Bill Text: CA AB645 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: Professional engineers and land surveyors: licensing.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2009-10-11 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 368, Statutes of 2009. [AB645 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AB645-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AB 645 CHAPTERED
BILL TEXT
CHAPTER 368
FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 11, 2009
APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 11, 2009
PASSED THE SENATE JULY 9, 2009
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 17, 2009
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 11, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Niello
FEBRUARY 25, 2009
An act to amend Sections 6735, 6735.3, 6735.4, 6764, 8750, 8761,
and 8764.5 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to
professional engineers and land surveyors.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 645, Niello. Professional engineers and land surveyors:
licensing.
Existing law, the Professional Engineers Act, provides for the
licensing and regulation of the practice of civil engineering,
electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering, and the
Professional Land Surveyors Act provides for licensing and regulation
of land surveying by the Board of Professional Engineers and Land
Surveyors. A violation of these acts is a crime.
Existing law requires that any civil engineering, mechanical
engineering, or electrical engineering plans and other specified
documents, prepared by a registered engineer, that are permitted or
that are to be released for construction shall bear the signature and
seal or stamp of the registrant, the date of signing and sealing or
stamping, and the expiration date of the certificate, authority, or
registration.
This bill would instead require that these documents bear the
signature and seal of the licensee and the date of signing and
sealing or stamping.
Existing law permits a licensed land surveyor to obtain a stamp or
seal with the designation "Licensed Land Surveyor" containing the
expiration date of the license. Existing law requires that specified
multiple page land surveying documents contain the signature, seal or
stamp, date of signing and sealing or stamping, and expiration date
of the license on specified pages.
This bill require licensed land surveyors to obtain the stamp or
seal and would eliminate the requirement that the license expiration
date appear on the stamp or seal and the multiple page land surveying
documents. This bill would also make nonsubstantive, technical, and
conforming changes. Because the bill would impose new requirements on
licensed land surveyors, the violation of which would be a crime,
the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 6735 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
6735. (a) All civil (including structural and geotechnical)
engineering plans, calculations, specifications, and reports
(hereinafter referred to as "documents") shall be prepared by, or
under the responsible charge of, a licensed civil engineer and shall
include his or her name and license number. Interim documents shall
include a notation as to the intended purpose of the document, such
as "preliminary," "not for construction," "for plan check only," or
"for review only." All civil engineering plans and specifications
that are permitted or that are to be released for construction shall
bear the signature and seal or stamp of the licensee and the date of
signing and sealing or stamping. All final civil engineering
calculations and reports shall bear the signature and seal or stamp
of the licensee, and the date of signing and sealing or stamping. If
civil engineering plans are required to be signed and sealed or
stamped and have multiple sheets, the signature, seal or stamp, and
date of signing and sealing or stamping shall appear on each sheet of
the plans. If civil engineering specifications, calculations, and
reports are required to be signed and sealed or stamped and have
multiple pages, the signature, seal or stamp, and date of signing and
sealing or stamping shall appear at a minimum on the title sheet,
cover sheet, or signature sheet.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a licensed civil engineer who
signs civil engineering documents shall not be responsible for
damage caused by subsequent changes to or uses of those documents, if
the subsequent changes or uses, including changes or uses made by
state or local governmental agencies, are not authorized or approved
by the licensed civil engineer who originally signed the documents,
provided that the engineering service rendered by the civil engineer
who signed the documents was not also a proximate cause of the
damage.
SEC. 2. Section 6735.3 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
6735.3. (a) All electrical engineering plans, specifications,
calculations, and reports (hereinafter referred to as "documents")
prepared by, or under the responsible charge of, a licensed
electrical engineer shall include his or her name and license number.
Interim documents shall include a notation as to the intended
purpose of the document, such as "preliminary," "not for
construction," "for plan check only," or "for review only." All
electrical engineering plans and specifications that are permitted or
that are to be released for construction shall bear the signature
and seal or stamp of the licensee and the date of signing and sealing
or stamping. All final electrical engineering calculations and
reports shall bear the signature and seal or stamp of the licensee
and the date of signing and sealing or stamping. If electrical
engineering plans are required to be signed and sealed and have
multiple sheets, the signature, seal or stamp, and date of signing
and sealing or stamping shall appear on each sheet of the plans. If
electrical engineering specifications, calculations, and reports are
required to be signed and sealed or stamped and have multiple pages,
the signature, seal or stamp, and date of signing and sealing or
stamping shall appear at a minimum on the title sheet, cover sheet,
or signature sheet.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a licensed electrical
engineer who signs electrical engineering documents shall not be
responsible for damage caused by subsequent changes to or uses of
those documents, if the subsequent changes or uses, including changes
or uses made by state or local governmental agencies, are not
authorized or approved by the licensed electrical engineer who
originally signed the documents, provided that the engineering
service rendered by the electrical engineer who signed the documents
was not also a proximate cause of the damage.
