Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 327.401 (2026)

Right to practice not transferable

✓ current as of May 2026

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327.401. Right to practice not transferable — corporation, certificate of authority required, exception. — 1. The right to practice as an architect or to practice as a professional engineer or to practice as a professional land surveyor or to practice as a professional landscape architect shall be deemed a personal right, based upon the qualifications of the individual, evidenced by such individual's professional license and shall not be transferable; but any architect or any professional engineer or any professional land surveyor or any professional landscape architect may practice his or her profession through the medium of, or as a member or as an employee of, a partnership or corporation if the plans, specifications, estimates, plats, reports, surveys or other like documents or instruments of the partnership or corporation are signed and stamped with the personal seal of the architect, professional engineer, professional land surveyor, or professional landscape architect by whom or under whose immediate personal supervision the same were prepared and provided that the architect or professional engineer or professional land surveyor or professional landscape architect who affixes his or her signature and personal seal to any such plans, specifications, estimates, plats, reports or other documents or instruments shall be personally and professionally responsible therefor.

2. Any domestic corporation formed under the corporation law of this state, or any foreign corporation, now or hereafter organized and having as one of its purposes the practicing of architecture or professional engineering or professional land surveying or professional landscape architecture and any existing corporation which amends its charter to propose to practice architecture or professional engineering or professional land surveying or professional landscape architecture shall obtain a certificate of authority for each profession named in the articles of incorporation or articles of organization from the board which shall be renewed in accordance with the provisions of section 327.171 or 327.261 or 327.351, as the case may be, and from and after the date of such certificate of authority and while the authority or a renewal thereof is in effect, may offer and render architectural or professional engineering or professional land surveying or professional landscape architectural services in this state if:

(1) At all times during the authorization or any renewal thereof the directors of the corporation shall have assigned responsibility for the proper conduct of all its architectural or professional engineering or professional land surveying or professional landscape architectural activities in this state to an architect licensed and authorized to practice architecture in this state or to a professional engineer licensed and authorized to practice engineering in this state or to a professional land surveyor licensed and authorized to practice professional land surveying in this state, or to a professional landscape architect licensed and authorized to practice professional landscape architecture in this state, as the case may be; and

(2) The person or persons who is or are personally in charge and supervises or supervise the architectural or professional engineering or professional land surveying or professional landscape architectural activities, as the case may be, of any such corporation in this state shall be licensed and authorized to practice architecture or professional engineering or professional land surveying or professional landscape architecture, as the case may be, as provided in this chapter; and

(3) The corporation pays such fees for the certificate of authority, renewals or reinstatements thereof as are required.

The provisions of this subsection requiring corporations to obtain a certificate of authority shall not apply to any rural electrical cooperative organized under the provisions of chapter 394 or to any corporation organized on a nonprofit or a cooperative basis as described in subsection 1 of section 394.200, or to any electrical corporation operating under cooperative business plan, as described in subsection 2 of section 393.110.

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(L. 1969 S.B. 117, A.L. 1981 S.B. 16, A.L. 1996 H.B. 1368, A.L. 1999 H.B. 343, A.L. 2003 S.B. 478, A.L. 2014 S.B. 809, A.L. 2019 H.B. 355)

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases, 1979–2007 · leading case: Hosp. Dev. Corp. v. Park Lane Land Co., 813 S.W.2d 904 (Mo. Ct. App. 1991).

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Hosp. Dev. Corp. v. Park Lane Land Co., 813 S.W.2d 904 (Mo. Ct. App. 1991). · cites it 6× “171, RSMo 1986, and § 327.401, RSMo 1986. 1 URS Corporation also owned a second Missouri corporation, Hewitt & Royer, Inc.”

Duncan v. Missouri Bd. for Architects, Prof'l Engineers & Land Surveyors, 744 S.W.2d 524 (Mo. Ct. App. 1988). · cites it 2× “” Section 327.401 provides that the right to engage in the profession “shall be deemed a personal right, based upon the qualifications of the individual .”

Haith & Co. v. Ellers, Oakley, Chester & Rike, Inc., 778 S.W.2d 417 (Mo. Ct. App. 1989). · cites it 4× “Indeed, subsection 1 of § 327.401 provides that: 1. The right to .”

Space Planners Architects, Inc. v. Frontier Town-Missouri, Inc., 107 S.W.3d 398 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003). “2; 7 Maran-Cooke, Inc. v. Purler Excavating, Inc., 585 S.W.”

Maran-Cooke, Inc. v. Purler Excavating, Inc., 585 S.W.2d 38 (Mo. 1979). “(1) of subsection 2 thereof: “At all times during the authorization or any renewal thereof the directors of the corporation shall have assigned responsibility for the proper conduct of all its . . professional engineering .”

Far East Servs. Corp. v. Tracker Marine, L.L.C., 246 S.W.3d 486 (Mo. Ct. App. 2007). “The record is clear and undisputed that neither Far East nor Giebel are licensed to practice engineering in Missouri, as mandated by sections 327.401 and 327.191, respectively.”

Strain-Japan R-16 Sch. Dist. v. Landmark Sys., Inc., 965 S.W.2d 278 (Mo. Ct. App. 1998). · cites it 2× “Section 327.401(2) permits corporations whose articles permit to be registered as architects or professional engineers.”

— Mo. Rev. Stat. § 327.401(2) — 1 case

Strain-Japan R-16 Sch. Dist. v. Landmark Sys., Inc., 965 S.W.2d 278 (Mo. Ct. App. 1998). “Section 327.401(2) permits corporations whose articles permit to be registered as architects or professional engineers.”

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