1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the regulation of the practice of professional
1-3 engineering.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 8, The Texas Engineering Practice Act
1-6 (Article 3271a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
1-7 amending Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
1-8 follows:
1-9 (c) The Board by rule may require [recognize, prepare, or
1-10 administer] continuing education [programs] for persons regulated
1-11 by the Board under this Act. Rules adopted under this subsection:
1-12 (1) may not require a license holder to obtain more
1-13 than eight hours of continuing education in one year;
1-14 (2) shall permit a license holder to certify at the
1-15 time the license is renewed that the license holder has complied
1-16 with the Board's continuing education requirements; and
1-17 (3) shall permit a license holder to receive
1-18 continuing education credit for educational, technical, ethical, or
1-19 professional management activities related to the practice of
1-20 engineering, including:
1-21 (A) successfully completing or auditing a course
1-22 sponsored by a college or university;
1-23 (B) successfully completing a course certified
1-24 by a professional or trade organization;
1-25 (C) attending a seminar, tutorial, short course,
2-1 correspondence course, videotaped course, or televised course;
2-2 (D) participating in an in-house course
2-3 sponsored by a corporation or other entity;
2-4 (E) teaching a course described by Paragraphs
2-5 (A)-(D) of this subdivision;
2-6 (F) writing a published article, paper, or book;
2-7 (G) making or attending a presentation at a
2-8 meeting of a technical or engineering management society or
2-9 organization or writing a paper presented at such a meeting;
2-10 (H) participating in the activities of a
2-11 professional society or association, including serving on a
2-12 committee of the organization; and
2-13 (I) engaging in self-directed study
2-14 [Participation in the programs is voluntary].
2-15 (e) At the request of any person, the Board may review a
2-16 proposal for the procurement of services issued by a governmental
2-17 entity and issue a finding regarding whether the services are
2-18 within the scope of the practice of professional engineering for
2-19 purposes of Subchapter A, Chapter 2254, Government Code.
2-20 SECTION 2. Section 13, The Texas Engineering Practice Act
2-21 (Article 3271a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
2-22 adding Subsection (f) to read as follows:
2-23 (f) The Board by rule shall adopt a registration fee for a
2-24 sole proprietorship that is equal to not more than half of the
2-25 registration fee for other engineering firms.
2-26 SECTION 3. Section 16.1, The Texas Engineering Practice Act
3-1 (Article 3271a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read
3-2 as follows:
3-3 Sec. 16.1. EXPIRATION DATES OF LICENSES AND REGISTRATIONS.
3-4 (a) The board by rule may adopt a system under which licenses and
3-5 registrations expire on various dates during the year, and the
3-6 dates for reinstatement shall be adjusted accordingly.
3-7 (b) The board by rule shall adopt a system under which the
3-8 registration of a sole proprietorship expires on the same date the
3-9 sole proprietor's license expires.
3-10 SECTION 4. Section 20, The Texas Engineering Practice Act
3-11 (Article 3271a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
3-12 amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (h) and (i) to read
3-13 as follows:
3-14 (a) The following persons shall be exempt from the licensure
3-15 provisions of this Act, however, the Board may require those
3-16 practicing engineering in Texas who are exempt and not licensed to
3-17 register and pay a fee not to exceed $25, provided that such
3-18 persons are not directly or indirectly represented or held out to
3-19 the public to be legally qualified to engage in the practice of
3-20 engineering:
3-21 (1) an employee or a subordinate of a person holding a
3-22 license under this Act; provided, his practice does not include
3-23 responsible charge of design or supervision;
3-24 (2) officers and employees of the Government of the
3-25 United States while engaged within this state in the practice of
3-26 the profession of engineering for said Government;
4-1 (3) a person doing the actual work of installing,
4-2 operating, repairing, or servicing locomotive or stationary
4-3 engines, steam boilers, Diesel engines, internal combustion
4-4 engines, refrigeration compressors and systems, hoisting engines,
4-5 electrical engines, air conditioning equipment and systems, or
4-6 mechanical and electrical, electronic or communications equipment
4-7 and apparatus; this Act may not be construed to prevent any citizen
4-8 from identifying himself in the name and trade of any engineers'
4-9 labor organization with which he may be affiliated, however, this
4-10 exemption may not be construed to permit any person other than a
4-11 licensed professional engineer to affix his signature to
4-12 engineering plans, or specifications and may not be construed to
4-13 permit a person to use the term "engineer" or "engineering" in any
4-14 manner prohibited by this Act;
4-15 (4) a person, sole proprietorship, firm, partnership,
4-16 joint stock association or private corporation, erecting,
4-17 constructing, enlarging, altering or repairing, or drawing plans
4-18 and specifications for: any private dwelling, or apartments not
4-19 exceeding eight units per building for one story buildings, or
4-20 apartments not exceeding four units per building and having a
4-21 maximum height of two stories, or garages or other structures
4-22 pertinent to such buildings; or private buildings which are to be
4-23 used exclusively for farm, ranch or agricultural purposes, or used
4-24 exclusively for storage of raw agricultural commodities; or other
