HOUSE BILL 411

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2023

INTRODUCED BY

Randall T. Pettigrew and Nathan P. Small

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO PROFESSIONAL LICENSURE; AMENDING THE ENGINEERING AND SURVEYING PRACTICE ACT; REVISING REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTIFICATION AS AN ENGINEER INTERN; REVISING LICENSURE REQUIREMENTS FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND PROFESSIONAL SURVEYORS; PROVIDING FOR APPLICATION DENIAL; ALLOWING FOR NOTIFICATION OF ENGINEERING AND SURVEYING LICENSURE AND RENEWAL FEES BY MAIL OR OTHER MEANS; REVISING THE EXEMPTIONS FOR THE INCIDENTAL PRACTICE OF ENGINEERING AND SURVEYING; EXTENDING THE TERMINATION DATE OF THE STATE BOARD OF LICENSURE FOR PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND PROFESSIONAL SURVEYORS; RAISING THE ANNUAL FUNDING AMOUNT FOR THE ENGINEERING AND SURVEYING SUPPORT PROGRAM.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 61-23-3 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1987, Chapter 336, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

     "61-23-3. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Engineering and Surveying Practice Act:

          A. "approved" [or "approval"] means acceptable to the board;

          B. "authorized company officer" means an employee of a business entity duly authorized by the business entity to contractually obligate the business entity;

          C. "board" means the state board of licensure for professional engineers and professional surveyors;

          D. "business entity" means a corporation, professional corporation, limited liability corporation, professional limited liability corporation, general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, professional limited liability partnership, a joint stock association or any other form of business, whether or not for profit;

          E. "conviction" [or "convicted"] means a final adjudication of guilt, whether pursuant to a plea of nolo contendere or otherwise and whether or not the sentence is deferred or suspended;

          F. "engineer" ["professional engineer", "consulting engineer", "licensed engineer" or "registered engineer"] means a person who [is qualified to practice engineering by reason of the person's intensive preparation and knowledge in the use of mathematics, chemistry, physics and engineering sciences, including the principles and methods of engineering analysis and design acquired by professional education and engineering experience, and who is licensed by the board to practice engineering] has completed engineering education and has training and experience in the application of engineering principles and the interpretation of engineering data;

          G. "engineering accreditation commission" means the engineering accreditation commission of the accreditation board for engineering and technology, incorporated, or any successor commission or organization;

          H. "engineering" or "practice of engineering" [or "engineering practice"] means any creative or engineering work that requires engineering education, training and experience in the application of [special knowledge of the mathematical, physical and engineering sciences] engineering principles and the interpretation of engineering data to such creative work as consultation, investigation, forensic investigation, evaluation, planning and design of engineering works and systems, expert technical testimony, engineering studies and the review of construction for the purpose of [assuring] ensuring substantial compliance with drawings and specifications; any of which embrace such creative work, either public or private, in connection with any utilities, structures, buildings, machines, equipment, processes, work systems, projects and industrial or consumer products or equipment of a mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, chemical, pneumatic, environmental or thermal nature, insofar as they involve safeguarding life, health or property, and including such other professional services as may be necessary to the planning, progress and completion of [any] engineering work. The "practice of engineering" may include the use of photogrammetric methods to derive topographical and other data. The "practice of engineering" does not include responsibility for the supervision of construction, site conditions, operations, equipment, personnel or the maintenance of safety in the [work place] workplace;

          I. "engineering committee" means a committee of the board entrusted to implement all business of the Engineering and Surveying Practice Act as it pertains to the practice of engineering, including the promulgation and adoption of rules of professional responsibility for professional engineers exclusive to the practice of engineering;

          J. "engineer intern" means a person who has qualified for, taken and passed an examination in [the] fundamental engineering subjects [as provided in the Engineering and Surveying Practice Act];

          K. "fund" means the professional engineers' and surveyors' fund;

          L. "incidental practice" means the performance of other professional services that are related to a licensee's work as an engineer;

          M. "person" means an individual [corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture or a legal or commercial entity] or business entity;

          N. "professional development" means education by a licensee in order to maintain, improve or expand skills and knowledge obtained prior to initial licensure or to develop new and relevant skills and knowledge to maintain licensure;

          O. "professional engineer", "consulting engineer", "licensed engineer" or "registered engineer" means a person who has been licensed as a professional engineer by the board;

          [O.] P. "responsible charge" means responsibility for the direction, control and supervision of engineering or surveying work, as the case may be, to [assure] ensure that the work product has been critically examined and evaluated for compliance with appropriate professional standards by a licensee in that profession, and by sealing or signing the documents, the professional engineer or professional surveyor accepts responsibility for the engineering or surveying work, respectively, represented by the documents and that applicable engineering or surveying standards have been met;

          [P.] Q. "surveying" or "practice of surveying" [or "surveying practice"] means any service or work, the substantial performance of which involves the application of the principles of mathematics and the related physical and applied sciences for:

