers for commercial kitchens would follow suit in adding the exemptions for manufacturers and dealers to their laws.
All 161 representatives in the Florida house voted in favor of this and other amendments to the bill, that threatened to not only criminalize the equipment manufacturer and dealer community, but also the office supply industry, the furniture industry, and other unlicensed, professional interior designers, according to Pierce.
At this point, the amended bill rests on the desk of Florida Governor Charlie Crist, who can sign it into law or veto it. While hopeful the governor would sign off on the bill, Pierce was not exactly sure when or if Crist would take action.
Since 2001 the state of Florida has required all commercial kitchens be designed only by a licensed interior designer with approval by a licensed architect. This requirment went unenforced, until about a year ago when members of the Association Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and the Interior Design Associations Foundation (IDAF) encouraged prosecution against dealerships and other companies that have designed kitchens, office spaces, or have had a part in this type business. REW was among this set of defendants, but after presenting their case before the probable cause panel the case was closed without further prosecution.
Phone calls to ASID and IDAF for comment on the actions of the Florida House and this piece of legislation were not returned.
According to Florida governmental documents, 22 states have title and/or practice laws regarding the requirement of a licensed interior designer on kitchen projects. The title acts state that a foodservice equipment dealer, for example, cannot refer to itself as a licensed interior designer. The practice acts state that in addition to the title act, one cannot actually design a commercial kitchen without being a licensed interior designer.
Although Texas and Minnesota only have title acts, not practice acts, they “are in the hot seat,” with this topic at the moment, Pierce said as licensed designers push for the states to adopt the practice act. The other states with the practice laws, aside from Florida, which Pierce believes pose a greater threat to the foodservice community; include Louisiana; Nevada; and Washington D.C.
Other states with title acts only include Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
For more information, visit www.idpcinfo.org/statelaws.html.
John Cornyn, president of FCSI – The Americas, said the consultant community missed the opportunity to get involved with the lobbying process for this particular bill, due to lack of knowledge about the happenings in Florida that started the stir among the industry. However, he said the group will work to not only re-examine this issue during Florida’s next legislative seasons, but will also examine the issue as it affects other states as well.
According to a copy of the bill, section 481.229 reads:
A manufacturer of commercial food service equipment or the manufacturer's representative, distributor, or dealer or an employee thereof, who prepares designs, specifications, or layouts for the sale or installation of such equipment is exempt from licensure as an architect or interior designer, if: The designs, specifications, or layouts are not used for construction or installation that may affect structural, mechanical, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, ventilating, electrical, or vertical transportation systems; and (b) the designs, specifications, or layouts do not materially affect life safety systems pertaining to fire safety protection, smoke evacuation and compartmentalization, and emergency ingress or egress systems.
In addition, the section reads:
Each design, specification, or layout document prepared by a person or entity exempt under this subsection contains a statement on each page of the document that the designs, specifications, or layouts are not architectural, interior design, or engineering designs, specifications, or layouts and not used for construction unless reviewed and approved by a licensed architect or engineer.
VIEW ALL GALLERIES
