View Daily Data Tracking History
View Bill Text
View Statement of Purpose / Fiscal Impact
H0410........................................................by MR. SPEAKER
Requested by: Board of Engineers and Land Surveyors
ENGINEERS/LAND SURVEYORS - Amends existing law to define terms; to clarify
the use of seals and signatures; and to permit the Board of Professional
Engineers and Land Surveyors to waive examination requirements for certain
individuals.
01/07 House intro - 1st rdg - to printing
Rpt prt - to Bus
01/10 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
01/11 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
01/14 3rd rdg - PASSED - 67-0-3
AYES -- Aikele, Barraclough, Barrett, Bedke, Bell, Bieter, Black,
Block, Boe, Bolz, Bradford, Bruneel, Callister, Campbell, Clark,
Collins, Crow, Cuddy, Deal, Denney, Ellis, Ellsworth, Eskridge,
Field(13), Field(20), Gagner, Gould, Hadley, Hammond, Harwood,
Henbest, Higgins, Hornbeck, Jaquet, Kellogg, Kendell, Kunz, Lake,
Langford, Loertscher, Mader, Martinez, McKague, Meyer, Montgomery,
Mortensen, Moyle, Pearce, Pischner, Pomeroy, Raybould, Roberts,
Robison, Sali, Schaefer, Sellman, Shepherd, Smith(33), Smith(23),
Smylie, Stevenson, Stone, Tilman, Trail, Wheeler, Young, Mr. Speaker
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Jones, Ridinger, Wood
Floor Sponsor - Black
Title apvd - to Senate
01/15 Senate intro - 1st rdg - to Com/HuRes
01/25 Rpt out - rec d/p - to 2nd rdg
01/28 2nd rdg - to 3rd rdg
01/29 3rd rdg - PASSED - 32-0-3
AYES -- Andreason, Boatright, Branch, Bunderson, Burtenshaw, Cameron,
Darrington, Davis, Deide, Dunklin, Frasure, Geddes, Goedde, Hawkins,
Hill, Ingram, Keough, King-Barrutia, Little, Lodge, Marley, Noh,
Richardson, Risch, Sandy, Schroeder, Sorensen, Stegner, Stennett,
Thorne(Thorne), Wheeler, Williams
NAYS -- None
Absent and excused -- Brandt, Ipsen, Sims
Floor Sponsor - Lodge
Title apvd - to House
01/30 To enrol
01/31 Rpt enrol - Sp signed
02/01 Pres signed
02/04 To Governor
02/05 Governor signed
Session Law Chapter 6
Effective: 07/01/02
|||| LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF IDAHO |||| Fifty-sixth Legislature Second Regular Session - 2002IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES HOUSE BILL NO. 410 BY MR. SPEAKER Requested by: Board of Engineers and Land Surveyors 1 AN ACT 2 RELATING TO PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYORS; AMENDING 3 SECTION 54-1202, IDAHO CODE, TO DEFINE "SIGNATURE"; AMENDING SECTION 4 54-1215, IDAHO CODE, TO CLARIFY THE USE OF SEALS AND SIGNATURES; AND 5 AMENDING SECTION 54-1223, IDAHO CODE, TO PROVIDE THAT THE BOARD MAY EXEMPT 6 FROM EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE AT LEAST TWELVE 7 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. 8 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Idaho: 9 SECTION 1. That Section 54-1202, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 10 amended to read as follows: 11 54-1202. DEFINITIONS. As used in this chapter, unless the context or sub- 12 ject matter requires otherwise: 13 (a) Engineer. The term "engineer" means a person who is qualified to 14 practice engineering by reason of his special knowledge and use of mathemati- 15 cal, physical and engineering sciences, and the principles and methods of 16 engineering analysis and design, acquired by professional education and engi- 17 neering experience. 18 (b) Professional Engineer. The term "professional engineer" means a per- 19 son who has been duly registered or licensed as a professional engineer by the 20 board under this chapter. 21 (c) Professional Engineering and Practice of Professional Engineering. 22 The terms "professional engineering" and "practice of professional engineer- 23 ing" mean any service or creative work offered to or performed for the public 24 for any project physically located in this state, such as consultation, inves- 25 tigation, evaluation, planning, designing, teaching upper division engineering 26 design subjects, and responsible charge of observation of construction in con- 27 nection with any public or private utilities, structures, buildings, machines, 28 equipment, processes, works, or projects, wherein the public welfare or the 29 safeguarding of life, health, or property is concerned or involved, when such 30 service requires the application of engineering principles and data. A person 31 shall be construed to practice or offer to practice professional engineering 32 within the meaning and intent of this chapter who practices or offers to prac- 33 tice any of the branches of the profession of engineering for the public for 34 any project physically located in this state or who, by verbal claim, sign, 35 advertisement, letterhead, card, or in any other way represents himself to be 36 a professional engineer or through the use of some other title implies that he 37 is a professional engineer or that he is registered under this chapter, or 38 holds himself out as able to perform or who does perform for the public for 39 any project physically located in this state any engineering service or work 40 or any other service designated by the practitioner which is the practice of 41 professional engineering. 