Bill Text: FL S0616 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Engineering
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-30 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 827 (Ch. 2019-86), CS/CS/HB 7103 (Ch. 2019-165) [S0616 Detail]
Download: Florida-2019-S0616-Introduced.html
Bill Title: Engineering
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-30 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 827 (Ch. 2019-86), CS/CS/HB 7103 (Ch. 2019-165) [S0616 Detail]
Download: Florida-2019-S0616-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2019 SB 616 By Senator Perry 8-00269B-19 2019616__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to engineering; amending s. 471.008, 3 F.S.; authorizing the Board of Professional Engineers 4 to establish standards of practice and responsibility 5 rules for the profession of engineering; amending s. 6 471.013, F.S.; revising the prerequisites for a person 7 to take an examination that determines whether she or 8 he is qualified to practice in this state as an 9 engineer; deleting an obsolete provision; amending s. 10 471.015, F.S.; revising licensure certification 11 requirements to include active engineering experience 12 and a minimum age; revising requirements for licensure 13 by endorsement by the board; providing that the time 14 period in which a licensure application must be 15 granted or denied is tolled if an applicant is 16 required to make a personal appearance before the 17 board; requiring the board to deny a license if such 18 an applicant fails to appear before the board within a 19 specified timeframe; requiring the board to establish 20 certain training and education requirements for 21 certain qualified representatives; amending s. 22 471.025, F.S.; requiring a successor engineer to be 23 able to independently re-create certain work when 24 seeking to reuse certain documents; specifying that a 25 successor engineer assumes full professional and legal 26 responsibility by signing or affixing his or her seal 27 to assumed documents; releasing the engineer who 28 previously sealed the documents from any professional 29 responsibility or civil liability for her or his work 30 that is assumed by a successor engineer; defining the 31 term “successor engineer”; amending s. 553.79, F.S.; 32 requiring that structural inspections on a threshold 33 building be performed during new construction or 34 during certain repair or restoration projects; 35 providing an effective date. 36 37 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 38 39 Section 1. Section 471.008, Florida Statutes, is amended to 40 read: 41 471.008 Rulemaking authority.—The board has authority to 42 adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to: 43 (1) Implement provisions of this chapter or chapter 455 44 which conferconferringduties upon it. 45 (2) Establish minimum standards of practice for the 46 profession of engineering. 47 (3) Establish responsibility rules for the profession of 48 engineering. 49 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 50 471.013, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 51 471.013 Examinations; prerequisites.— 52 (1)(a) A person shall be entitled to take an examination 53 for the purpose of determining whether she or he is qualified to 54 practice in this state as an engineer if the person is of good 55 moral character and: 56 1. Is a graduate from an approved engineering science 57 curriculum of 4 years or more in a school, college, or 58 university which has been approved by the board; orand has a59record of 4 years of active engineering experience of a60character indicating competence to be in responsible charge of61engineering;62 2. Is a graduate of an approved engineering technology 63 curriculum of 4 years or more in a school, college, or 64 university within the State University System, having been 65 enrolled or having graduated prior to July 1, 1979, and has a66record of 4 years of active engineering experience of a67character indicating competence to be in responsible charge of68engineering; or693. Has, in lieu of such education and experience70requirements, 10 years or more of active engineering work of a71character indicating that the applicant is competent to be72placed in responsible charge of engineering. However, this73subparagraph does not apply unless such person notifies the74department before July 1, 1984, that she or he was engaged in75such work on July 1, 1981. 76 77 The board shall adopt rules providing for the review and 78 approval of schools or colleges and the courses of study in 79 engineering in such schools and colleges. The rules mustshall80 be based on the educational requirements for engineering as 81 defined in s. 471.005. The board may adopt rules providing for 82 the acceptance of the approval and accreditation of schools and 83 courses of study by a nationally accepted accreditation 84 organization. 85 Section 3. Subsections (2), (3), (6), and (7) of section 86 471.015, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 87 471.015 Licensure.— 88 (2)(a) The board shall certify for licensure any applicant 89 who has submitted proof satisfactory to the board that he or she 90 is at least 18 years of age and who: 91 1. Satisfies the requirements of s. 471.013(1)(a)1. and has 92 a record of 4 years of active engineering experience of a 93 character indicating competence to be in responsible charge of 94 engineering; or 95 2. Satisfies the requirements of s. 471.013(1)(a)2. and has 96 a record of 6 years of active engineering experience of a 97 character indicating competence to be in responsible charge of 98 engineerings. 