| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to engineering; amending s. 471.007, F.S.; |
| 3 | increasing membership of the Board of Professional |
| 4 | Engineers; providing qualifications for the additional |
| 5 | members; amending s. 471.013, F.S.; providing an exemption |
| 6 | from examination for certain persons; reducing the number |
| 7 | of times an applicant may fail either the fundamentals |
| 8 | examination or the principles and practice examination; |
| 9 | expanding the authority of the board to require additional |
| 10 | education as a condition of future eligibility to take the |
| 11 | examinations; amending s. 471.031, F.S.; authorizing |
| 12 | certain persons who are exempt from licensure as an |
| 13 | engineer to use the title or personnel classification of |
| 14 | "engineer" under certain circumstances; providing an |
| 15 | effective date. |
| 16 |
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| 17 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 18 |
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| 19 | Section 1. Section 471.007, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 20 | to read: |
| 21 | 471.007 Board of Professional Engineers.--There is created |
| 22 | in the department the Board of Professional Engineers. The board |
| 23 | shall consist of 11 nine members, nine seven of whom shall be |
| 24 | licensed engineers and two of whom shall be laypersons who are |
| 25 | not and have never been engineers or members of any closely |
| 26 | related profession or occupation. Of the members who are |
| 27 | licensed engineers, three shall be civil engineers, one shall be |
| 28 | a structural engineer, one shall be either an electrical or |
| 29 | electronic engineer, one shall be a mechanical engineer, one |
| 30 | shall be an industrial engineer, one shall be an engineering |
| 31 | educator, and one shall be from any discipline of engineering |
| 32 | other than civil engineering. Members shall be appointed by the |
| 33 | Governor for terms of 4 years each. |
| 34 | Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 471.013, Florida |
| 35 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 36 | 471.013 Examinations; prerequisites.-- |
| 37 | (1)(a) A person shall be entitled to take an examination |
| 38 | for the purpose of determining whether she or he is qualified to |
| 39 | practice in this state as an engineer if the person is of good |
| 40 | moral character and: |
| 41 | 1. Is a graduate from an approved engineering curriculum |
| 42 | of 4 years or more in a school, college, or university which has |
| 43 | been approved by the board and has a record of 4 years of active |
| 44 | engineering experience of a character indicating competence to |
| 45 | be in responsible charge of engineering; |
| 46 | 2. Is a graduate of an approved engineering technology |
| 47 | curriculum of 4 years or more in a school, college, or |
| 48 | university within the State University System, having been |
| 49 | enrolled or having graduated prior to July 1, 1979, and has a |
| 50 | record of 4 years of active engineering experience of a |
| 51 | character indicating competence to be in responsible charge of |
| 52 | engineering; or |
| 53 | 3. Has, in lieu of such education and experience |
| 54 | requirements, 10 years or more of active engineering work of a |
| 55 | character indicating that the applicant is competent to be |
| 56 | placed in responsible charge of engineering. However, this |
| 57 | subparagraph does not apply unless such person notifies the |
| 58 | department before July 1, 1984, that she or he was engaged in |
| 59 | such work on July 1, 1981. |
| 60 |
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| 61 | The board shall adopt rules providing for the review and |
| 62 | approval of schools or colleges and the courses of study in |
| 63 | engineering in such schools and colleges. The rules shall be |
| 64 | based on the educational requirements for engineering as defined |
| 65 | in s. 471.005. The board may adopt rules providing for the |
| 66 | acceptance of the approval and accreditation of schools and |
| 67 | courses of study by a nationally accepted accreditation |
| 68 | organization. |
| 69 | (b) A person shall be entitled to take the fundamentals |
| 70 | examination for the purpose of determining whether she or he is |
| 71 | qualified to practice in this state as an engineer intern if she |
| 72 | or he is in the final year of, or is a graduate of, an approved |
| 73 | engineering curriculum in a school, college, or university |
| 74 | approved by the board. |
| 75 | (c) A person shall not be entitled to take the principles |
