NEWS BULLETIN
Twenty-seventh Edition
July 1998
INTRODUCTION This News Bulletin is being distributed by the Idaho State Board of Registration of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors to inform the public and the State's Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors of those events which significantly affect the professions. Future News Bulletins will be printed and distributed as the Board deems advisable.
DeWITT T. NEILL, P.E. RETIRES FROM BOARD DeWitt T. "Tal" Neill, P.E. retired from the Board in May. Dr. Neill was appointed to a five year term on the Board by Governor Andrus in May of 1988 and reappointed by Governor Andrus to a second five year term in May of 1993. His input to the Board from an academic viewpoint and his manner of addressing problems in a straight forward and direct manner will be missed. Tal also retired in May as a professor and Associate Dean of the College of Engineering at Idaho State University. He remains an Emeritus Member of the Board and will continue to be the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying representative to the Technical Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology.
SCOTT F. McCLURE, P.E. APPOINTED TO THE BOARD Scott F. McClure, P.E. was appointed to the Board by Governor Batt effective May 28, 1998. Mr. McClure is proprietor of McClure Engineering in Twin Falls, a firm which specializes in mechanical and industrial engineering. He graduated from Idaho State University in 1971 and served three years as an officer in the United States Marine Corps. He is a past president of the Consulting Engineers of Idaho and the Idaho Society of Professional Engineers. We look forward to having him on the Board for the next five years.
2-HOUR STATE-SPECIFIC PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR EXAMINATION NOW OPEN-BOOK The two hour state-specific professional land surveyor examination is administered to those applicants for PLS license by comity who meet all the education, examination and experience requirements of Idaho Code. The purpose of the two hour examination is to assure that candidates know the laws specific to the State of Idaho in regard to platting, corner records, recording of surveys, etc. In the past, that examination has been closed-book, but after discussing the issue, the Board voted to make it an open-book examination. The concern with the closed-book examination was that an examinee could assume an answer which was not correct and never know his error. By making the exam open-book, the examinee will have the opportunity to look up the answer to those questions he is unsure of, thus making the exam an educational tool as well as an examination tool.
LEGISLATURE AMENDS PLATTING LAW AND LICENSING LAW The session of the Legislature that concluded in March of this year amended the platting law and the engineers and land surveyors licensing laws. Significant changes to the platting law include:
Significant changes to the licensing law include:
CHANGES IN REQUIREMENTS FOR SELECTION OF DESIGN PROFESSIONALS The session of the Legislature which adjourned in March approved Amendments to Section 67-2320 of the Idaho Code which relate to the selection of design professionals by state agencies and political subdivisions of the State. The amendments outline a procedure for the selection of design professionals commonly called "qualification based selection" and require that the procedure be followed for projects on which the fee is estimated to exceed $25,000. The procedure may be followed on projects with an estimated fee less than that figure, but the selection procedure must still be based on qualifications.
NEW LAW AND RULE PAMPHLETS DISTRIBUTED The Board has distributed a new edition of the pamphlet which contains the laws and rules pertaining to the practice of the professions of engineering and land surveying. The new pamphlet contains the laws and rules as of July 1, 1998 and is in a full 8 1/2 by 11 inch format with a larger print size than previously used. Every license and certificate holder is obligated to become familiar with the laws and rules. If you have not received your copy, please contact the Board office.
PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR WORKSHOPS SUCCESSFUL After receiving spending authorization from the Legislature for a "program enhancement", the Board conducted professional land surveyor workshops throughout the State this Spring to disseminate information to practicing professional land surveyors and other interested persons. The workshops which were held in Pocatello, Lewiston, Coeur d'Alene, Twin Falls, Boise and Idaho Falls were well attended and comments received from attendees indicated a desire on the part of the license and certificate holders to have the Board sponsor similar workshops on different subjects in the future.
HALF-SIZE SEALS OK'd FOR USE BY BOARD A license holder inquired as to whether it was allowable to submit drawings on which there were professional engineer or professional land surveyor seals which had been prepared in an electronic format and were one-half the size they were originally. The Board discussed the matter and concluded that as long as the seal is legible there would not be a problem in submission of the 1/2 size documents, providing all the original documents contain an original signature and date. The Board will continue to require that new license holders submit signed and dated seals according to the size specifications indicated on the letter issuing their number. A copy of the signed and dated seal will be placed in their permanent file.
IF IT'S EXEMPT, IT'S EXEMPT A license holder inquired as to whether a person licensed as a professional engineer would be required to stamp his engineering work if he was working in a situation where he was exempt from the licensure requirement under Idaho Code Section 54-1223(6), commonly known as the "industrial exemption". The Board concluded that the engineer would not be required to stamp the document as long as that engineer is employed within that company and the document would only be used internally. If the company is exempt, then the stamp is not required. If the document is being submitted to someone outside of the company, then a stamp would be required.
DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS The following actions on complaints have been taken by the Board since publication of News Bulletin No. 26 in July of 1997. In addition to those listed below, the Board received numerous complaints against individuals or companies who were inappropriately advertising under headings or names that could be interpreted to indicate that they were professional engineers or professional land surveyors, when in fact, they were not. The companies or individuals agreed to discontinue or revise the advertising or title.
DOCKET NO. 97.25 CHARLES E. CUDDY, P.L.S. Following a hearing, Mr. Cuddy agreed to a STIPULATION AND CONSENT AGREEMENT in which he admitted to failing to monument the calculated positions of monuments used as control in a survey and failing to break down a government lot in accordance with the United States Manual of Instruction. The Board reprimanded him for his errors which he agreed to correct.
