BY ZANA RAYBON, FBPE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & FEMC PRESIDENT
As most of you know, during the recent legislative session, House Bill 375, which establishes the Structural Engineering Recognition Program for Professional Engineers, was passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by the governor as Chapter 2022-83, Laws of Florida.
The new Section 471.055, Florida Statutes, which went into effect on July 1, 2022, states that the Board must recognize any licensed Professional Engineer who has passed the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying Structural Engineering 16-hour PE Structural examination, or any other examination approved by the Board.
In addition, the Board may recognize any licensed Professional Engineer who specializes in structural engineering based on “alternative criteria determined by the Board.” The Board has been working diligently to complete the rules to implement this program and expects to have them finished very soon.
Applicants for the program can expect to utilize an online form, which will be submitted for the Board approval with no fee. Once the application is approved, the Professional Engineer will have a designation applied to his or her license that is viewable on the DBPR portal at myfloridalicense.com. Engineers who have met the requirements of the Recognition Program will be authorized to identify such recognition in his or her professional practice, as well as in marketing and advertising materials. Please note that this new statute is not a title act and, therefore, recognition by the program is not required to practice structural engineering or to use the title structural engineer.
You may recall from our April newsletter that HB 7069, titled Condominium and Cooperative Associations, did not pass during the regular legislative session, leaving the state’s uneven condominium-inspections laws in place. However, during a special session, both houses of the legislature took up Senate Bill 4-D, titled Building Safety, and passed into law the requirement for condominium associations and cooperative associations to have milestone inspections performed on certain buildings at specified times.
The law also authorizes local enforcement agencies to prescribe timelines and penalties relating to milestone inspections.
At this time, no rulemaking is required by the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. The Florida Building Commission will have the authority to establish rules related to this statute, which also went into effect on July 1, 2022.
The Board staff will be updating our website and providing information via email as these changes to the law are developed. Be sure to check out our website at fbpe.org.