(a) A Registered Interior Designer or a Principal on behalf of an Interior Design firm who forms a business association to jointly provide services with any Nonregistrant who is:

(1) not an employee of the Registered Interior Designer or the Interior Design firm;

(2) not a client of the Registered Interior Designer or the Interior Design firm; and

(3) not a subcontractor nor a consultant of the Registered Interior Designer or Interior Design firm under contract with a client except as described in subsection (e) of this section shall, prior to providing such services on behalf of the business association, enter into a written agreement of association with the Nonregistrant whereby the Registered Interior Designer or the Interior Design firm agrees to be responsible for the preparation of all Construction Documents issued by the association.

(b) The written agreement of association shall include the following:

(1) The date when the agreement to associate is effective;

(2) The name, address, telephone number, registration number, and signature of the Registered Interior Designer or the Principal on behalf of the Interior Design firm which has agreed to associate with the Nonregistrant;

(3) The name, address, telephone number, and signature of the Nonregistrant with whom the Registered Interior Designer or Principal has agreed to associate.

(c) The Registered Interior Designer shall prepare or exercise Supervision and Control over the preparation of all Construction Documents issued by the association unless the Construction Documents are prepared and issued as described in subsection (e) of this section. All Construction Documents prepared pursuant to the association described in this section shall be sealed, signed, and dated in accordance with the provisions of Subchapter F.

(d) The Registered Interior Designer who seals Construction Documents on behalf of the association shall retain paper or electronic copies of them together with the written agreement of association and make them available for review by the Board for ten (10) years after the date of the Registered Interior Designer's signature on the Construction Documents.

(e) If, pursuant to §1053.002(b) of the Texas Occupations Code, a Texas Registered Interior Designer associates with a person who is not a Texas Registered Interior Designer but is registered as an interior designer in another jurisdiction and does not maintain or open an office in Texas, the Texas Registered Interior Designer shall, at a minimum, exercise Responsible Charge over the preparation of all Construction Documents issued for use in Texas as a result of the association. The Texas Registered Interior Designer shall seal, sign, and date all Construction Documents issued for use in Texas as a result of the association in the same manner as if the Registered Interior Designer had prepared the Construction Documents or they had been prepared under the Registered Interior Designer's Supervision and Control. All other requirements of this section relating to associations apply to an association between a Registered Interior Designer and a person registered as an interior designer in another jurisdiction regardless of whether the Texas Registered Interior Designer or the interior designer from another jurisdiction acts as the "consultant" as that term is used in §1053.002(b) of the Texas Occupations Code.

Source Note: The provisions of this §5.132 adopted to be effective February 27, 2001, 26 TexReg 1724; amended to be effective September 19, 2006, 31 TexReg 7995; amended to be effective June 13, 2010, 35 TexReg 4706