Updates from Massachusetts Board of Registration of PEs and PLSs - From December

December 17, 2015 PE and PLS (EN) Board of Registration Meeting 

At this meeting, The Board discussed:

Prescriptive Process on Rooftop Solar Installation
The Board of Registration reviewed and discussed a document posted by the Department of Energy Resources that attempts to give homeowners guidance about installing solar panels: Structural Review Guidance for Rooftop Residential PV (<10kW) Prescriptive Process for Structural Approval of Small PV Systems 

• The Board of Registration is concerned that homeowners will be at potential risk as they attempt to perform structural engineering calculation to determine whether their roofs can support solar installations.
• The Division of Professional Licensure staff will contact the Department of Energy Resources about this issue. 

Request for exemption from NCEES original transcript requirement
A candidate for a comity license is unable to provide an original transcript for his BS degree because the college no longer exists.  He was able to attain a doctorate in the 1980s in the US as his undergraduate institution still existed at that time.  NCEES is unable to create a record for him because he cannot provide an original transcript.  The Board of Registration took a vote granting comity to the candidate under the circumstances.

October, 2015 PLS Jurisprudence Exam Scores
The Board reviewed scores from several recent Jurisprudence exams in executive session.  MALSCE will seek more information.

Continuing Education Committee
The next meeting of the Continuing Education Committee is expected to be on January 5, 2016. If the Board does approve draft Continuing Education regulations, changes to state regulations are still frozen by Executive Order 562 until after March 31, 2016.  After that, any new regulations still have to follow a multi-stage approval process, through DPL, Consumer Affairs, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, Executive Office of Administration and Finance, Secretary of State’s Office and then a public hearing. 

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November 19, 2015 PE and PLS (EN) Board of Registration Meeting

At this meeting:
1. The Board announced several amendments to 250 CMR. Most of the proposed changes are to make some corrections and clarifications.

• Chapters of the regulations that the Board is proposing to amend:
  • 2.00  General Provisions, Board Procedures and Definitions
  • 3.00  The Registration Process
  • 6.00 Land Surveying Procedures and Standards
  • All three chapters are posted as links on: http://www.engineers.org/index.cfm/cdid/11180/pid/10225

ACTION for MALSCE Members: If you see any issues with these proposed changes, please let Abbie Goodman know by December 1.

2. PLS Brokerage Issue/misuse of another surveyor’s seal/signature:  
The Division of Professional Licensure is investigating a very serious complaint filed about an out of state surveying brokerage firm and an out of state land surveying firm: An Ohio-based brokerage firm allegedly hired a Pennsylvania-based surveying firm for at least one assignment in western MA.  The firm appears to have inappropriately copied a MA-licensed PLS’s seal and signature to use on plans in western Massachusetts that were not prepared by the MA-licensed PLS (unlicensed practice, using someone else’s stamp/signature on plans).  This misuse was discovered because the MA PLS does not practice in Western Massachusetts.

Because this matter is currently under investigation, the Board of Registration did not name any of these firms or individuals involved, but I have been asked to alert MALSCE and ACEC/MA about these serious allegations. 

ACTION for MALSCE Members: If you find additional plans that may have misused the seals/signatures of licensees, notify the MA Board of Registration. 

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October 29, 2015 PE and PLS (EN) Board of Registration Meeting 

At this meeting, the Board discussed: 

• Concerns with the draft regulations of the Board of Registration of Architects (ARB).  Under the proposed draft, this definition in CMR 231 Section 2.0,  2.04 was problematic to the EN Board: Practice of Architecture – means, consistent with the definition in M.G.L. c. 112, §60A, performing or agreeing to perform or holding one’s self out as able to perform professional services in connection with the design, construction, enlargement or alteration of a building including, but not limited to, consultations, investigations, evaluations, preliminary studies, aesthetic design, the preparation of plans, specifications and contract documents, the co-ordination of structural and mechanical design and site development, and administration of construction contracts. Said definition shall also be deemed to include any other similar service or combination of services in connection with the design and construction of buildings, including the interiors of buildings and space within the site surrounding such buildings regardless of whether one or all of these services are being performed and regardless of whether these services are performed in person or as the directing head of an office or organization performing them, as well as such engineering work as is incidental to the practice of architecture.   

The EN Board was concerned with the words “including the interiors of buildings and space within the site surrounding such buildings.”  This is an issue of concern for engineers and engineering business.

• Continuing Education for PEs and PLSs: The Mandatory Continuing Education Committee has not met for several months.  The Board of Registration has ask the Committee to develop a paper outlining why continuing education will protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. If the Board does approve draft Continuing Education regulations, changes to state regulations are still frozen by Executive Order 562 until after March 31, 2016.  After that, any new regulations still have to follow a multi-stage approval process, through DPL, Consumer Affairs, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, Executive Office of Administration and Finance, Secretary of State’s Office and then a public hearing.

Also at this Board meeting:

The EN Board determined that the online Land Surveying/Geomatics curriculum offered by Great Basin College in Elko, Nevada does satisfy the requirements of 250 CMR 3.02. 

The Division announced that the system for looking up a license is now different:  eLicensing and ePermitting Portal    This reflects the step toward e-licensing for the whole Division of Professional Licensure.