42 (d) Consulting Engineer. The term "consulting engineer" means a profes- 43 sional engineer whose principal occupation is the independent practice of pro- 2 1 fessional engineering; whose livelihood is obtained by offering engineering 2 services to the public; who is devoid of public, commercial and product affil- 3 iation that might tend to infer a conflict of interest; and who is cognizant 4 of his public and legal responsibilities, and is capable of discharging them. 5 (e) Professional Land Surveyor. The term "professional land surveyor" 6 means a person who is qualified by reason of his knowledge of the principles 7 of land surveying acquired by education and practical experience to engage in 8 the practice of professional land surveying and who has been duly registered 9 or licensed as a professional land surveyor by the board under this chapter. 10 (f) Professional Land Surveying and Practice of Professional Land Survey- 11 ing. The terms "land surveying" and "professional land surveying" mean respon- 12 sible charge of surveying of land to determine the correct boundary descrip- 13 tion, to convey, to establish or reestablish land boundaries, or to plat lands 14 and subdivisions thereof. Any person shall be construed to practice or offer 15 to practice professional land surveying who engages in professional land sur- 16 veying, or who, by verbal claim, sign, advertisement, letterhead, card, or in 17 any other way represents himself to be a professional land surveyor, or who 18 represents himself as able to perform or who does perform any professional 19 land surveying service or work or any other service designated by the practi- 20 tioner which is professional land surveying. 21 (g) Board. The term "board" means the Idaho board of registration of pro- 22 fessional engineers and professional land surveyors, hereinafter provided by 23 this chapter. 24 (h) Responsible Charge. The term "responsible charge" means the control 25 and direction of the investigation, studies, design, construction or operation 26 of engineering work, or the control and direction of record research, field 27 retracement, office calculations, boundary determination and mapping of land 28 surveying work, requiring initiative, professional skill and independent judg- 29 ment. 30 (i) Engineer-in-Training. The term "engineer-in-training" means a person 31 who has qualified for, taken and passed an examination in the fundamentals of 32 engineering subjects as provided in this chapter. 33 (j) Land Surveyor-in-Training. The term "land surveyor-in-training" means 34 a person who has qualified for, taken and passed an examination in the funda- 35 mentals of land surveying subjects as provided in this chapter. 36 (k) Rules of Professional Responsibility. The term "rules of professional 37 responsibility" means those rules, if any, promulgated by the board, as autho- 38 rized by the Idaho Code. 39 (l) Public. The term "public" means any person, firm, corporation, part- 40 nership, company, government agency, institution or any other entity recog- 41 nized by law. 42 (m) Business Entity. The term "business entity" means a corporation, pro- 43 fessional corporation, limited liability company, professional limited liabil- 44 ity company, general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability part- 45 nership, professional limited liability partnership or any other form of busi- 46 ness except a sole proprietorship. 47 (n) Signature. The term "signature" shall mean either: an original hand- 48 written message identification containing the name of the person who applied 49 it; or a digital signature which is an electronic authentication process 50 attached to or logically associated with an electronic document. The digital 51 signature must be unique to the person using it; must be capable of verifica- 52 tion; must be under the sole control of the person using it; and must be 53 linked to a document in such a manner that the digital signature is invali- 54 dated if any data in the document is changed. 3 1 SECTION 2. That Section 54-1215, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 2 amended to read as follows: 3 54-1215. CERTIFICATES -- SEALS. (1) The board shall issue a certificate 4 of registration upon payment of the registration fee as provided for in this 5 chapter to any applicant who, in the opinion of the board, has satisfactorily 6 met all of the requirements of this chapter, and an enrollment certificate 7 shall be issued to those who qualify as engineers-in-training and land 8 surveyors-in-training. In the case of a registered professional engineer, the 9 certificate shall authorize the practice of "professional engineering," and in 10 the case of a registered professional land surveyor the certificate shall 11 authorize the practice of "professional land surveying." Certificates of reg- 12 istration shall show the full name of the registrant, shall give a serial reg- 13 istration number, and shall be signed by the chairman and the secretary of the 14 board under seal of the board. 15 (2) The issuance of a certificate of registration by the board shall be 16 prima facie evidence that the person named therein is entitled to all the 17 rights, privileges and responsibilities of a registered professional engineer 18 or of a registered professional land surveyor, provided that said certificate 19 of registration has not expired or has not been suspended or revoked. 20 (3) Each registrant hereunder shall, upon registration, obtain a seal, 21 the use and design of which are described below. It shall be unlawful for any 22 person to affix or to permit his seal and signature to be affixed to any docu- 23 ments after the certificate of the registrant named thereon has expired or has 24 been suspended or revoked, unless said certificate shall have been renewed, 25 reinstated, or reissued, or for the purpose of aiding or abetting any other 26 person to evade or attempt to evade any portion of this chapter. 27 (a) The seal may be a rubber stamp, crimp or electronically generated 28 image. Whenever the seal is applied, the registrant'swrittensignature 29 and date shall also be included. If the signature is handwritten, it shall 30 be adjacent to or across the seal. No further words or wording is 31 required. A facsimile signature generated by any method will not be 32 acceptable unless accompanied by a digital signature. 33 (b) The seal, signature and date shall be placed on all final specifica- 34 tions, land surveys, reports, plats, drawings, plans, design information 35 and calculations, whenever presented to a client or any public or govern- 36 mental agency. Any such document presented to a client or public or gov- 37 ernmental agency that is not final and does not contain a seal, signature 38 and date shall be clearly marked as "preliminary," "draft," "not for con- 39 struction" or with similar words to distinguish the document from a final 40 document. 41 (c) The seal, signature and date shall be placed on all original docu- 42 ments. The application of the registrant's seal, signature and date shall 43 constitute certification that the work thereon was done by him or under 44 his responsible charge. Each plan or drawing sheet shall be sealed and 45 signed by the registrant or registrants responsible for each sheet. In the 46 case of a business entity, each plan or drawing sheet shall be sealed and 47 signed by the registrant or registrants involved. The principal in respon- 48 sible charge shall sign and seal the title or first sheet. Copies of 49 electronically produced documents, listed in paragraph (b) of this subsec- 50 tion, distributed for informational uses such as for bidding purposes or 51 working copies, may be issued with the registrant's seal and a notice that 52 the original document is on file with the registrant's signature and date. 53 The words "Original Signed By:" and "Date Original Signed:" shall be 54 placed adjacent to or across the seal on the electronic original. The 4 1 storage location of the original document shall also be provided. Only the 2 title page of reports, specifications and like documents need bear the 3 seal, signature and date of the registrant. 4 (d) The seal and signature shall be used by registrants only when the 5 work being stamped was under the registrant's responsible charge. 6 (e) The design of the seal shall be as determined by the board. 7 (4) The board shall issue to any applicant who, in the opinion of the 8 board, has met the requirements of this chapter, an enrollment certificate or 9 card as an engineer-in-training or land surveyor-in-training, which indicates 10 that his name has been recorded as such in the board office. The engineer-in- 11 training or land surveyor-in-training enrollment card does not authorize the 12 holder to practice as a professional engineer or a professional land surveyor. 13 SECTION 3. That Section 54-1223, Idaho Code, be, and the same is hereby 14 amended to read as follows: 15 54-1223. SAVING CLAUSE -- EXEMPTIONS. A. This chapter shall not be con- 16 strued to affect: 17 (1) The practice of any other profession or trade for which a license is 18 required under any law of this state or the United States. 19 (2) The work of an employee or a subordinate of a person holding a cer- 20 tificate of registration under this chapter, provided such work does not 21 include final engineering design or land surveying decisions and is done 22 under the direct responsibility, checking, and supervision of, and veri- 23 fied by, a person holding a certificate of registration under this chap- 24 ter. 25 (3) Any individual teaching upper division engineering subjects that are 26 classified as engineering design for any college or university in this 27 state as of July 1, 1988, and any such individual employed after July 1, 28 1988, for a period of three (3) years from the date of employment with any 29 college or university in this state. 30 (4) An individual doing surveying work for himself, or through a business 31 entity, on property owned or leased by the individual or business entity, 32 or in which the individual or business entity has an interest, estate or 33 possessory right and which affects exclusively the property or interests 34 of the individual or business entity; provided, that all land surveying 35 maps, plats or plans filed with any county recorder's office in the state 36 of Idaho for the purpose of illustrating or defining boundaries of prop- 37 erty ownership, shall be made and certified by a registered, professional 38 land surveyor as provided in this chapter. 39 (5) An individual doing survey work for himself, or through a business 40 entity with respect to the location, amendment, or relocation of a mining 41 claim. 42 (6) The practice of engineering by employees of a business entity as long 43 as the services provided by them are for internal business entity use 44 only. 45 B. The board, at its discretion, may exempt an exceptional individual who 46 hastwenty-fivetwelve (125) or more years of appropriate experience in engi- 47 neering from the requirement for satisfactory completion of an examination in 48 the fundamentals of engineering. 49 C. In addition to, and notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, 50 in circumstances of emergency creating conditions of imminent and substantial 51 danger to the public health, safety or environment through the provision of 52 engineering services, the prosecuting attorney or the attorney general may 53 institute a civil action for an immediate injunction to halt the provision of 5 1 engineering services.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
RS 11444
The purpose of this amendment is to define "signature" as used in
conjunction with the professional seals used to identify the engineer
or land surveyor who has been in responsi ble charge of a work product
and to allow that signature to be either a handwritten message or a
digital identification which meets certain security parameters.
Approval of the amendment would allow the electronic exchange of
documents with the assurance that the documents are unaltered.
This legislation also allows the Board of Professional Engineers and
Professional Land Surveyors to waive the requirement for passage of
an examination in the fundamentals of engineering for exceptional
persons with a minimum of 12 years of appropriate experience in
engineering. The current requirement of 25 years is excessive, and
the Board believes that the public will remain protected if persons
with 12 years of experience are not required to take and pass the
exam.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no impact to the General Fund or any Dedicated Fund,
including that of the Board of Professional Engineers and Professional
Land Surveyors. Computer software would have to be purchased by
practitioners who chose to take advantage of the digital aspect of
the amendment, but it's use is optional. The amendment would allow
for quick and secure exchange of the work product of professional
engineers and professional land surveyors, thus expediting commerce.
Contact: David L. Curtis, P.E.
Agency: Board of Engineers & Land Surveyors
Phone: (208) 334-3860
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE/FISCAL NOTE H0410