DOCKET NO. 98.16 TIM V. GIBBONS, P.E., P.L.S. Following an investigation, Mr. Gibbons agreed to a STIPULATION AND CONSENT ORDER stating that he failed to adequately supervise an outside contractor providing drafting services to his business. He paid an administrative penalty of $500 to the General Fund of the State of Idaho.
DOCKET NO. 98.21 MICHAEL L. WISDOM, P.E. AND KENNETH A. TEWKSBURY, P.E. Following an investigation, Mr. Wisdom and Mr. Tewksbury each entered into a STIPULATION AND CONSENT ORDER in which they admitted to allowing their professional engineer seal to be applied and their signature to be signed by someone other than themselves, under very unusual circumstances. Mr. Wisdom paid an administrative penalty of $500 and Mr. Tewksbury paid an administrative penalty of $250.
DOCKET NO. 98.22 GREG L. SKINNER, P.L.S. Following an investigation, the Board reprimanded Mr. Skinner for failing to file a Record of Survey in a timely manner.
A WORD FROM THE CHAIRMAN ABOUT CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTAs a practicing professional land surveyor, I have been interested in "continuing ed" for over 25 years. I was at the meeting in Coeur d'Alene in April of 1988 when representatives of the Idaho Association of Land Surveyors (now the Idaho Society of Professional Land Surveyors) made a presentation to the licensing Board regarding the issue of continuing education. At that meeting the Board passed a motion to "approve the concept of continuing education as a requirement for continued registration."
In the ten years since that approval, the Board and the Society have tried to develop a meaningful procedure to implement guidelines for mandatory continuing education. The constraints were to develop procedures which served to protect the public, while not being overly burdensome to the license holder. Limited resources of the Board office also had to be considered. During the past Spring the Board conducted five public hearings throughout the State and heard opinions about "continuing professional development" or CPD from professional land surveyors and professional engineers as well as land surveyor-in-training and engineer-in-training certificate holders. Considerable email and regular mail input was also received and considered. The "possible" rules for CPD which were presented at those meetings would have required that all license and certificate holders attain a minimum of 15 hours of continuing professional development per year. The purpose of the hearings was to gather input through the "negotiated rule making" process and develop a consensus on a rule to be proposed.
The outcome of the hearings and all other input received is that the Board will be proposing administrative rules which mandate continuing professional development for all persons licensed to practice land surveying in Idaho. The input from the EIT's and LSIT's indicated that, by virtue of their position in the profession, they are in an almost continuous professional development mode and should not be included in the proposed rule. The Board also concluded that until the professional engineers present a clear consensus supporting mandatory continuing professional development, or until evidence comes forth indicating the need to protect the public, CPD will not be a requirement for professional engineers.
Although they will not be published in the Administrative Bulletin until September 2, 1998, the proposed rules will soon be posted on the Board's home page at ipels.idaho.gov.
I want to thank all those persons who participated in this process and I look forward to implementing continuing professional development as a condition of license renewal for professional land surveyors.
Clyde Porter, P.L.S., Chairman
NCEES TO TRACK CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR RECORD HOLDERS The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying recently announced that they will begin maintaining a record of continuing professional development accomplishments for those professionals who have an NCEES Record. The "Council Record" is a document which can facilitate obtaining a license in another jurisdiction and is available to anyone who is licensed in a jurisdiction which is a member of NCEES. For more information on the Council Record program, contact them at 1-800-250-3196 or visit their web site at www.ncees.org.
ETHICS CLASS FOR PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYORS NOW AVAILABLE New Mexico State University and the University of Maine have jointly developed a one semester credit college course on ethics for the professional land surveyor and it is available over the Internet. If you are interested, contact the University of Maine at http://www.eece.maine.edu/ced. You may contact New Mexico State University at http://www.nmsu.edu.Academic_Progs/distance/ The current cost is $132 at the University of Maine and $125 at New Mexico State University.
DO YOU QUALIFY FOR RETIRED STATUS? The Board has had many inquiries regarding "Retired Status" for Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors. Board Administrative Rules state "Those registrants who have reached the age of 65 (or are totally and permanently disabled) and are retiring from practice may be listed in the retired section of the Roster, upon application to the Board. The annual fee for being thus listed shall be established by the Board [and is currently $5.00 per year]. Such listing does not permit a registrant to engage in the practice of engineering or land surveying. The fee for reinstatement to active practice shall be as required for delayed renewals in Section 54-1216 of the Idaho Code." When you receive your renewal form, and if you qualify for and would like the Retired Status, contact the Board office staff.
CHANGES IN THE RULES OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY The Board proposed and the Legislature did not object to several amendments to the Rules of Professional Responsibility. Among the changes were the addition of the definition of "misconduct"; a clarification of the responsibilities of parties associated with the discovery of material discrepancies, errors or omissions; the requirement that notification of conflict of interest be in writing; the requirement that written permission be obtained to perform professional work outside a person's regular work; the prohibition of seeking employment on an assignment for which another is employed; the prohibition of accepting a contingent fee contract; the requirement that written permission be obtained prior to revealing confidential facts, data or information; the clarification that complaint affidavits must be sworn to or affirmed; and the clarification that proceedings under the rules are exempt from statutes of limitations. The changes go into effect on July 1, 1998 and are contained in the pamphlet recently mailed to all license and certificate holders.