1-1 By: Carona S.B. No. 1797
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed April 6, 2001; April 10, 2001, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Business and Commerce;
1-4 April 26, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 6,
1-5 Nays 0; April 26, 2001, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to an exemption from the licensure provisions of The Texas
1-9 Engineering Practice Act for certain research or instructional
1-10 work.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 20, The Texas Engineering
1-13 Practice Act (Article 3271a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
1-14 amended to read as follows:
1-15 (a) The following persons shall be exempt from the licensure
1-16 provisions of this Act, provided that such persons are not directly
1-17 or indirectly represented or held out to the public to be legally
1-18 qualified to engage in the practice of engineering:
1-19 (1) an employee or a subordinate of a person holding a
1-20 license under this Act; provided, his practice does not include
1-21 responsible charge of design or supervision;
1-22 (2) officers and employees of the Government of the
1-23 United States while engaged within this state in the practice of
1-24 the profession of engineering for said Government;
1-25 (3) a person doing the actual work of installing,
1-26 operating, repairing, or servicing locomotive or stationary
1-27 engines, steam boilers, Diesel engines, internal combustion
1-28 engines, refrigeration compressors and systems, hoisting engines,
1-29 electrical engines, air conditioning equipment and systems, or
1-30 mechanical and electrical, electronic or communications equipment
1-31 and apparatus; this Act may not be construed to prevent any citizen
1-32 from identifying himself in the name and trade of any engineers'
1-33 labor organization with which he may be affiliated, however, this
1-34 exemption may not be construed to permit any person other than a
1-35 licensed professional engineer to affix his signature to
1-36 engineering plans, or specifications and may not be construed to
1-37 permit a person to use the term "engineer" or "engineering" in any
1-38 manner prohibited by this Act;
1-39 (4) a person, sole proprietorship, firm, partnership,
1-40 joint stock association or private corporation, erecting,
1-41 constructing, enlarging, altering or repairing, or drawing plans
1-42 and specifications for: any private dwelling, or apartments not
1-43 exceeding eight units per building for one story buildings, or
1-44 apartments not exceeding four units per building and having a
1-45 maximum height of two stories, or garages or other structures
1-46 pertinent to such buildings; or private buildings which are to be
1-47 used exclusively for farm, ranch or agricultural purposes, or used
1-48 exclusively for storage of raw agricultural commodities; or other
1-49 buildings, except public buildings included under Section 19 of
1-50 this Act, having no more than one story and containing no clear
1-51 span between supporting structures greater than 24 feet on the
1-52 narrow side and having a total floor area not in excess of five
1-53 thousand square feet; provided that on unsupported spans greater
1-54 than 24 feet on such buildings only the trusses, beams, or other
1-55 roof supporting members need to be engineered or pre-engineered;
1-56 provided that no representation is made or implied that engineering
1-57 services have been or will be offered to the public;
1-58 (5) any regular full time employee of a private
1-59 corporation or other private business entity who is engaged solely
1-60 and exclusively in performing services for such corporation and/or
1-61 its affiliates; provided, such employee's services are on, or in
1-62 connection with, property owned or leased by such private
1-63 corporation and/or its affiliates or other private business entity,
1-64 or in which such private corporation and/or its affiliates or other
2-1 business entity has an interest, estate or possessory right, or
2-2 whose services affect exclusively the property, products, or
2-3 interests of such private corporation and/or its affiliates or
2-4 other private business entity; and, provided further, that such
2-5 employee does not have the final authority for the approval of, and
2-6 the ultimate responsibility for, engineering designs, plans or
2-7 specifications pertaining to such property or products which are to
2-8 be incorporated into fixed works, systems, or facilities on the
2-9 property of others or which are to be made available to the general
2-10 public. This exemption includes the use of job titles and
2-11 personnel classifications by such persons not in connection with
2-12 any offer of engineering services to the public, providing that no
2-13 name, title, or words are used which tend to convey the impression
2-14 that an unlicensed person is offering engineering services to the
2-15 public;
2-16 (6) any regular full time employee of a privately
2-17 owned public utility or cooperative utility and/or affiliates who
2-18 is engaged solely and exclusively in performing services for such
2-19 utility and/or its affiliates; provided, that such employee does
2-20 not have the final authority for the approval of, and the ultimate
2-21 responsibility for engineering designs, plans or specifications to
2-22 be incorporated into fixed works, systems, or facilities on the
2-23 property of others or which are to be made available to the general
2-24 public. This exemption includes the use of job titles and
2-25 personnel classifications by such persons not in connection with
2-26 any offer of engineering services to the public, providing that no
2-27 name, title, or words are used which tend to convey the impression
2-28 that an unlicensed person is offering engineering services to the
2-29 public; [or]
2-30 (7) qualified scientists engaged in scientific
2-31 research and investigation of the physical or natural sciences,
2-32 including the usual work and activities of meteorologists,
2-33 seismologists, geologists, chemists, geochemists, physicists and
2-34 geophysicists; or
2-35 (8) persons employed by an institution of higher
2-36 education or a private or independent institution of higher
2-37 education, as those terms are defined by Section 61.003, Education
2-38 Code, who are performing research or instructional work within the
2-39 scope of their employment by the institution.
2-40 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
2-41 a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
2-42 provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
2-43 Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
2-44 Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
2-45 * * * * *