Chair's Corner

 
john burke - chairmans corner - color

 

Use of Aluminum Manuals When The Engineer of Record Is Deceased

There have been several inquiries regarding use of the Aluminum Design Manuals signed and sealed by Larry Bennett, Professional Engineer, Deceased. The Board discussed this matter in their last Board meeting on October 13, 2011.  In summation, the death of an engineer does not invalidate the work signed and sealed.  Aluminum manuals signed and sealed by Mr. Bennett pursuant to Section 489.113(9), Florida Statutes, should pose no problem with use, as long as the manuals remain in compliance with the Florida Building Code or any other applicable code.  When any applicable code changes, the manual has to be updated through an adoption process with a new Engineer of Record.


Building Code Course Requirement

In 2009, the Florida Legislature enacted changes to Chapter 471.0195, Fla. Stat., (Florida Building Code training for engineers). The change to the statute essentially removed the requirement for PEs to report the FBC core curriculum courses and, instead, required PEs covered by the law to take and report advanced or specialized courses on any portion of the Florida Building Code applicable to the licensee’s area of practice. Specifically, Section 471.0195 reads:

"All licensees actively participating in the design of engineering works or systems in connection with buildings, structures, or facilities and systems covered by the Florida Building Code shall take continuing education courses and submit proof to the board, at such times and in such manner as established by the board by rule, that the licensee has completed any specialized or advanced courses on any portion of the Florida Building Code applicable to the licensee’s area of practice. The board shall record reported continuing education courses on a system easily accessed by code enforcement jurisdictions for evaluation when determining license status for purposes of processing design documents. Local jurisdictions shall be responsible for notifying the board when design documents are submitted for building construction permits by persons who are not in compliance with this section. The board shall take appropriate action as provided by its rules when such noncompliance is determined to exist."

At this time, the Board has not promulgated rules addressing the time and manner to report the advanced or specialized courses and, as a result, has made no decision as to penalizing PEs for noncompliance.

This action derives from the fact that the Board cannot promulgate the reporting Rules until it is able to ascertain what would constitute specialized or advanced FBC courses-authority which was not given to it by the Legislature. Until the reporting Rules are in place the FBPE is issuing a moratorium on the reporting requirements of Section 471.0195. Thus FBPE approved CE providers should not offer courses claiming that such courses fulfill a reporting requirement that has not been defined and licensees should not feel pressured to take courses that may or may not meet a requirement that is not clearly defined.

The Board will continue to modify a licensee’s record if he or she has completed the building code core curriculum, even though the statute no longer requires it.  When the Board is able to clarify the current statute and begin to require reporting of the advanced or specialized code classes, FBPE will add another modifier to the licensee’s record to indicate that the requirement for advanced or specialized training has been met.

In the meantime, any licensee who takes a course pertaining to the Florida Building Code is still able to receive credit toward their area of practice requirement for the next renewal biennium.


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