30 Miss. Code. R. 203-5.1
Commentary - Although many of the existing rules of conduct fail to mention standards of competence, it is clear that the public expects that incompetence will be disciplined and, where appropriate, will result in revocation of the certification. Rule 5.1(a) sets forth the common law standard which has existed in this country for a hundred years or more in judging the performance of design professionals. While some courts have stated that a design professional, like the manufacturer of goods, impliedly warrants that the design professional's design is fit for its intended use, this rule specifically rejects the minority standard in favor of the standard applied in the vast majority of jurisdictions that the design professional need be careful but not always right. In an age of national television, national universities, a national certification exam, and the like, the reference to the skill and knowledge applied in the same locality may be less significant than it was in the past when there was a wide disparity across the face of the United States in the degree of skill and knowledge which a design professional was expected to bring. Nonetheless, the courts have still recognized this portion of the standard, and it is true that what may be expected of a design professional in a complex urban setting may vary from what is expected in a simpler, rural situation.
Commentary - It should be noted that the rule is limited to applicable state and municipal building laws and regulations. Every major project being built in the United States is subject to a multitude of laws, in addition to the applicable building laws and regulations. As to these other laws, it may be negligent of the Certified Interior Designer to have failed to take them into account, but the rule does not make the Certified Interior Designer specifically responsible for such other laws. Even the building laws and regulations are of sufficient complexity that the Certified Interior Designer may be required to seek the interpretation of other professionals. The rule permits the Certified Interior Designer to rely on the advice of other such professionals.
Commentary - While a Certified Interior Designer is certified to undertake any project which falls within certified interior design, the Certified Interior Designer must understand and be limited by the limitations on the Certified Interior Designer's own capacity and knowledge. Where a Certified Interior Designer lacks experience, the rule supposes that the Certified Interior Designer will retain consultants who can appropriately supplement the Certified Interior Designer's own capacity. If a Certified Interior Designer undertakes to do a project where the Certified Interior Designer lacks knowledge and where the Certified Interior Designer does not seek supplementing consultants, the Certified Interior Designer has violated the rule. D. No person shall be permitted to use the title Certified Interior Designer if, in the Board's judgment, such person's professional competence is substantially impaired by physical or mental disabilities.
Commentary - Here the Board is given the opportunity to revoke or suspend certification when the Board has suitable evidence that the certificate holder's professional competence is impaired by physical or mental disabilities. Thus, the Board need not wait until a building fails in order to revoke the certification of a Certified Interior Designer whose addiction to alcohol, for example, makes it impossible for the Certified Interior Designer to perform the Certified Interior Designer's professional services with necessary care.
30 Miss. Code. R. 203-5.1