Florida Senate - 2014 CS for SB 692
By the Committee on Regulated Industries; and Senator Stargel
580-02209-14 2014692c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to engineers; amending s. 471.007,
3 F.S.; revising requirements for membership on the
4 Board of Professional Engineers; authorizing the
5 professional and technical engineering societies to
6 provide a list of qualified nominees for consideration
7 as board member appointments; providing for staggered
8 terms; amending s. 471.013, F.S.; revising
9 requirements for an engineer license applicant who
10 fails the fundamentals examination; authorizing such
11 applicant who is delayed in taking the examination by
12 military service to have additional attempts to take
13 the examination; amending s. 471.015, F.S.; revising
14 requirements for obtaining a licensure by endorsement;
15 amending s. 471.017, F.S.; revising requirements for
16 professional development hours and license renewal for
17 engineers; providing effective dates.
18
19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21 Section 1. Section 471.007, Florida Statutes, is amended to
22 read:
23 471.007 Board of Professional Engineers.—
24 (1) There is created in the department the Board of
25 Professional Engineers. The board shall consist of 11 members,
26 nine of whom shall be licensed engineers and two of whom shall
27 be laypersons who are not and have never been engineers or
28 members of any closely related profession or occupation. The
29 members of the board who are licensed engineers must be
30 appointed based on their qualifications to provide expertise and
31 experience to the board at all times in civil engineering,
32 structural engineering, electrical or electronic engineering,
33 mechanical engineering, or engineering education Of the members
34 who are licensed engineers, three shall be civil engineers, one
35 shall be a structural engineer, one shall be either an
36 electrical or electronic engineer, one shall be a mechanical
37 engineer, one shall be an industrial engineer, one shall be an
38 engineering educator, and one shall be from any discipline of
39 engineering other than civil engineering.
40 (2) Following the expiration of the initial staggered terms
41 under subsection (3), members of the board Members shall be
42 appointed by the Governor for terms of 4 years each.
43 Professional and technical engineering societies may submit a
44 list of qualified nominees to be considered by the Governor for
45 appointment.
46 (3) When the terms of members serving as of July 1, 2014,
47 expire, the terms of their immediate successors shall be
48 staggered so that three members are appointed for 2 years, four
49 members are appointed for 3 years, and four members are
50 appointed for 4 years, as determined by the Governor. Each
51 member holds office until the expiration of his or her appointed
52 term or until a successor has been appointed.
53 Section 2. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section
54 471.013, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
55 471.013 Examinations; prerequisites.—
56 (1)
57 (e) Every applicant who is qualified to take the
58 fundamentals examination or the principles and practice
59 examination shall be allowed to take either examination three
60 times, notwithstanding the number of times either examination
61 has been previously failed. If an applicant fails either
62 examination three times, the board shall require the applicant
63 to complete additional college-level education courses or a
64 board-approved relevant examination review course as a condition
65 of future eligibility to take that examination. If the applicant
66 is delayed in taking the examination due to reserve or active
67 duty service in the United States Armed Forces or National
68 Guard, the applicant is allowed an additional two attempts to
69 take the examination before the board may require additional
70 college-level education or review courses.
71 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
72 471.015, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
73 471.015 Licensure.—
74 (5)(a) The board shall deem that an applicant who seeks
75 licensure by endorsement has passed an examination substantially
76 equivalent to the fundamentals examination when such applicant
77 has:
78 1. Has held a valid professional engineer’s license in
79 another state for 15 years and has had 20 years of continuous
80 professional-level engineering experience;
81 2. Has received a doctorate degree in engineering from an
82 institution that has an undergraduate engineering degree program
83 which is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering
84 Technology; or
85 3. Has received a doctorate degree in engineering and has
86 taught engineering full time for at least 3 years, at the
87 baccalaureate level or higher, after receiving that degree.
88 Section 4. Effective March 1, 2015, subsection (3) of
89 section 471.017, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
90 471.017 Renewal of license.—
91 (3)(a) The board shall require a demonstration of
92 continuing professional competency of engineers as a condition
93 of license renewal or relicensure. Every licensee must complete
94 9 continuing education 4 professional development hours, for
95 each year of the license renewal period, totaling 18 continuing
96 education hours for the license renewal period. For each renewal
97 period for such continuing education:, 4
98 1. One hour must hours shall relate to this chapter and the
99 rules adopted under this chapter;
100 2. One hour must relate to professional ethics; and the
101 remaining 4
102 3. Four hours must shall relate to the licensee’s area of
103 practice; and
104 4. The remaining hours may relate to any topic pertinent to
105 the practice of engineering.
106
107 Continuing education hours may be earned by presenting or
108 attending seminars, in-house or nonclassroom courses, workshops,
109 or professional or technical presentations made at meetings,
110 webinars, conventions, or conferences, including those presented
111 by vendors with specific knowledge related to the licensee’s
112 area of practice. Up to 4 hours may be earned by serving as an
113 officer or actively participating on a committee of a board
114 recognized professional or technical engineering society. The 4
115 hours of continuing education hours relating to this chapter,
116 the rules adopted pursuant to this chapter, and ethics may be
117 earned by serving as a member of the Legislature or as an
118 elected state or local official. The hours required pursuant to
119 s. 471.0195 may apply to any requirements of this section except
120 for those required under subparagraph 1.
121 (b) The board shall adopt rules that are substantially
122 consistent with the most recent published version of the
123 Continuing Professional Competency Guidelines of the National
124 Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying for
125 multijurisdictional licensees for the purpose of avoiding
126 proprietary continuing professional competency requirements and
127 shall allow nonclassroom hours to be credited. The board may, by
128 rule, exempt from continuing professional competency
129 requirements retired professional engineers who no longer sign
130 and seal engineering documents and licensees in unique
131 circumstances that severely limit opportunities to obtain the
132 required continuing education professional development hours.
133 Section 5. Except as otherwise provided in this act, this
134 act shall take effect July 1, 2014.