Why are we hanging Architects for the illegal actions of a homeowner?
German architect gets one-year sentence in death of L.A. firefighter
I learned about this story because it came up in our lengthy discussions on LinkedIn about who can call themselves an architect (if you are part of the AIA LinkedIn group, join the discussion). John Valle, an architect in California made some great points in the discussion and also wrote a letter to the editor in response to the above article. He has generously agreed to let me share his letter on the blog. I’ll let you read his thoughts and then add a few of my own at the bottom.
Hello Mr. Paresh Dave:
I read your article today again for the 2nd time and sent it to a fellow friend and architect for his take on the article. He too was stunned that Mr. Gerhard Becker was labeled as an “Architect” by the media and the court. Mr. Becker is not a U.S. Citizen nor a Licensed Architect in the State of California or anywhere else in this country. You cannot call yourself an Architect in California unless you are Licensed by the California Architects Board.
I am appalled that both the judge and the deputy district attorney labeled Gerhard Becker as an “architect”; as well as the media.
The State of California allows property owners to design a single family home, so long as the structure conforms to standard framing requirements/standards. If it deviates from standard framing, then an engineer is required, but not an Architect… although an Architect is allowed to design and sign for the non-standard structural work in lieu of an engineer for single family homes.  Mr. Becker designed and built his own home as an “Owner/Builder”; not as a Licensed Architect. The City of Los Angeles Building & Safety Department granted Mr. Becker a building permit for his own home.
Mr. Becker knew the LA City Building Codes and he knew the permit/inspection requirements. He designed the initial, permitted work and had it inspected / approved and secured an occupancy permit from the City of LA. After the final inspection for that work he had the unlawful fireplace installation work performed, with no permits or inspections. He knew what he installed was illegal. The illegal work led to the death of the firefighter.
With all that said, your article concludes that “with this plea, there will be greater pressure on prosecutors to charge the architect“. Gerhard Becker is not an Architect. Gerhard Becker is a homeowner who prepared plans which were approved by the City of LA and construction was approved by the City of LA Building Inspector. Nowhere in the process was a Licensed Architect involved. So please tell me why are we hanging Architects for the illegal actions of a homeowner and the negligence of the LA City Building Inspector?
Sincerely,
That last line really hits home for me “why are we hanging Architects for the illegal actions of a homeowner”? This story is horrible. No one should be constructing buildings that kill people. Codes are developed for a reason. An architect’s role isn’t just to “design” a building. It’s to protect the public health, safety, and welfare.
This isn’t about the role of an architect. Or who can call themselves an architect.
Within the media reaction is this perfect encapsulation of both the plight of the modern architect and so many reasons why we need to fight for a clearer definition of the term architect. If we design professionals make a difference, then let’s speak up and defend that position. Every time we standby and let architects get blamed for the actions of others, we are diminished. Every time we say it doesn’t matter, it’s just one article, one Twitter account, one LinkedIn profile, our value as licensed professionals evaporates a little more. Imagine this story if it was about an unlicensed person performing an illegal surgery that resulted in the death of a patient. Would anyone call that individual a doctor? No. Would anyone blame doctors? No. Would anyone say “oh, now it’s time to watch doctors even more closely!” No. It’d be clear that an individual like that doesn’t represent the actions of an unaffiliated profession. Too bad architects don’t garner that level of respect and understanding. Instead we are too often a punchline or perceived as a glamorous fictional amalgam derived from movies and television shows.
So the next time you see something like this (whether a tragedy or misrepresentation in the media), speak up. Take a moment to educate. Maybe if we do that enough we can raise public awareness to the point where the value of educated building professionals dedicated to the health, safety, and welfare of the public is taken seriously (regardless of the professional’s title). Maybe at that point we’ll get to spend more time making the world a better place, rather than just trying to convince people that we do add value and are worth the effort (and money). Maybe then we can get a step closer to preventing code violators from hurting people.
This all kind of reminds me of being a BIM manager and spending all my time trying to convince my coworkers to keep doing BIM rather than spending all my energy making us use BIM to provide better value to our clients. As you can imagine we didn’t make as many gains as anyone wanted. And with each passing day the fight got harder and the perceived value lessened. A focus on education combated this and, as my coworkers slowly learned, the tide of the battle turned. Ever so slowly we shifted the focus from “why are we doing this” to “how are we doing this”.
This problem is a distraction, but sadly a distraction we have to deal with, lest it destroy us. Frustratingly though, we face an uphill battle that doesn’t look easy. Google “public health, safety, welfare architect” and see what happens. The good news is www.AIA.org comes up first. The bad news is that it’s just the webpage about HSW credits. So essentially the hoops architects have to jump through, not why those hoops are there and need jumping through. That phrase leads to an internal issue, not an external issue that matters to our clients. Don’t Google “role of an architect”. It’ll be a downward spiral from there…
FML
For another take on this situation, here’s a blog post with a statement from the L.A. chapter of the AIA. Today instead of following Shoegnome on social media, do something to help clarify why licensed professionals add value to the built environment.
