The Florida Senate

471.015  Licensure.--

(1)  The management corporation shall issue a license to any applicant who the board certifies is qualified to practice engineering and who has passed the fundamentals examination and the principles and practice examination.

(2)  The board shall certify for licensure any applicant who satisfies the requirements of s. 471.013 The board may refuse to certify any applicant who has violated any of the provisions of s. 471.031

(3)  The board shall certify as qualified for a license by endorsement an applicant who:

(a)  Qualifies to take the fundamentals examination and the principles and practice examination as set forth in s. 471.013, has passed a United States national, regional, state, or territorial licensing examination that is substantially equivalent to the fundamentals examination and principles and practice examination required by s. 471.013, and has satisfied the experience requirements set forth in s. 471.013; or

(b)  Holds a valid license to practice engineering issued by another state or territory of the United States, if the criteria for issuance of the license were substantially the same as the licensure criteria that existed in this state at the time the license was issued.

(4)  The management corporation shall not issue a license by endorsement to any applicant who is under investigation in another state for any act that would constitute a violation of this chapter or of chapter 455 until such time as the investigation is complete and disciplinary proceedings have been terminated.

(5)(a)  The board shall deem that an applicant who seeks licensure by endorsement has passed an examination substantially equivalent to the fundamentals examination when such applicant:

1.  Has held a valid professional engineer's license in another state for 15 years and has had 20 years of continuous professional-level engineering experience;

2.  Has received a doctorate degree in engineering from an institution that has an undergraduate engineering degree program which is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology; or

3.  Has received a doctorate degree in engineering and has taught engineering full time for at least 3 years, at the baccalaureate level or higher, after receiving that degree.

(b)  The board shall deem that an applicant who seeks licensure by endorsement has passed an examination substantially equivalent to the fundamentals examination and the principles and practices examination when such applicant has held a valid professional engineer's license in another state for 25 years and has had 30 years of continuous professional-level engineering experience.

(6)  The board may require a personal appearance by any applicant for licensure under this chapter. Any applicant of whom a personal appearance is required must be given adequate notice of the time and place of the appearance and provided with a statement of the purpose of and reasons requiring the appearance.

(7)  The board shall, by rule, establish qualifications for certification of licensees as special inspectors of threshold buildings, as defined in ss. 553.71 and 553.79, and shall compile a list of persons who are certified. A special inspector is not required to meet standards for certification other than those established by the board, and the fee owner of a threshold building may not be prohibited from selecting any person certified by the board to be a special inspector. The board shall develop minimum qualifications for the qualified representative of the special inspector who is authorized to perform inspections of threshold buildings on behalf of the special inspector under s. 553.79

History.--ss. 6, 42, ch. 79-243; ss. 2, 3, ch. 81-318; s. 2, ch. 85-134; ss. 14, 15, ch. 89-30; s. 4, ch. 91-429; ss. 82, 216, ch. 94-119; s. 32, ch. 95-392; s. 110, ch. 98-166; s. 37, ch. 2000-141; s. 171, ch. 2000-160; s. 35, ch. 2000-356; s. 6, ch. 2000-372; s. 21, ch. 2002-299; s. 2, ch. 2003-293.