SB 616 — Engineering

Florida Senate - 2019 CS for CS for CS for SB 616 By the Committees on CommunityRules; Affairs;

Community Affairs;

and Senators Perry and Hutson 578-04060-19595-04834-19 2019616c22019616c3 A bill to be entitled An act relating to engineering;

471.021, F.S.;

requiring an applicant to appoint the Department of State as an agent of the applicant for service of process of certain actions;

amending s.

5451 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

5653 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (6) of section 455.271, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

7067 This subsection does not apply to individuals subject to regulation under chapter 473.

108105 The board shall adopt rules providing for the review and approval of schools or colleges and the courses of study in engineering in such schools and colleges.

Section 4. Subsections (2), (3), (5), and (6) of section 471.015, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

(5)(a) The board shall deem that an applicant who seeks licensure by endorsement has passed an examination substantially equivalent to the fundamentals examination when such applicant has held a valid professional engineer’s license in another state for 10 15 years and has had 15 20 years of continuous professional-level engineering experience.

(b) The board shall deem that an applicant who seeks licensure by endorsement has passed an examination substantially equivalent to the fundamentals examination and the principles and practices examination when such applicant has held a valid professional engineer’s license in another state for 20 25 years and has had 25 30 years of continuous professional-level engineering experience.

Section 6. Subsection (3)(4) ofis added to section 471.021,471.025, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

471.021 Engineers and firms of other states;

temporary certificates to practice in Florida.— (3) The application for a temporary license shall require the constitute appointment of the Department of State as an agent of the applicant for service of process in any action or proceeding against the applicant arising out of any transaction or operation connected with or incidental to the practice of engineering for which the temporary license was issued.

Section 7. Subsection (4) is added to section 471.025, Florida Statutes, to read:

Section 8. Paragraph7. Paragraph (a) of subsection (5) of section 553.79, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

Section 9. Subsections8. Subsections (4) and (5), paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subsection (7), and subsection (9) of section 553.791, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

553.791 Alternative plans review and inspection.— (4) A fee owner or the fee owner’s contractor using a private provider to provide building code inspection services shall notify the local building official at the time of permit application, or noby later than 2 p.m.

oflocal thetime, business2 dayno before less than 7 business days prior to the first scheduled inspection by the local building official or building code enforcement agency for a private provider performing required inspections of construction under this section, on a form to be adopted by the commission.

265238 I have elected to use one or more private providers to provide building code plans review and/or inspection services on the building or structure that is the subject of the enclosed permit application, as authorized by s.

293266 If the fee owner or the fee owner’s contractor makes any changes to the listed private providers or the services to be provided by those private providers, the fee owner or the fee owner’s contractor shall, within 1 business day after any change, update the notice to reflect such changes.

(5) After construction has commenced and if the local building official is unable to provide inspection services in a timely manner, the fee owner or the fee owner’s contractor may elect to use a private provider to provide inspection services by notifying the local building official of the owner’s or contractor’s intention to do so noby later than 2 p.m.

oflocal thetime, business2 dayno before less than 7 business days prior to the next scheduled inspection using the notice provided for in paragraphs (4)(a)-(c).

(7)(a) No more than 1520 30 business days after receipt of a permit application and the affidavit from the private provider required pursuant to subsection (6), the local building official shall issue the requested permit or provide a written notice to the permit applicant identifying the specific plan features that do not comply with the applicable codes, as well as the specific code chapters and sections.

If the local building official does not provide a written notice of the plan deficiencies within the prescribed 15-day20-day 30-day period, the permit application shall be deemed approved as a matter of law, and the permit shall be issued by the local building official on the next business day.

(b) If the local building official provides a written notice of plan deficiencies to the permit applicant within the prescribed 15-day20-day 30-day period, the 15-day20-day 30-day period shall be tolled pending resolution of the matter.

(c) If the permit applicant submits revisions, the local building official has the remainder of the tolled 15-day20-day 30-day period plus 5 business days to issue the requested permit or to provide a second written notice to the permit applicant stating which of the previously identified plan features remain in noncompliance with the applicable codes, with specific reference to the relevant code chapters and sections.

Section 10. This9. This act shall take effect October 1, 2019.