Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public[1] and to define the licensure process through which an engineer becomes licensed to practice engineering and to provide professional services and products to the public as a Professional Engineer.
As with many other professions and activities, engineering is a restricted activity.[2] Relatedly, jurisdictions that license according to particular engineering discipline define the boundaries of each discipline carefully so that practitioners understand what they are competent to do.
A licensed engineer takes legal responsibility for engineering work, product or projects (typically via a seal or stamp on the relevant design documentation) as far as the local engineering legislation is concerned. Regulations require that only a licensed engineer can sign, seal or stamp technical documentation such as reports, plans, engineering drawings and calculations for study estimate or valuation or carry out design analysis, repair, servicing, maintenance or supervision of engineering work, process or project. In cases where public safety, property or welfare is concerned, licensed engineers are trusted by the government and the public to perform the task in a competent manner.
Legislative intent[edit]
It is illegal for a practicing engineer to jeopardize public safety in any way.[3] This means that an engineer must hold herself or himself to the highest level of technical and moral conduct reasonable or suffer litigation if an engineering system fails causing harm to the public, including maintenance technicians. Breaches of engineering law are often sufficient grounds for enforcement measures, which may include the suspension or loss of license and financial penalties. They may also include imprisonment, should gross negligence be shown to have played a part in loss of human life.
An engineering licence provides the public with the assurance that qualified persons are doing or overseeing engineering work. An unlicensed worker or manager has no specific liability, as this is borne by the employer through tort law or engineering legislation, and there is no regulatory authority to enforce that good engineering practice is applied in relation to the work.[4]
In cases of gross negligence, an engineering firm may not be considered vicariously liable for an individual engineer's offence.
Licensure and regulation[edit]
Becoming a licensed engineer is a process that varies around the world but generally requires a four year engineering degree and four years of engineering experience. In some regions, use of the term "engineer" is regulated, in others it is not. Where engineering is a regulated profession, there are specific procedures and requirements for obtaining a registration, charter or license to practice engineering. These are obtained from the government or a charter-granting authority acting on its behalf and engineers are subject to regulation by these bodies.[5] In addition to licensure, there are voluntary certification programs for various disciplines which involve examinations accredited by the Council of Engineering and Scientific Specialty Boards.[6]
Due to occupational closure, licensed engineers enjoy significant influence over their regulation. They are often the authors of the pertinent codes of ethics used by some of these organizations.[5] Engineers in private practice most often find themselves in traditional professional-client relationships in their practice. Engineers employed in government service and government-run industry are on the other side of that relationship. Despite the different focus, engineers in industry and private practice face similar ethical issues and reach similar conclusions.[7] One American engineering society, the National Society of Professional Engineers, has sought to extend a single professional license and code of ethics for all engineers, regardless of practice area or employment sector.[8]
United States[edit]
In the United States, registration or licensure of professional engineers and engineering practice is governed by the individual states. Each registration or license is valid only in the state where it is granted. Some licensed engineers maintain licenses in more than one state. Comity, also known as reciprocity, between states allows engineers who are licensed or registered in one state to obtain a license in another state without meeting the ordinary rigorous proof of qualification by testing. This is accomplished by the second state recognizing the validity of the first state's licensing or registration process.[9]
History[edit]
Licensure in the United States began in the State of Wyoming when lawyers, notaries and others without engineering education were making poor quality submissions to the state for permission to use state water for irrigation. Clarence Johnson, the Wyoming state engineer, presented a bill in 1907 to the state legislature that required registration for anyone presenting themselves as an engineer or land surveyor and created a board of examiners. Charles Bellamy, a 52-year-old engineer and mineral surveyor then became the first licensed professional engineer in the United States. After enactment, Johnson would wryly write about the effect of the law, saying, "A most astonishing change took place within a few months in the character of maps and plans filed with the applications for permits." Louisiana, followed by Florida and Illinois, would become the next states to require licensure. Montana became the last state to legislate the licensing in 1947.[10]
Requirements[edit]
Requirements for licensing vary, but generally are as follows:[11]
- Graduate from an Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET)-accredited four-year college or university program with a degree in engineering (e.g., Bachelor of Engineering, Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Master of Science in Engineering, Master of Engineering) or in some states, graduate from an ABET-accredited four-year college or university program with a degree in engineering technology.
