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Oklahoma · Snapshot open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14

Okla. Stat. tit. 59, § 59-475.40: XXX

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Where this section sits in the code
  1. OK Code
  2. Title 59

A. As used in this section:

1. "Design profession" means the practice of architecture,

landscape architecture, land surveying or engineering;

2. "Design professional" means an architect, landscape

architect, land surveyor or professional engineer or a business

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 solely 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 procedures;

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,

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 professions

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

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 section. 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

w

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, without malice and are

reasonably related to the scope of inquiry of the peer review

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.

Collected 2026-09-14T18:32:36Z. Source file · JSON

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