471.013. 99 (b) The board may refuse to certify any applicant who has 100 violatedany of the provisions ofs. 471.031. 101 (3) The board shall certify as qualified for a license by 102 endorsement an applicant who: 103 (a) Qualifies to take the fundamentals examination and the 104 principles and practice examination as set forth in s. 471.013, 105 has passed a United States national, regional, state, or 106 territorial licensing examination that is substantially 107 equivalent to the fundamentals examination and principles and 108 practice examination required by s. 471.013, and has satisfied 109 the experience requirements set forth in paragraph (2)(a) and s. 110 471.013; or 111 (b) Holds a valid license to practice engineering issued by 112 another state or territory of the United States, if the criteria 113 for issuance of the license were substantially the same as the 114 licensure criteria that existed in this state at the time the 115 license was issued. 116 (6) The board may require a personal appearance by any 117 applicant for licensure under this chapter. Any applicant of 118 whom a personal appearance is required must be given adequate 119 notice of the time and place of the appearance and provided with 120 a statement of the purpose of and reasons requiring the 121 appearance. If an applicant is required to appear, the time 122 period within which a licensure application must be granted or 123 denied is tolled until such time as the applicant appears. 124 However, if the applicant fails to appear before the board at 125 either of the next two regularly scheduled board meetings, the 126 application for licensure must be denied. 127 (7) The board shall, by rule, establish qualifications for 128 certification of licensees as special inspectors of threshold 129 buildings, as defined in ss. 553.71 and 553.79, and shall 130 compile a list of persons who are certified. A special inspector 131 is not required to meet standards for certification other than 132 those established by the board, and the fee owner of a threshold 133 building may not be prohibited from selecting any person 134 certified by the board to be a special inspector. The board 135 shall develop minimum qualifications for the qualified 136 representative of the special inspector who is authorized to 137 perform inspections of threshold buildings on behalf of the 138 special inspector under s. 553.79 and shall establish by rule 139 ongoing training or education requirements for qualified 140 representatives to maintain their certification or 141 qualification. 142 Section 4. Subsection (4) is added to section 471.025, 143 Florida Statutes, to read: 144 471.025 Seals.— 145 (4) A successor engineer seeking to reuse documents 146 previously sealed by another engineer must be able to 147 independently re-create all of the work done by the original 148 engineer. A successor engineer assumes full professional and 149 legal responsibility by signing and affixing his or her seal to 150 the assumed documents. Such documents must be treated as though 151 they were the successor engineer’s original product, and the 152 original engineer is released from any professional 153 responsibility or civil liability for prior work assumed by the 154 successor engineer. For the purposes of this subsection, the 155 term “successor engineer” means an engineer who is using or 156 relying upon the work, findings, or recommendations of the 157 engineer who previously sealed the pertinent documents. 158 Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section 159 553.79, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 160 553.79 Permits; applications; issuance; inspections.— 161 (5)(a) During new construction or during repair or 162 restoration projects in which the structural system or 163 structural loading of a building is being modified, the 164 enforcing agency shall require a special inspector to perform 165 structural inspections on theathreshold building pursuant to a 166 structural inspection plan prepared by the engineer or architect 167 of record. The structural inspection plan must be submitted to 168 and approved by the enforcing agency before the issuance of a 169 building permit for the construction of a threshold building. 170 The purpose of the structural inspection plan is to provide 171 specific inspection procedures and schedules so that the 172 building can be adequately inspected for compliance with the 173 permitted documents. The special inspector may not serve as a 174 surrogate in carrying out the responsibilities of the building 175 official, the architect, or the engineer of record. The 176 contractor’s contractual or statutory obligations are not 177 relieved by any action of the special inspector. The special 178 inspector shall determine that a professional engineer who 179 specializes in shoring design has inspected the shoring and 180 reshoring for conformance with the shoring and reshoring plans 181 submitted to the enforcing agency. A fee simple title owner of a 182 building, which does not meet the minimum size, height, 183 occupancy, occupancy classification, or number-of-stories 184 criteria which would result in classification as a threshold 185 building under s. 553.71(12), may designate such building as a 186 threshold building, subject to more than the minimum number of 187 inspections required by the Florida Building Code. 188 Section 6. This act shall take effect October 1, 2019.