- Complete a standard Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) written examination, which tests applicants on breadth of understanding of basic engineering principles and, optionally, some elements of an engineering speciality. Completion of the first two steps typically qualifies applicants for certification in the United States as an engineer in training (EIT), sometimes also called an engineer intern (EI).[12]
- Accumulate a certain amount of engineering experience: in most states the requirement is four years, but it is lower in some. For engineering technology graduates, the required number of years may be higher.
- Complete a written Principles and Practice in Engineering (PE) examination, which tests the applicant's knowledge and skills in their chosen engineering discipline (civil, electrical, industrial, mechanical, etc.), as well as engineering ethics.
For standardization, FE and PE exams are written and graded by a central organization, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). However, each state's board of professional engineers individually sets the requirements to take the exams, as well as the passing score. For example, applicants in some states must provide professional references from several PEs before they can take the PE exam. There is a fairly large range in exam pass rates for FE and PE exams, but the pass rate for repeat test takers is significantly lower.[13]
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have engineering boards that are represented on the NCEES, which administers both the FE and PE examinations.[14]
Degree requirements in the United States are evolving. Effective January 1, 2020, the NCEES model will require additional credits beyond a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree. NCEES is developing the types of creditable activities that will satisfy the additional educational requirement. This has received some support from civil engineers.[15][16]
As of 2013, it is still possible for an individual to bypass Steps No. 2 and 4. In Texas, for example, both FE and PE exam waivers are still available to individuals with several years of creditable experience.[17][18]
In a few states, it is still possible for an individual to bypass Step No. 1 and apply to take the registration examinations—as long as a PE sponsors the applicant—because work experience can be substituted for academic experience. The requirement for years of experience may also vary. For example, in California it is possible to take a PE examination with only two years of experience after a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree or one year of experience after a Master of Engineering. In other states candidates may take one of the PE exams directly through NCEES, in some cases immediately after graduation, but they still must wait until obtaining the required experience before obtaining a license. Some states also have state-specific examinations. California requires two additional exams in land surveying and earthquake engineering for civil engineering candidates and many states have exams based on their individual laws and ethics requirements.
Some states issue generic professional engineering licenses. Others, known as "discipline states", issue licenses for specific disciplines of engineering, such as civil engineering, mechanical engineering, nuclear engineering, electrical engineering and chemical engineering. However, in all cases engineers are ethically required to limit their practice to their area of competency, which is usually a small portion of a discipline. While licensing boards do not often enforce this limitation, it can be a factor in negligence lawsuits. In a few states, licensed civil engineers may also perform land survey work.
In addition to the person's license, most states require that firms providing engineering services are authorized to do so. For instance, the state of Florida requires businesses offering engineering services to be registered with the state and have a Florida licensed professional engineer qualify the business.[19]
Civil engineers account for a large portion of licensed professional engineers. In Texas, for example, about 37 percent of licenses are for civil engineers, with civil engineering exams making up more than half of the exams taken.[20][21] Many of the remainder are mechanical, electrical and structural engineers. However, some engineers in other fields obtain licenses for the ability to serve as professional witnesses in courts, before government committees or just for prestige—even though they may never actually sign and seal design documents.
Areas that include much of mechanical, aerospace and chemical engineering and may be specifically exempted from regulation under an "industrial exemption". The industrial exemption varies from state to state. An industrial exemption covers engineers who design products such as automobiles that are sold (or have the potential to be sold) outside the state where they are produced, as well as the equipment used to produce the product. Structures subject to building codes are not covered by an industrial exemption, though small residential buildings often do not require an engineer's seal. In some jurisdictions, the role of architects and structural engineers overlap. In general, the primary professional responsible for designing habitable buildings is an architect. The architect signs and seals design plans for buildings and other structures that humans may occupy. A structural engineer is contracted to provide technical structural design ensuring the stability and safety of the overall structure, however, no states currently allow engineers the ability to perform professional architecture without also being licensed as an architect.[22]
Many private companies employ non-degree workers in technical positions with engineering titles such as "test engineer" or "field engineer". At the company's discretion, as long as the company does not offer engineering services directly to the public or other businesses, such positions may not require an engineering license.
However, it is important to make a distinction between a "graduate engineer" and a "professional engineer". A "graduate engineer" is anyone holding a degree in engineering from an accredited four-year university program, but is not licensed to practice or offer services to the public. Unlicensed engineers usually work as employees for a company or as professors in engineering colleges, where they are governed under the industrial exemption clause.
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