Edward Jay Shannon
Great article Jared. Loved the analogy of an unlicensed person performing an illegal surgery!
Jared Banks
Thanks!
Alicia
Way to open the can of worms Jared!
There is no way that I will be able to address all of the points of debate with this one, so I’ll narrow out one facet of this discussion.
If someone dies from an overdose or prescription abuse are they labeled as a Pharmacist? NEVER. They are labeled as a ‘self-medicator’.
If someone gets slapped with a legal injunction because they couldn’t properly represent themselves in the court of law are they called a Lawyer? NEVER. They are labeled as someone who should’ve known better and trusted in the county-appointed representative.
If someone gets audited by the IRS because they haven’t paid taxes or have cheated out of paying the full amount are they called a CPA/Accountant. NEVER. They are labeled as a criminal.
You all get the point. The world is full of individuals who would rather do their necessary and required tasks themselves. Either out of saving a few bucks, or because they feel that they are better for the job.
The Architecture profession, the professionals associated under its organization and the nomenclature encompassing it all is confusing, often ambiguous. What do architects really do? This blog has talked about it at full-blown levels of nausea. Do we have a reasonable sentence-long definition to show for it? NOPE. Because of it, ‘architecture’ is both associated and portrayed as a task that can be envisioned by others as ‘it can be done by anyone’.
I have always thought it was a bit crazy that when it comes to residential projects ANYONE can design their own home and do all of the construction. Anyone can assemble their own dwelling much as was done when the pioneers settled this country in the first-place. Utopia flirting with the border of Dystopia?
Most assume that if you have an architecturally designed home, then you paid beaucoup bucks and have a McMansion. Most also assume that they can’t afford the insight that an architect provides and these individuals end up selecting a design from a developer or doing it themselves. Why pay someone to do this for me when I can just do it myself?
The designs and finished products from these do-it-yourselfers are left up to the analysis and scrutiny of the municipalities to catch the red-flags. But, even with oversight, this article clearly shows that people always find the loopholes and it is usually because they don’t want to pay to follow the process-filled-oversight. Or, a set of plans gets approved and then elements are changed and revised without anyone of an educated mindset of public health and safety knowing any better.
Yes, one could say that they are designing the space for themselves and thereby assuming the risk of the consequences of ‘getting around the system’ but there is little in place to protect the homeowner who assumes the property after a sale, or the individuals who are called to come in and do a job (repair, life-rescue, the baby sitter, etc).
Would the world freak out and stop turning if a licensed Architect was required to sign off on all home/house/dwelling designs? Likely. But is it time to enact legislation which dictates that any proposed building project be drawn up by a licensed Architect? Absolutely. Am I living in my own dystopia world of wishful utopia. Perhaps. But, perhaps these sorts of drastic measures need to be taken before the masses realized, “Oh! Perhaps I can’t really design that on my own!”
Jared Banks
Alicia, so well said, as always. I of course want to hear more. I think that pioneer spirit is part of it. Early settlers built their own home, why can’t we do that now? Same argument about Mies and Corb not using BIM. I love it. Can people design, build, and legally drive their own cars on the road? Or their own planes? Why are single family homes and small projects exempt?
Maybe if ever building needed a professional, there’d be better buildings in this world. And better cities.
Great starting examples by the way.
Edward Jay Shannon
Good thoughts, Alicia – some municipalities do require an architect’s stamp for all residential projects. This is true in most of the Chicago suburbs, though ironically not the city itself. but try getting a permit in chicago without an architect!
I am all for regulating single family residential. but, I do not see it happening on a national level. The AIA could care less – AND the NAHB will fight it tooth and nail and they have way more muscle!
Even when an architect is required, many people do not value what an architect brings to the table. So, you have people approaching contractors first, and architects working under their thumb; people fee shopping for architects; trying to use any way to get the architect’s services to a minimum.
We need to get people to value the PROCESS of working with an architect.
Quoting CRAN’s Dave A’s admonishment to the AIA:
STOP CELEBRATING THE ARCHITECT (The heroic starchitect)
STOP CELEBRATING ARCHITECTURE (the iconic object)
START CELEBRATING THE PROCESS OF WORKING WITH AN ARCHITECT
.
Alicia
This admonishment to the AIA is quite beautiful, actually. Although, I would change out ‘process’ with ‘Value’. People hear process and subliminally assume that it’s worth more effort than it’s worth.
Jared Banks
Agreed. I love that admonishment. So to the point. Sounds like there’s a YouTube channel in there somewhere. “Working with an Architect”. Short video snippets of the good, the bad, and the ugly. But mostly the good.