Sykes Applauds Passage of Payment Assurance Legislation for Design Professionals
May 6, 2021
Vernon Sykes News
The Ohio Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 49, legislation introduced by state Senators Vernon Sykes (D-Akron) and Jay Hottinger (R-Newark) to create a payment assurance program for design professionals.
“This commonsense legislation protects workers by making sure that design professionals get paid for the work that they complete,” Sykes said. “Currently, these workers have no payment protections in Ohio. We must ensure they’re fairly and adequately compensated for their labor.”
This bill would create a design professional lien right modeled after the brokers’ lien established by House Bill 510 of the 129th General Assembly.
The provisions would be identical for each of the design professionals and would not be included in Ohio’s mechanics’ lien law, Chapter 1311. To avoid conflict, mechanics’ liens will always take precedence over a design professional’s lien, regardless of filing date.
The design professional lien will:
• Apply only to commercial property, and not to residential property;
• Apply only to private work, and not to public construction; and
• Will be subordinate to any real estate mortgage previously filed.
“Designers such as architects and engineers demonstrate a high level of creativity, professionalism and hard work that is essential in our communities,” Hottinger said. “This bill is critical to ensuring that design professionals have a mechanism to collect payment when they provide their valuable services.”
“This commonsense legislation protects workers by making sure that design professionals get paid for the work that they complete,” Sykes said. “Currently, these workers have no payment protections in Ohio. We must ensure they’re fairly and adequately compensated for their labor.”
This bill would create a design professional lien right modeled after the brokers’ lien established by House Bill 510 of the 129th General Assembly.
The provisions would be identical for each of the design professionals and would not be included in Ohio’s mechanics’ lien law, Chapter 1311. To avoid conflict, mechanics’ liens will always take precedence over a design professional’s lien, regardless of filing date.
The design professional lien will:
• Apply only to commercial property, and not to residential property;
• Apply only to private work, and not to public construction; and
• Will be subordinate to any real estate mortgage previously filed.
“Designers such as architects and engineers demonstrate a high level of creativity, professionalism and hard work that is essential in our communities,” Hottinger said. “This bill is critical to ensuring that design professionals have a mechanism to collect payment when they provide their valuable services.”