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H.B. No. 1817
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of the practice of engineering.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1001.003(c), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The practice of engineering includes:
(1) consultation, investigation, evaluation,
analysis, planning, engineering for program management, providing
an expert engineering opinion or testimony, engineering for testing
or evaluating materials for construction or other engineering use,
and mapping;
(2) design, conceptual design, or conceptual design
coordination of engineering works or systems;
(3) development or optimization of plans and
specifications for engineering works or systems;
(4) planning the use or alteration of land or water or
the design or analysis of works or systems for the use or alteration
of land or water;
(5) responsible charge of engineering teaching or the
teaching of engineering;
(6) performing an engineering survey or study;
(7) engineering for construction, alteration, or
repair of real property;
(8) engineering for preparation of an operating or
maintenance manual;
(9) engineering for review of the construction or
installation of engineered works to monitor compliance with
drawings or specifications;
(10) a service, design, analysis, or other work
performed for a public or private entity in connection with a
utility, structure, building, machine, equipment, process, system,
work, project, or industrial or consumer product or equipment of a
mechanical, electrical, electronic, chemical, hydraulic,
pneumatic, geotechnical, or thermal nature;
(11) providing an engineering opinion or analysis
related to a certificate of merit under Chapter 150, Civil Practice
and Remedies Code; or
(12) [(11)] any other professional service necessary
for the planning, progress, or completion of an engineering
service.
SECTION 2. Section 1001.204(a), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) The board shall establish the following fees in amounts
reasonable and necessary to cover the costs of administering this
chapter:
(1) license fee;
(2) annual and late renewal fees [fee];
(3) reciprocal license fee;
(4) duplicate license fee;
(5) engineer-in-training certificate fee;
(6) roster of engineers fee;
(7) examination fee;
(8) registration fee for engineering firm; and
(9) inactive status fee.
SECTION 3. Section 1001.252(l), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(l) For any [frivolous] complaint determined to be
frivolous or without merit, the complaint and other enforcement
case information related to that complaint are confidential. The
information may be used only by the board or by its employees or
agents directly involved in the enforcement process for that
complaint. The information is not subject to discovery, subpoena,
or other disclosure[, the license holder's name and other personal
information on the complaint is not public information and must be
redacted].
SECTION 4. Sections 1001.353(a), (b), and (c), Occupations
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) A person who is otherwise eligible to renew a license
may renew an unexpired license by paying the required annual
renewal fee to the board before the expiration date of the license.
A person whose license has expired may not engage in activities that
require a license until the license has been renewed.
(b) A person whose license has been expired for 90 days or
less may renew the license by paying to the board the required
annual [a] renewal fee, a late [that is equal to 1-1/2 times the
normally required] renewal fee, and any applicable increase in fees
as required by Section 1001.206.
(c) A person whose license has been expired for more than 90
days but less than two years may renew the license by paying to the
board the required annual [a] renewal fee, a late [that is equal to
two times the normally required] renewal fee, and any applicable
increase in fees as required by Section 1001.206 for each
delinquent year or part of a year.
SECTION 5. Section 1001.401(b), Occupations Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A plan, specification, plat, or report issued by a
license holder for a project to be constructed or used in this state
must include the license holder's seal placed on the document. A
license holder is not required to use a seal required by this
section if the project is to be constructed or used in another state
or country.
SECTION 6. Section 1001.601, Occupations Code, is amended
to read as follows:
Sec. 1001.601. BOARD ADVISORY OPINIONS. (a) On its own
initiative or at the request of any interested person, the board
shall prepare a written advisory opinion about:
(1) an interpretation of this chapter; or
(2) the application of this chapter to a person in
regard to a specified existing or hypothetical factual situation.
(b) The board shall respond to requests for opinions within
180 days unless the board [or] affirmatively states the board's
[state its] reason:
(1) for not responding to the request within 180 days;
or
(2) for not responding to the request at all.
SECTION 7. The change in law made by this Act to Section
1001.601, Occupations Code, applies only to a request for an
opinion under that section that is made on or after the effective
date of this Act. A request for an opinion that is made before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law that existed at
the time the request was made, and the former law is continued in
effect for that purpose.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act relating to
the renewal of a license under Chapter 1001, Occupations Code,
apply only to a license that expires on or after the effective date
of this Act. A license that expires before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the license
expired, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1817 was passed by the House on April
14, 2005, by a non-record vote; and that the House concurred in
Senate amendments to H.B. No. 1817 on May 16, 2005, by a non-record
vote.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1817 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 10, 2005, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor