Florida Senate - 2014 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 692
Ì205124sÎ205124
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/10/2014 .
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following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3
4 Delete everything after the enacting clause
5 and insert:
6 Section 1. Section 471.007, Florida Statutes, is amended to
7 read:
8 471.007 Board of Professional Engineers.—
9 (1) There is created in the department the Board of
10 Professional Engineers. The board shall consist of 11 members,
11 nine of whom shall be licensed engineers and two of whom shall
12 be laypersons who are not and have never been engineers or
13 members of any closely related profession or occupation. The
14 members of the board who are licensed engineers must be
15 appointed based on their qualifications to provide expertise and
16 experience to the board at all times in civil engineering,
17 structural engineering, electrical or electronic engineering,
18 mechanical engineering, or engineering education Of the members
19 who are licensed engineers, three shall be civil engineers, one
20 shall be a structural engineer, one shall be either an
21 electrical or electronic engineer, one shall be a mechanical
22 engineer, one shall be an industrial engineer, one shall be an
23 engineering educator, and one shall be from any discipline of
24 engineering other than civil engineering.
25 (2) Following the expiration of the initial staggered terms
26 under subsection (3), members of the board Members shall be
27 appointed by the Governor for terms of 4 years each.
28 Professional and technical engineering societies may submit a
29 list of qualified nominees to be considered by the Governor for
30 appointment.
31 (3) When the terms of members serving as of July 1, 2014,
32 expire, the terms of their immediate successors shall be
33 staggered so that three members are appointed for 2 years, four
34 members are appointed for 3 years, and four members are
35 appointed for 4 years, as determined by the Governor. Each
36 member holds office until the expiration of his or her appointed
37 term or until a successor has been appointed.
38 Section 2. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section
39 471.013, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
40 471.013 Examinations; prerequisites.—
41 (1)
42 (e) Every applicant who is qualified to take the
43 fundamentals examination or the principles and practice
44 examination shall be allowed to take either examination three
45 times, notwithstanding the number of times either examination
46 has been previously failed. If an applicant fails either
47 examination three times, the board shall require the applicant
48 to complete additional college-level education courses or a
49 board-approved relevant examination review course as a condition
50 of future eligibility to take that examination. If the applicant
51 is delayed in taking the examination due to reserve or active
52 duty service in the United States Armed Forces or National
53 Guard, the applicant is allowed an additional two attempts to
54 take the examination before the board may require additional
55 college-level education or review courses.
56 Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section
57 471.015, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
58 471.015 Licensure.—
59 (5)(a) The board shall deem that an applicant who seeks
60 licensure by endorsement has passed an examination substantially
61 equivalent to the fundamentals examination when such applicant
62 has:
63 1. Has held a valid professional engineer’s license in
64 another state for 15 years and has had 20 years of continuous
65 professional-level engineering experience;
66 2. Has received a doctorate degree in engineering from an
67 institution that has an undergraduate engineering degree program
68 which is accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering
69 Technology; or
70 3. Has received a doctorate degree in engineering and has
71 taught engineering full time for at least 3 years, at the
72 baccalaureate level or higher, after receiving that degree.
73 Section 4. Effective March 1, 2015, subsection (3) of
74 section 471.017, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
75 471.017 Renewal of license.—
76 (3)(a) The board shall require a demonstration of
77 continuing professional competency of engineers as a condition
78 of license renewal or relicensure. Every licensee must complete
79 9 continuing education 4 professional development hours, for
80 each year of the license renewal period, totaling 18 continuing
81 education hours for the license renewal period. For each renewal
82 period for such continuing education:, 4
83 1. One hour must hours shall relate to this chapter and the
84 rules adopted under this chapter;
85 2. One hour must relate to professional ethics; and the
86 remaining 4
87 3. Four hours must shall relate to the licensee’s area of
88 practice; and
89 4. The remaining hours may relate to any topic pertinent to
90 the practice of engineering.
91
92 Continuing education hours may be earned by presenting or
93 attending seminars, in-house or nonclassroom courses, workshops,
94 or professional or technical presentations made at meetings,
95 webinars, conventions, or conferences, including those presented
96 by vendors with specific knowledge related to the licensee’s
97 area of practice. Up to 4 hours may be earned by serving as an
98 officer or actively participating on a committee of a board
99 recognized professional or technical engineering society. The 4
100 hours of continuing education hours relating to this chapter,
101 the rules adopted pursuant to this chapter, and ethics may be
102 earned by serving as a member of the Legislature or as an
103 elected state or local official. The hours required pursuant to
104 s. 471.0195 may apply to any requirements of this section except
105 for those required under subparagraph 1.
106 (b) The board shall adopt rules that are substantially
107 consistent with the most recent published version of the
108 Continuing Professional Competency Guidelines of the National
109 Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying for
110 multijurisdictional licensees for the purpose of avoiding
111 proprietary continuing professional competency requirements and
112 shall allow nonclassroom hours to be credited. The board may, by
113 rule, exempt from continuing professional competency
114 requirements retired professional engineers who no longer sign
115 and seal engineering documents and licensees in unique
116 circumstances that severely limit opportunities to obtain the
117 required continuing education professional development hours.
118 Section 5. Except as otherwise provided in this act, this
119 act shall take effect July 1, 2014.
120
121 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
122 And the title is amended as follows:
123 Delete everything before the enacting clause
124 and insert:
125 A bill to be entitled
126 An act relating to engineers; amending s. 471.007,
127 F.S.; revising requirements for membership on the
128 Board of Professional Engineers; authorizing the
129 professional and technical engineering societies to
130 provide a list of qualified nominees for consideration
131 as board member appointments; providing for staggered
132 terms; amending s. 471.013, F.S.; revising
133 requirements for an engineer license applicant who
134 fails the fundamentals examination; authorizing such
135 applicant who is delayed in taking the examination by
136 military service to have additional attempts to take
137 the examination; amending s. 471.015, F.S.; revising
138 requirements for obtaining a licensure by endorsement;
139 amending s. 471.017, F.S.; revising requirements for
140 professional development hours and license renewal for
141 engineers; providing effective dates.