On September 1, 2011 at 10:41 PM Scott Maxwell <smaxwell@umich.edu> wrote:
> You should tell you friend that he should tell his company to go read the PE laws in the state they practice in and/or talk to a lawyer that specializes in construction/engineering stuff. Such COAs are specifically called out in the PE laws in the various states, so it is NOT just a "business license fee".
As a follow-up. I find this an interesting topic.
1) The rules in the few states that I've checked - WA, NE, FL, TX, NJ - all mention the requirement for a firm offering engineering services, to have a Certificate of Authorization or the like. None of them specifically mention having an office in the state, but on the other hand they don't address it in any way (had it been me, I would have said something like "regardless of the physical location of the engineer's office," etc.) Why do we think that it's for all states for which the work is sealed? (Just playing devil's advocate).
2) My friend now tells me that because the company also fabricates whatever widgets are being installed, they reason that they come under the heading of "manufacturer" and are thus exempt. However, they appear to be performing engineering for selection and detailing of the installation of the widgets per the code requirements, typically for the contractor (similar to a joist manufacturer who does specialty joist design for unusual loads, moment resistance, etc.) How does that affect things, if at all? Should the company even be required to seal and sign their engineering packages in that case? What do the joist manufacturers do?
Regards.