4-25 buildings, except public buildings included under Section 19 of
4-26 this Act, having no more than one story and containing no clear
5-1 span between supporting structures greater than 24 feet on the
5-2 narrow side and having a total floor area not in excess of five
5-3 thousand square feet; provided that on unsupported spans greater
5-4 than 24 feet on such buildings only the trusses, beams, or other
5-5 roof supporting members need to be engineered or pre-engineered;
5-6 provided that no representation is made or implied that engineering
5-7 services have been or will be offered to the public;
5-8 (5) any regular full time employee of a private
5-9 corporation or other private business entity who is engaged solely
5-10 and exclusively in performing services for such corporation and/or
5-11 its affiliates; provided, such employee's services are on, or in
5-12 connection with, property owned or leased by such private
5-13 corporation and/or its affiliates or other private business entity,
5-14 or in which such private corporation and/or its affiliates or other
5-15 business entity has an interest, estate or possessory right, or
5-16 whose services affect exclusively the property, products, or
5-17 interests of such private corporation and/or its affiliates or
5-18 other private business entity; and, provided further, that such
5-19 employee does not have the final authority for the approval of, and
5-20 the ultimate responsibility for, engineering designs, plans or
5-21 specifications pertaining to such property or products which are to
5-22 be incorporated into fixed works, systems, or facilities on the
5-23 property of others or which are to be made available to the general
5-24 public. This exemption includes the use of job titles and
5-25 personnel classifications by such persons not in connection with
5-26 any offer of engineering services to the public, providing that no
6-1 name, title, or words are used which tend to convey the impression
6-2 that an unlicensed person is offering engineering services to the
6-3 public;
6-4 (6) any regular full time employee of a privately
6-5 owned public utility or cooperative utility and/or affiliates who
6-6 is engaged solely and exclusively in performing services for such
6-7 utility and/or its affiliates; provided, that such employee does
6-8 not have the final authority for the approval of, and the ultimate
6-9 responsibility for engineering designs, plans or specifications to
6-10 be incorporated into fixed works, systems, or facilities on the
6-11 property of others or which are to be made available to the general
6-12 public. This exemption includes the use of job titles and
6-13 personnel classifications by such persons not in connection with
6-14 any offer of engineering services to the public, providing that no
6-15 name, title, or words are used which tend to convey the impression
6-16 that an unlicensed person is offering engineering services to the
6-17 public; or
6-18 (7) qualified scientists engaged in scientific
6-19 research and investigation of the physical or natural sciences,
6-20 including the usual work and activities of meteorologists,
6-21 seismologists, geologists, chemists, geochemists, physicists and
6-22 geophysicists.
6-23 (h) This Act does not:
6-24 (1) apply to a sole proprietorship, firm, partnership,
6-25 joint stock association, corporation, or other business entity or
6-26 the entity's employees or contractors to the extent the entity's
7-1 products or services:
7-2 (A) are provided or sold to an agency or
7-3 department of the United States government or the government of a
7-4 foreign country and involve the design, development, production,
7-5 sale, or provision of defense products or services;
7-6 (B) consist of or support commercial aircraft
7-7 and the entity holds a certificate issued by the Federal Aviation
7-8 Administration under 14 C.F.R. Chapter 21; or
7-9 (C) consist of space vehicles or space services
7-10 that are:
7-11 (i) subject to licensing or regulation by
7-12 an agency or department of the United States government under Title
7-13 14, 47, or 48, Code of Federal Regulations; or
7-14 (ii) for sale or use outside the United
7-15 States; or
7-16 (2) prohibit the use of the term "engineer" or
7-17 "engineering" in a job title or personnel classification by an
7-18 employee or contractor described by Subdivision (1) of this
7-19 subsection to the extent that the use of the title or
7-20 classification is related to activities described by that
7-21 subdivision.
7-22 (i) The Board shall develop written guidelines, in
7-23 consultation with representatives of public and private
7-24 institutions of higher education, consulting engineers, private
7-25 industry, and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, that
7-26 describe a distinction between engineering research conducted by
8-1 faculty at a public or private institution of higher education and
8-2 other activities conducted by those faculty that constitute
8-3 engineering consulting or the offering of engineering services to
8-4 the public. The guidelines developed under this subsection do not
8-5 affect or apply to research or consulting performed by private
8-6 industry.
8-7 SECTION 5. Rules adopted under Subsection (c), Section 8,
8-8 The Texas Engineering Practice Act (Article 3271a, Vernon's Texas
8-9 Civil Statutes), as amended by this Act, may not apply to the
8-10 renewal of a license before January 1, 2004.
8-11 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 697 passed the Senate on
March 22, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0, one
present, not voting; and that the Senate concurred in House
amendments on May 24, 2001, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 697 passed the House, with
amendments, on May 17, 2001, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor