As of Oct. 1, 2019, engineering firms must register with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation in order to offer engineering services in the state.
Firms that held active Certificates of Authorization on Sept. 30 were automatically rolled over into the online registry. FBPE recommends that all firms and their qualifying engineers log into myfloridalicense.com and confirm that the firm is registered as a qualified business organization and that the qualifying engineer is linked to your business.
Any new business that wants to offer engineering services in Florida must be registered with the name of the firm as it is listed with the Florida Secretary of State, and a Professional Engineer licensed in Florida must qualify the business.
There is no fee to register, and engineering firms no longer have to renew their registration. Since this is a registration, there is no license or certificate to be printed.
HOW TO REGISTER
See FBPE’s step-by-step guide showing how to register and qualify your engineering business to offer services in Florida.
To maintain their registration, engineering firms must comply with requirements regarding their qualifying engineer in Section 471.023, Florida Statutes:
- A qualifying agent who leaves an engineering firm must notify the Board within 24 hours.
- The qualifying agent of a firm must notify the Board within 30 days of any changes to information in the firm’s initial registration application.
- If the qualifying agent leaves the firm and was the only qualifying engineer for the business, the firm may no longer provide engineering services in Florida and must be qualified by another Professional Engineer within 60 days if it wishes to resume offering engineering services. FBPE or the Florida Engineers Management Corporation may authorize a temporary qualifying engineer for no more than 60 days in order to proceed with incomplete contracts.
The qualified business organization registration also applies to out-of-state firms seeking to temporarily perform engineering services in Florida.
To assist with registration, FBPE has created an online, step-by-step guide. Keep the guide open in a separate window so you can refer to it as you register and qualify your engineering firm.
If you have any questions regarding registered engineering firms, please contact Nancy Wilkins at nwilkins@fbpe.org or (850) 521-0500, ext. 113.