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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES - FLOOR VERSION
STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 58th Legislature (2021)
ENGROSSED SENATE
BILL NO. 748 By: Jech of the Senate
and
Martinez of the House
An Act relating to professions and occupations;
defining terms; making certain peer review records
privileged information; providing that certain
records not be discoverable or admissible in trial;
declaring certain holder of privilege; authorizing
peer review committee to report and discuss
information and findings without waiver of privilege;
providing immunity from civil liability for certain
acts performed in good faith; providing for
codification; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 475.40 of Title 59, unless there
is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. As used in this section:
1. “Design profession” means the practice of a rchitecture,
landscape architecture, land surveying or engineering;
2. “Design professional” means an architect, landscape
architect, land surveyor or professional engineer or a business
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entity authorized to practice one or more of the design professions
specified in paragraph 1 of this subsection;
3. “Architect” shall have the same meaning ascribed to such
term in Section 46.3 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
4. “Landscape architect” shall have the same meaning ascribed
to such term in Section 46.3 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
5. “Land surveyor” shall have the same meaning ascribed to such
term in Section 475.2 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
6. “Professional engineer ” shall have the same meaning ascribed
to such term in Section 475 .2 of Title 59 of the Oklahoma Statutes;
7. “Lessons learned” means any internal meeting, class,
publication in any medium, presentation, lecture or other means of
teaching and communicating after substantial completion of the
project which is conducted s olely and exclusively by and with the
employees, partners, consultants and coworkers of the design
professional who prepared the project ’s design for the purpose of
learning best practices and reducing errors and omissions in design
documents and procedure s;
8. “Peer review” or “peer review process” means any of the
following functions:
a. evaluating and improving the design, drawings
specifications or quality of services rendered by a
design professional,
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b. evaluating the design, construction, procedures and
results of improvements to real property based upon
services rendered by a design professional during or
after completion of such improvements, or
c. preparing an internal lessons -learned review of any
project or services rendered for the purpose of
improving the quality of services rendered by a design
professional; and
9. “Peer reviewer” or “peer review committee ” means an
individual design professional or a committee of design
professionals retained, employed, designated or appointed by:
a. a state, county or local society of design
professionals, or
b. the board of directors, chief executive officer,
quality control director, risk manager or employed
design professional of a business entity authorized to
practice one or more of the design professio ns
specified in paragraph 1 of this subsection.
B. The reports, statements, memoranda, proceedings, findings
and other records submitted to or generated by any peer review
committee or peer reviewer shall be privileged and shall not be
subject to discovery, subpoena or other means of legal compulsion
for their release to any person or entity or be admissible in
evidence in any judicial or administrative proceeding. Information
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contained in such records shall not be discoverable or admissible at
trial in the form of testimony by an individual who participated in
the peer review process.
C. The design professional who retains, employs, designates or
appoints the peer reviewer or peer review committee is the holder of
the privilege established by this sectio n. This privilege may be
claimed by such design professional and shall not be waived as a
result of any disclosure by a peer reviewer or peer review
committee.
D. A peer review committee or peer reviewer may report to and
discuss activities, information and findings with other peer review
committees or peer reviewers or to the design professional who
retains, employs, designates or appoints the peer reviewer or peer
review committee and with any officer, director or quality control
director, risk manager or employed design professional thereof
without waiver of the privilege provided by subsection B of this
section, and the records of all such peer review committees or peer
reviewers relating to such report shall be privileged as provided by
subsection B of this section.
E. Each peer reviewer and member of a peer review committee
shall be immune from civil liability for such acts described in
paragraph 8 of subsection A and subsection D of this section, so
long as the acts are performed in good faith, with out malice and are
reasonably related to the scope of inquiry of the peer review
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process. The immunity in this subsection is intended to cover only
outside peer reviews by a third -party design professional who:
1. Is not an employee, coworker or partner of the design
professional whose design is being peer reviewed; and
2. Has no other role in the project besides performing the peer
review.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2021.
COMMITTEE REPORT BY: COMMITTEE ON RU LES, dated 04/06/2021 - DO PASS.