Landscape architects should be licensed because they directly impact the health, safety and welfare of the public.  Licensure ensures that professionals are qualified to practice what they are educated, tested, and trained to do and also prevents untrained individuals or businesses from engaging in professional practice that will impact the health, safety and welfare of the public. Landscape architects are called upon for complex services that require highly technical skills, making it difficult for prospective clients to evaluate the competency of professionals. Licensure as a measure of competence can assist consumers in identifying appropriate professionals for design services. The scope of landscape architectural practice includes site plans, plans of development, grading plans, vehicular roadways and pedestrian systems design, stormwater and erosion control plans, and the siting of buildings and structures, all work that localities and federal agencies require to be sealed by licensed professionals. Consequently, the scope of landscape architecture overlaps with other licensed design professionals including architects, engineers, and Class B land surveyors, all of which need to be professionally licensed.  Therefore, landscape architects need to licensed just as these other professions do.