By Brimer H.B. No. 1338
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to certain exemptions from the Texas Engineering Practice
1-3 Act.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 20, Texas Engineering Practice Act
1-6 (Article 3271a Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding
1-7 Subdivision (8):
1-8 Sec. 20. (a) The following persons shall be exempt from the
1-9 licensure provisions of this Act, provided that such persons are
1-10 not directly or indirectly represented or held out to the public to
1-11 be legally qualified to engage in the practice of engineering:
1-12 (1) an employee or a subordinate of a person holding a
1-13 license under this Act; provided, his practice does not include
1-14 responsible charge of design or supervision;
1-15 (2) officers and employees of the Government of the
1-16 United States while engaged within this state in the practice of
1-17 the profession of engineering for said Government;
1-18 (3) a person doing the actual work of installing,
1-19 operating, repairing, or servicing locomotive or stationary
1-20 engines, steam boilers, Diesel engines, internal combustion
1-21 engines, refrigeration compressors and systems, hoisting engines,
1-22 electrical engines, air conditioning equipment and systems, or
2-1 mechanical and electrical, electronic or communications equipment
2-2 and apparatus; this Act may not be construed to prevent any citizen
2-3 from identifying himself in the name and trade of any engineers'
2-4 labor organization with which he may be affiliated, however, this
2-5 exemption may not be construed to permit any person other than a
2-6 licensed professional engineer to affix his signature to
2-7 engineering plans, or specifications and may not be construed to
2-8 permit a person to use the term "engineer" or "engineering" in any
2-9 manner prohibited by this Act;
2-10 (4) a person, sole proprietorship, firm, partnership,
2-11 joint stock association or private corporation, erecting,
2-12 constructing, enlarging, altering or repairing, or drawing plans
2-13 and specifications for: any private dwelling, or apartments not
2-14 exceeding eight units per building for one story buildings, or
2-15 apartments not exceeding four units per building and having a
2-16 maximum height of two stories, or garages or other structures
2-17 pertinent to such buildings; or private buildings which are to be
2-18 used exclusively for farm, ranch or agricultural purposes, or used
2-19 exclusively for storage of raw agricultural commodities; or other
2-20 buildings, except public buildings included under Section 19 of
2-21 this Act, having no more than one story and containing no clear
2-22 span between supporting structures greater than 24 feet on the
2-23 narrow side and having a total floor area not in excess of five
2-24 thousand square feet; provided that on unsupported spans greater
2-25 than 24 feet on such buildings only the trusses, beams, or other
2-26 roof supporting members need to be engineered or pre-engineered;
3-1 provided that no representation is made or implied that engineering
3-2 services have been or will be offered to the public;
3-3 (5) any regular full time employee of a private
3-4 corporation or other private business entity who is engaged solely
3-5 and exclusively in performing services for such corporation and/or
3-6 its affiliates; provided, such employee's services are on, or in
3-7 connection with, property owned or leased by such private
3-8 corporation and/or its affiliates or other private business entity,
3-9 or in which such private corporation and/or its affiliates or other
3-10 business entity has an interest, estate or possessory right, or
3-11 whose services affect exclusively the property, products, or
3-12 interests of such private corporation and/or its affiliates or
3-13 other private business entity; and, provided further, that such
3-14 employee does not have the final authority for the approval of, and
3-15 the ultimate responsibility for, engineering designs, plans or
3-16 specifications pertaining to such property or products which are to
3-17 be incorporated into fixed works, systems, or facilities on the
3-18 property of others or which are to be made available to the general
3-19 public. This exemption includes the use of job titles and
3-20 personnel classifications by such persons not in connection with
3-21 any offer of engineering services to the public, providing that no
3-22 name, title, or words are used which tend to convey the impression
3-23 that an unlicensed person is offering engineering services to the
3-24 public;
3-25 (6) any regular full time employee of a privately
3-26 owned public utility or cooperative utility and/or affiliates who
4-1 is engaged solely and exclusively in performing services for such
4-2 utility and/or its affiliates; provided, that such employee does
4-3 not have the final authority for the approval of, and the ultimate
4-4 responsibility for engineering designs, plans or specifications to
4-5 be incorporated into fixed works, systems, or facilities on the
4-6 property of others or which are to be made available to the general
4-7 public. This exemption includes the use of job titles and
4-8 personnel classifications by such persons not in connection with
4-9 any offer of engineering services to the public, providing that no
4-10 name, title, or words are used which tend to convey the impression
4-11 that an unlicensed person is offering engineering services to the
4-12 public; [or]
4-13 (7) qualified scientists engaged in scientific
4-14 research and investigation of the physical or natural sciences,
4-15 including the usual work and activities of meteorologists,
4-16 seismologists, geologists, chemists, geochemists, physicists and
4-17 geophysicists[.]; or
4-18 (8) qualified scientist engaged in the polymeric
4-19 sciences.