OUTDATED INFORMATION
The information presented on this page was originally published in April 2023 and subsequent rules changes have affected the FRSE program. Please see the Structural Engineering Recognition Program page for the latest requirements. This article remains online under Florida Sunshine laws.
BY DYLAN ALBERGO, PE, FBPE Chair (2023)
There has been some confusion over Florida’s Structural Engineering Recognition Program for Professional Engineers since it went into effect on July 1, 2022.
To be clear, it is not a credential like Florida’s Professional Engineer license, nor a certification such as the Special Inspector of Threshold Buildings (which is required to perform specific engineering services) or the Special Inspector (Limited).
Also, Florida does not license Professional Engineers by discipline. Any Florida PE may offer structural engineering services (or any engineering service) in areas which they are competent.
What is the Structural Engineering Recognition Program?
Section 471.055, Florida Statutes, required the Board to establish the Structural Engineering Recognition Program as a method for Professional Engineers licensed in Florida who specialize in structural engineering to request recognition for having “gone above and beyond the required minimum Professional Engineer licensing standards.”
The recognition does not entitle a PE to do anything beyond what any PE can do. It is strictly a voluntary and optional program.
PEs who receive the recognition may use FRSE — for Florida Recognized Structural Engineer — to market and advertise their professional practice.
To be recognized in the program, a PE must meet one of the following requirements:
- Passed the 16-hour NCEES Structural exam after Jan. 1, 2011;
- Passed both the eight-hour NCEES Structural Engineering I exam and the Structural Engineering II exam prior to Jan. 1, 2011;
- Passed the 16-hour Western States Structural Engineering exam;
- Passed the eight-hour NCEES Structural Engineering II exam and either the eight-hour PE Civil: Structural exam or the eight-hour PE Architectural Engineering exam;
- Passed the eight-hour NCEES Structural Engineering II exam and either the eight-hour California Structural Engineering Seismic III exam or the eight-hour Washington Structural Engineering III exam; or
- Have 15 years of documented experience working on significant structural engineering projects.
Professional Engineers wishing to be recognized through the program must submit a request to the Board.
Other engineering designations
There are two other certifications that cover threshold building inspections and have more stringent requirements: Special Inspector and Special Inspector (Limited).
A Special Inspector of Threshold Buildings may offer threshold building inspection services under Section 553.79, F.S. PEs who are Special Inspectors have been certified by the Board to have met qualifications set forth in Rule 61G15-35.003, Florida Administrative Code, Qualification Program for Special Inspectors of Threshold Buildings.
A Special Inspector (Limited) may offer threshold building inspection services for Level 1 or Level 2 Alterations, Restoration, Non-substantial Structural Repair and/or Rehabilitation of threshold buildings pursuant to Section 553.79, F.S. PEs who are Special Inspectors (Limited) have been certified by the Board to have met qualifications forth in Rule 61G15-35.003, F.A.C., Qualification Program for Special Inspectors of Threshold Buildings and Special Inspectors of Threshold Buildings (Limited). Please note that Special Inspectors (Limited) cannot perform the entire range of services authorized by Section 553.79(5)(a), F.S. Also, Florida PEs who are competent in the area of practice may offer the same threshold building inspections as an SI (Limited).
In Summary
- The FRSE program is strictly voluntary/optional and for recognition only. Recognition by the program is not required for a Professional Engineer to practice structural engineering.
- Any Florida PE may offer structural engineering services in areas which they are competent.
- Inspections of threshold buildings require an additional certification from the Board to be qualified as a Special Inspector of Threshold Buildings.
- Special Inspectors (Limited) and Florida PEs who are competent in the area of practice may offer threshold building inspection services for Level 1 or Level 2 Alterations, Restoration, Non-substantial Structural Repair and/or Rehabilitation of threshold buildings.
Dylan Albergo, PE, of Tampa, specializes in bridge design and engineering project management. He served as FBPE vice chair in 2022, and is chair of the special inspector rules committee and serves on the application review and the FEMC operations committees.
Angelina Fairchild, PE, the Florida Engineering Society’s FBPE/FEMC liaison, contributed to this article.