                (1) the measuring and locating of lines, angles, elevations and natural and man-made features in the air, on the surface of the earth, within underground workings and on the beds or bodies of water for the purpose of defining location, areas and volumes;

                (2) the monumenting of property boundaries and for the platting and layout of lands and subdivisions;

                (3) the application of photogrammetric methods used to derive topographic and other data;

                (4) the establishment of horizontal and vertical controls that will be the basis for all geospatial data used for future design surveys, including construction staking surveys, surveys to lay out horizontal and vertical alignments, topographic surveys, control surveys for aerial photography for the collection of topographic and planimetric data using photogrammetric methods and construction surveys of engineering and architectural public works projects;

                (5) the preparation and perpetuation of maps, records, plats, field notes, easements and property descriptions; and

                (6) the depiction and transmittal by paper or digital means of any digital geospatial data for use in geographic information systems or land information systems that purports to be the authoritative location of points or features of a survey regulated by the Engineering and Surveying Practice Act, but excludes data used solely for a cadastre, such as assessment and tax mapping purposes, or general representations of surveyed or historic data used for mapping purposes, such as land parcels and built infrastructure;

          [Q.] R. "surveying committee" means a committee of the board entrusted to implement all business of the Engineering and Surveying Practice Act as it pertains to the practice of surveying, including the promulgation and adoption of rules of professional responsibility for professional surveyors exclusive to the practice of surveying;

          [R.] S. "surveyor", "professional surveyor", "licensed surveyor" or "registered surveyor" means a person who is [qualified to practice surveying by reason of the person's intensive preparation and knowledge in the use of mathematics, physical and applied sciences and surveying, including the principles and methods of surveying acquired by education and experience and who is licensed by the board to practice surveying] licensed as a professional surveyor by the board and who is a professional specialist qualified to practice surveying by reason of the person's education in the principles of mathematics and the related physical and applied sciences requisite to surveying of real property;

          [S.] T. "surveyor intern" means a person who is certified as a surveyor intern by the board and who has qualified for, taken and passed an examination in the fundamentals of surveying subjects [as provided in the Engineering and Surveying Practice Act];

          [T.] U. "surveying work" means the work performed in the practice of surveying; and

          [U.] V. "supplemental surveying work" means surveying work performed in order to densify, augment and enhance previously performed survey work or site information but excludes the surveying of real property for the establishment of land boundaries, rights of way and easements and the dependent or independent surveys or resurveys of the public land system."

     SECTION 2. Section 61-23-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 218, Section 11, as amended) is amended to read:

     "61-23-14. CERTIFICATION AS AN ENGINEER INTERN--REQUIREMENTS.--

          A. An applicant for certification as an engineer intern shall file the appropriate application that demonstrates that the applicant:

                (1) is of good moral character and reputation as determined by board rules;

                (2) has obtained at least a senior status in a board-approved, four-year curriculum in engineering or in a board-approved, four-year curriculum in engineering technology that is accredited by the [technical] engineering technology accreditation commission of the accreditation board for engineering and technology; and

                (3) has three references, one of whom shall be a licensed professional engineer.

          B. After acceptance of the application by the board, the applicant shall be allowed to take the appropriate examination for certification as an engineer intern.

          C. An applicant may be certified as an engineer intern upon successfully completing the examination; provided that the applicant has:

                (1) graduated from a board-approved [four-year] engineering curriculum of four years or more or graduated from an engineering master's program that is accredited by the engineering accreditation commission or a program that fulfills the required content of the engineering education standard as defined by the national council of examiners for engineering and surveying; or

                (2) graduated from a board-approved, four-year engineering technology program accredited by the [technical] engineering technology accreditation commission of the accreditation board for engineering and technology and augmented by at least two years of board-approved, post-graduate engineering experience.

          D. The certification as engineer intern does not permit the intern to practice as a professional engineer. Certification as an engineer intern is intended to demonstrate that the intern has obtained certain skills in engineering fundamentals and is pursuing a career in engineering."

     SECTION 3. Section 61-23-14.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 218, Section 12, as amended) is amended to read:

     "61-23-14.1. LICENSURE AS A PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER--REQUIREMENTS.--

          A. Licensure as a professional engineer may be either through examination or through endorsement or comity. In either case, an applicant shall file the appropriate application in which it shall be demonstrated that the applicant:

                (1) is of good moral character and reputation as determined by board rules; and

                (2) has five references, three of whom shall be licensees practicing in the branch of engineering for which the applicant is applying and who have personal knowledge of the applicant's engineering experience and reputation. The use of non-licensed engineer references having personal knowledge of the applicant's engineering experience and reputation may be accepted by the board [provided that] if a satisfactory written explanation is given.

          B. An applicant may be licensed through examination if the applicant can demonstrate the following:

                (1) the applicant is certified as an engineer intern and has at least one of the following combinations of education and experience; provided that experience shall only be considered after receiving the first qualifying engineering degree:

                     (a) received a bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline recognized by the board from a pro