Florida will Offer Professional Engineering Licenses for BSET Graduates of Florida!

After so many years of work towards this, Engineering Technology students now are able to sit for the PE (professional Engineer License) in Florida. HB 827/SB 616 was signed by Governor Ron DeSantis on Friday, June 7, 2019.   This bill, proposed by FES (Florida Engineering Society) and ACEC-FL, will go into effect October 1, 2019. The next steps are for the Florida Board of Professional Engineers (FBPE) to create rules in Administrative Code 61G15.  The bill:

Removes the requirement that engineers obtain a separate engineering business license (certificate of authorization) for their engineering firm;

• Allows a licensed engineer to qualify an engineering business and provides requirements for such
• Requires a temporary registration instead of a temporary certificate of authorization for out-of-state engineering businesses
• Requires successor engineers to assume full responsibility when assuming the work of another engineer and releases an original engineer from liability for prior work assumed by the successor engineer
• Prohibits a local government from contracting for construction engineering inspections with the same entities that perform design services on the same project when a project is wholly or partially funded by FDOT under Ch. 337
• Clarifies the types of projects that require a special inspection
•  Allows graduates with a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering to sit for the PE Exam prior to completion of the 4-year experience requirement (4 years of experience is still required before the license is approved), and allows graduates with a Bachelor Degree in Engineering Technology to obtain a PE license with 6 years of experience 
• Requires applicants for licensure to submit proof of being 18 years of age or older 
• Allows the Board to toll the timeframe that an application must be granted or denied in certain circumstances instead of requiring automatic denial
• Allows Boards that regulate professions under Ch. 455, F.S., to accept applications from applicants with a voided license without completely repeating the initial application process 
• Revises provisions related to alternate plans review by private providers under ch. 553

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