Florida Senate - 2021                      CS for CS for SB 1060
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Regulated Industries; and Judiciary; and
       Senator Bradley
       
       
       
       
       580-02950-21                                          20211060c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to limitation of liability for
    3         voluntary engineering or architectural services;
    4         creating s. 768.38, F.S.; defining the term
    5         “structures specialist”; exempting engineers,
    6         architects, and structures specialists from liability
    7         for certain voluntary engineering or architectural
    8         services under certain circumstances; providing
    9         applicability; providing an effective date.
   10          
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 768.38, Florida Statutes, is created to
   14  read:
   15         768.38 Limitation of liability for certain voluntary
   16  engineering or architectural services.—
   17         (1) For the purposes of this section, the term “structures
   18  specialist” means a person who has been trained by, and holds a
   19  current certification from, the United States Army Corps of
   20  Engineers as a structures specialist.
   21         (2) An engineer as defined in s. 471.005, an architect as
   22  defined in s. 481.203, or a structures specialist, and any
   23  qualified business organization of such person, who voluntarily
   24  participates in emergency response activities by providing
   25  engineering or architectural services while under the direction
   26  of, or in connection with, a community emergency response team,
   27  a local emergency management agency, the Division of Emergency
   28  Management, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency in
   29  response to a declared federal, state, or local emergency, may
   30  not be held liable for any personal injury, wrongful death,
   31  property damage, or other economic loss related to his or her
   32  acts or omissions in the performance of his or her services,
   33  unless the act or omission constituted gross negligence or
   34  willful misconduct.
   35         (3) The immunity from liability under this section also
   36  applies to any person who is licensed or registered as an
   37  engineer or architect in any other jurisdiction and who is
   38  rendering aid in this state as a member of a mobile support unit
   39  of another state.
   40         (4) The immunity from liability under this section applies
   41  only to services provided during, or within 90 calendar days
   42  after the end of, a declared federal, state, or local emergency.
   43         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.