SEC. 3. Section 6735.4 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
6735.4. (a) All mechanical engineering plans, specifications,
calculations, and reports (hereinafter referred to as "documents")
prepared by, or under the responsible charge of, a licensed
mechanical engineer shall include his or her name and license number.
Interim documents shall include a notation as to the intended
purpose of the document, such as "preliminary," "not for
construction," "for plan check only," or "for review only." All
mechanical engineering plans and specifications that are permitted or
that are to be released for construction shall bear the signature
and seal or stamp of the licensee and the date of signing and sealing
or stamping. All final mechanical engineering calculations and
reports shall bear the signature and seal or stamp of the licensee
and the date of signing and sealing or stamping. If mechanical
engineering plans are required to be signed and sealed and have
multiple sheets, the signature, seal or stamp, and date of signing
and sealing or stamping shall appear on each sheet of the plans. If
mechanical engineering specifications, calculations, and reports are
required to be signed and sealed or stamped and have multiple pages,
the signature, seal or stamp, and date of signing and sealing or
stamping shall appear at a minimum on the title sheet, cover sheet,
or signature sheet.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a licensed mechanical
engineer who signs mechanical engineering documents shall not be
responsible for damage caused by subsequent changes to or uses of
those documents, if the subsequent changes or uses, including changes
or uses made by state or local governmental agencies, are not
authorized or approved by the licensed mechanical engineer who
originally signed the documents, provided that the engineering
service rendered by the mechanical engineer who signed the documents
was not also a proximate cause of the damage.
SEC. 4. Section 6764 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
6764. Each professional engineer licensed under this chapter
shall, upon licensure, obtain a seal or stamp of a design authorized
by the board bearing the licensee's name, number of his or her
certificate or authority, the legend "professional engineer" and the
designation of the particular branch or authority in which he or she
is licensed.
SEC. 5. Section 8750 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
8750. Upon being licensed, each licensee shall obtain a stamp or
seal of the design authorized by the board bearing the licensee's
name, number of certificate, and the legend "Licensed Land Surveyor,"
or "Professional Land Surveyor."
SEC. 6. Section 8761 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
8761. (a) Any licensed land surveyor or civil engineer authorized
to practice land surveying may practice land surveying and prepare
maps, plats, reports, descriptions, or other documentary evidence in
connection with that practice.
(b) All maps, plats, reports, descriptions, or other land
surveying documents shall be prepared by, or under the responsible
charge of a licensed land surveyor or civil engineer authorized to
practice land surveying and shall include his or her name and license
number.
(c) Interim maps, plats, reports, descriptions, or other land
surveying documents shall include a notation as to the intended
purpose of the map, plat, report, description, or other document,
such as "preliminary" or "for examination only."
(d) All final maps, plats, reports, descriptions, or other land
surveying documents issued by a licensed land surveyor or civil
engineer authorized to practice land surveying shall bear the
signature and seal or stamp of the licensee and the date of signing
and sealing or stamping. If the land surveying document has multiple
pages or sheets, the signature, seal or stamp, and date of signing
and sealing or stamping shall appear, at a minimum, on the title
sheet, cover sheet or page, or signature sheet, unless otherwise
required by law.
(e) It is unlawful for any person to sign, stamp, seal, or approve
any map, plat, report, description, or other land surveying document
unless the person is authorized to practice land surveying.
(f) It is unlawful for any person to stamp or seal any map, plat,
report, description, or other land surveying document with the seal
or stamp after the certificate of the licensee that is named on the
seal or stamp has expired or has been suspended or revoked, unless
the certificate has been renewed or reissued.
SEC. 7. Section 8764.5 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
8764.5. Statements shall appear on the map as follows:
Surveyor's Statement
This map correctly represents a survey made
by me or under my direction in conformance
withtherequirementsoftheProfessional
LandSurveyors'Act at the request of _______
Name of Person Authorizing Survey
in ____, 20__.
(Signed and sealed) ___________________________
L.S. (or R.C.E.) No. __________________________
County Surveyor's Statement
This map has been examined in accordance
with Section 8766 of the Professional Land
Surveyors' Act this ____ day of ____, 20__.
(Signed and sealed) _________________
County Surveyor
L.S. (or R.C.E.) No. __________________________
Recorder's Statement
Filed this ____ day of ____, 20__, at ____.m.
in Book ____ of ____ at page ____, at the
request of ____.
(Signed) _________________
County Recorder
No other statements may appear on the face of the map except those
required or authorized by this article.
SEC. 8. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school
district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or
infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty
for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the
Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the
meaning of Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California
Constitution.