| 76 | and practice examination until that person has successfully |
| 77 | completed the fundamentals examination. |
| 78 | (d) The board shall deem that an applicant who seeks |
| 79 | licensure by examination has passed the fundamentals examination |
| 80 | when such applicant has received a doctorate degree in |
| 81 | engineering from an institution that has an undergraduate |
| 82 | engineering program that is accredited by the Engineering |
| 83 | Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for |
| 84 | Engineering and Technology, Inc., and has taught engineering |
| 85 | full time for at least 3 years, at the baccalaureate level or |
| 86 | higher, after receiving that degree. |
| 87 | (e)(d) Every applicant who is qualified to take the |
| 88 | fundamentals examination or the principles and practice |
| 89 | examination shall be allowed to take either examination three |
| 90 | five times, notwithstanding the number of times either |
| 91 | examination has been previously failed. If an applicant fails |
| 92 | either examination three five times, the board shall require the |
| 93 | applicant to complete additional college-level education courses |
| 94 | in the areas of deficiency, as determined by the board, as a |
| 95 | condition of future eligibility to take that examination. |
| 96 | Section 3. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section |
| 97 | 471.031, Florida Statutes, as amended by section 3 of chapter |
| 98 | 2003-425, Laws of Florida, is amended to read: |
| 99 | 471.031 Prohibitions; penalties.-- |
| 100 | (1) A person may not: |
| 101 | (b)1. Except as provided in subparagraph 2. or |
| 102 | subparagraph 3., use the name or title "professional engineer" |
| 103 | or any other title, designation, words, letters, abbreviations, |
| 104 | or device tending to indicate that such person holds an active |
| 105 | license as an engineer when the person is not licensed under |
| 106 | this chapter, including, but not limited to, the following |
| 107 | titles: "agricultural engineer," "air-conditioning engineer," |
| 108 | "architectural engineer," "building engineer," "chemical |
| 109 | engineer," "civil engineer," "control systems engineer," |
| 110 | "electrical engineer," "environmental engineer," "fire |
| 111 | protection engineer," "industrial engineer," "manufacturing |
| 112 | engineer," "mechanical engineer," "metallurgical engineer," |
| 113 | "mining engineer," "minerals engineer," "marine engineer," |
| 114 | "nuclear engineer," "petroleum engineer," "plumbing engineer," |
| 115 | "structural engineer," "transportation engineer," "software |
| 116 | engineer," "computer hardware engineer," or "systems engineer." |
| 117 | 2. Any person who is exempt from licensure under s. |
| 118 | 471.003(2)(j) may use the title or personnel classification of |
| 119 | "engineer" in the scope of his or her work under that exemption |
| 120 | if the title does not include or connote the term "professional |
| 121 | engineer," "registered engineer," "licensed engineer," |
| 122 | "registered professional engineer," or "licensed professional |
| 123 | engineer." |
| 124 | 3. Any person who is exempt from licensure under s. |
| 125 | 471.003(2)(c) or (e) may use the title or personnel |
| 126 | classification of "engineer" in the scope of his or her work |
| 127 | under that exemption if the title does not include or connote |
| 128 | the term "professional engineer," "registered engineer," |
| 129 | "licensed engineer," "registered professional engineer," or |
| 130 | "licensed professional engineer" and if that person is a |
| 131 | graduate from an approved engineering curriculum of 4 years or |
| 132 | more in a school, college, or university which has been approved |
| 133 | by the board. |
| 134 | Section 4. Paragraphs (c) and (e) of subsection (2) of |
| 135 | section 471.003, Florida Statutes, read: |
| 136 | 471.003 Qualifications for practice; exemptions.-- |
| 137 | (2) The following persons are not required to be licensed |
| 138 | under the provisions of this chapter as a licensed engineer: |
| 139 | (c) Regular full-time employees of a corporation not |
| 140 | engaged in the practice of engineering as such, whose practice |
| 141 | of engineering for such corporation is limited to the design or |
| 142 | fabrication of manufactured products and servicing of such |
| 143 | products. |
| 144 | (e) Employees of a firm, corporation, or partnership who |
| 145 | are the subordinates of a person in responsible charge, licensed |
| 146 | under this chapter. |
| 147 | Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |