GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

H	1 

HOUSE BILL 382

Short Title:  Professional Engineers Amendments.	(Public)
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Sponsors: Representatives Colton; Bowman and Gottovi.
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Referred to:  Business and Labor.
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March 3, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO AMEND THE STATUTES REGULATING PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  G.S. 89C-3 reads as rewritten:
"§ 89C-3. Definitions.
When used in this Chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1)	'Board' shall mean the North Carolina State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors provided for by this Chapter.
(2)	'Engineer'. – The term 'engineer,' within the intent of this Chapter, shall mean a person who, by reason of his special knowledge and use of the mathematical, physical and engineering sciences and the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design, acquired by engineering education and engineering experience, is qualified to practice engineering.
(3)	'Engineer-in-Training'. – The term 'engineer-in-training,' as used in this Chapter, shall mean a person who complies with the requirements for education, experience and character, and has passed an examination in the fundamental engineering subjects, as provided in this Chapter.
(4)	'Land Surveyor-in-Training'. – The term 'land surveyor-in-training,' as used in this Chapter, shall mean a person who has qualified for, taken, and passed an examination on the basic disciplines of land surveying as provided in this Chapter.
(5)	'Person' means any natural person, firm, partnership, corporation or other legal entity.
(6)	'Practice of Engineering'. –
a.	The term, 'practice of engineering,' within the intent of this Chapter, shall mean any service or creative work, the adequate performance of which requires engineering education, training, and experience, in the application of special knowledge of the mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences to such services or creative work as consultation, investigation, evaluation, planning, and design of engineering works and systems, planning the use of land and water, engineering surveys, and the observation of construction for the purposes of assuring compliance with drawings and specifications, including the consultation, investigation, evaluation, planning, and design for either private or public use, in connection with any utilities, structures, buildings, machines, equipment, processes, work systems, projects, and industrial or consumer products or equipment of a mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic or thermal nature, insofar as they involve safeguarding life, health or property, and including such other professional services as may be necessary to the planning, progress and completion of any engineering services.
	   A person shall be construed to practice or offer to practice engineering, within the meaning and intent of this Chapter, who practices any branch of the profession of engineering; or who, by verbal claim, sign, advertisement, letterhead, card, or in any other way represents himself to be a professional engineer, or through the use of some other title implies that he is a  professional engineer or that he is registered under this Chapter; or who holds himself out as able to perform, or who does perform any engineering service or work not exempted by this Chapter, or any other service designated by the practitioner which is recognized as engineering.
b.	The term 'practice of engineering' shall not be construed to permit the location, description, establishment or reestablishment of property lines or descriptions of land boundaries for conveyance.
(7)	'Practice of land surveying' by registered land surveyors shall mean any service or work, the adequate performance of which involves the application of special knowledge of the principles of mathematics, the related physical and applied sciences, and the relevant requirements of law for adequate evidence to the act of measuring and locating lines, angles, elevations, natural and man-made features in the air, on the surface of the earth, within underground workings, and on the beds of bodies of water for the purpose of determining areas and volumes, for the monumenting of property boundaries, and for the platting and layout of lands and subdivisions thereof, including the topography, alignment and grades of street and incidental drainage within the subdivision, and for the preparation and perpetuation of maps, record plats, field note records, and property descriptions that represent these surveys.
a.	The term 'practice of land surveying' shall not be construed to permit the design or preparation of specifications for (i) major highways; (ii) wastewater systems; (iii) wastewater or industrial waste treatment works; (iv) pumping or lift stations; (v) water supply, treatment, or distribution systems; (vi) streets or storm sewer systems except as incidental to a subdivision.
(8)	'Professional Engineer'. – The term, 'professional engineer,' as used in this Chapter, shall mean a person who has been duly registered and licensed as a professional engineer by the Board established by this Chapter.
(9)	'Registered land surveyor' shall mean a person who, by reason of his special knowledge of mathematics, surveying principles and methods, and legal requirements which are acquired by education and/or practical experience, is qualified to engage in the practice of land surveying, as herein defined, as attested by his registration as a registered land surveyor by the Board.
(10)	'Responsible Charge'. – This term means direct control and personal supervision, either of engineering work or of land surveying, as the case may be. 
(11)	'Business Firm'. – The term means any representation or activity in the fields of engineering or land surveying, as defined in this Chapter, performed by an organization which is not incorporated by a governmental entity."
Sec. 2.  G.S. 89C-13(b) reads as rewritten:
"(b)	Land Surveyor Applicant. – To be eligible for admission to examination for land surveyor-in-training, or registered land surveyor, an applicant must be of good character and reputation and shall submit five references with his application for registration as a land surveyor, two of which references shall be registered land surveyors having personal knowledge of his land surveying experience, or in the case of an application for certification as a land surveyor-in-training by three references, one of which shall be a registered land surveyor having personal knowledge of the applicant's land surveying experience.
The evaluation of a land surveyor applicant's qualifications shall involve a consideration of his education, technical and land surveying experience, exhibits of land surveying projects with which he has been associated, recommendations by references, and reviewing of these categories during an oral examination.  The land surveyor applicant's qualifications may be reviewed at an interview if the Board deems it necessary.  Educational credit for institute courses, correspondence courses, etc., shall be determined by the Board.
The following shall be considered a minimum evidence satisfactory to the Board that the applicant is qualified for registration as a land surveyor or for certification as a land surveyor-in-training, respectively:
(1)	As a registered land surveyor (shall meet one):
a.	Rightful possession of a B.S. degree in surveying or other equivalent curricula, all approved by the Board and a record satisfactory to the Board of one year or more of progressive practical experience one year of which shall have been under a practicing registered land surveyor and satisfactorily passing such oral and written examination, taken in the presence of and required by the Board, all of which shall determine and indicate that the candidate is competent to practice land surveying.  The applicant may elect to take the first examination (Surveying Fundamentals) immediately after obtaining the B.S. degree at the first regularly scheduled examination thereafter.  Upon passing the first examination and successful completion of the experience required by this subdivision, the applicant may take the second examination (Principles and Practices of Land Surveying).  An applicant who passes both examinations and completes the educational and experience requirements of this subdivision shall be granted registration as a land surveyor.
b.	Rightful possession of an associate degree in surveying technology approved by the Board and a record satisfactory to the Board of three years of progressive practical experience, two years of which shall have been under a practicing registered land surveyor, and satisfactorily passing such written and oral examination taken in the presence of and as required by the Board, all of which shall determine and indicate that the candidate is competent to practice land surveying.  The applicant may elect to take the first examination (Surveying Fundamentals) immediately after obtaining the associate degree at the first regularly scheduled examination thereafter.  Upon passing the first examination and successfully completing two years of progressive practical experience under a practicing registered land surveyor, the applicant may elect to take the second examination (Principles and Practices of Land Surveying) prior to, during, or after completion of the additional experience required by this subdivision.  An applicant who passes both examinations and successfully completes the educational and experience requirements of this subdivision shall be granted registration as a land surveyor.
c.	Land Surveyor-in-Training Certificate, Experience, and Examination. – A holder of a certificate of land surveyor-in-training issued by the Board, and with a specific record of an additional two years or more of progressive surveying experience, one year of which shall have been under a practicing registered land surveyor, of a grade and character which indicates to the Board that the applicant may be competent to practice land surveying, shall be admitted to two four-hour examinations.  Upon passing such examinations, the applicant shall be granted a certificate of registration to practice land surveying in this State, provided he is otherwise qualified.
d.	Graduation from a high school or the completion of a high school equivalency certificate and a record satisfactory to the Board of seven years of progressive practical experience, six years of which shall have been under a practicing registered land surveyor, and satisfactorily passing such oral and written examination written in the presence of and required by the Board, all of which shall determine and indicate that the candidate is competent to practice land surveying.
e.	Repealed by Session Laws 1985 (Regular Session, 1986), c. 977, s. 7.
f.	Registration by Comity or Endorsement. – A person holding a certificate of registration to engage in the practice of land surveying issued on comparable qualifications from a state, territory, or possession of the United States will be given comity considerations.  However, he may be asked to take such examinations as the Board deems necessary to determine his qualifications, but in any event, he shall be required to pass a written examination which shall include questions on laws, procedures, and practices pertaining to the practice of land surveying in North Carolina.
g.	A licensed professional engineer who can satisfactorily demonstrate to the Board that his formal academic training in acquiring a degree and field experience in engineering includes land surveying, to the extent necessary to reasonably qualify the applicant in the practice of land surveying, may apply for and may be granted permission to take the two four-hour examinations on the principles and practices of land surveying and the two four-hour examinations on the fundamentals of land surveying.  Upon satisfactorily passing the examinations, the applicant will be granted a license to practice land surveying in the State of North Carolina.
h.	Professional Engineers in Land Surveying. – Any person presently licensed to practice professional engineering under this Chapter shall upon his application be licensed to practice land surveying, providing his written application is filed with the Board within one year next after June 19, 1975.
	           The Board shall require an applicant to submit exhibits, drawings, plats or other tangible evidence of land surveying work executed by him under proper supervision and which he has personally accomplished or supervised.
(2)	As a land surveyor-in-training (shall meet one):
a.	Rightful possession of an associate degree in surveying technology approved by the Board and satisfactorily passing a written or oral examination taken in the presence of and as required by the Board.
b.	Rightful possession of a B.S. degree in surveying or other equivalent curricula in surveying all approved by the Board and satisfactorily passing such oral and written examinations written in the presence of and required by the Board.
c.	Graduation from high school or the completion of a high school equivalency certificate and a record satisfactory to the Board of five years of progressive, practical experience, four years of which shall have been under a practicing registered land surveyor and satisfactorily passing oral and written examinations taken in the presence of and as required by the Board.
	           The Board shall require an applicant to submit exhibits, drawings, plats, or other tangible evidence of land surveying work executed by him under proper supervision and which he has personally accomplished or supervised."
Sec 3.  G.S. 89C-18 reads as rewritten:
"§ 89C-18. Reissuance of certificates.
A new certificate of registration, or certificate of authorization, to replace any certificate lost, destroyed, or mutilated, may be issued, subject to the rules of the Board. A charge not to exceed fifty dollars ($50.00) shall be made for such issuance."
Sec. 4.  G.S. 89C-24 reads as rewritten:
"§ 89C-24. Business firm or corporate practice of engineering and land surveying.
A business firm or corporation may engage in the practice of  engineering or land surveying in this State.  Provided, that all business was organized as a business corporation under the provisions of Chapter 55 of the General Statutes prior to June 5, 1969, or as a professional corporation organized under the provisions of Chapter 55B of the General Statutes after June 5,1969, shall be registered with the Board and pay the appropriate fees provided for in either G.S. 89C-14 or G.S. 55B-11.  Such registration, however, shall not affect the requirement that all engineering or land surveying work shall be performed by or under the responsible charge of Board registrants as defined in G.S. 89C-3(10)	nor relieve the individual registrants within a business firm or corporation of their design and supervision responsibilities. Business firms and corporations shall be subject to the same duties and responsibilities as an individual registrant; and unless incorporated prior to June 5, 1969, as provided in G.S. 55B-15, all corporations hereunder shall be incorporated in accord with and subject to the provisions of Chapter 55B of the General Statutes of North Carolina."
Sec. 5.  This act becomes effective October 1, 1993.