IN THIS ISSUE:

The Boards for Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors and Architects are promulgating regulations that will require licensees to respond to Board communications. The change is the result of a number of instances where Boards were unable to resolve complaints and enforce regulations because licensees failed to respond to inquiries. The regulations will read:

FAILURE TO RESPOND

A LICENSEE SHALL RESPOND TO THE BOARD IN WRITING WITHIN 20 DAYS OF RECEIPT OF A WRITTEN COMMUNICATION DIRECTED TO THE LICENSEE BY THE BOARD. FAILURE TO RESPOND AS REQUIRED BY THIS REGULATION MAY BE CONSIDERED BY THE BOARD TO BE A VIOLATION OF BUSINESS OCCUPATIONS AND PROFESSIONS ARTICLE, §15-317 (A) (1) (V), ANNOTATED CODE OF MARYLAND.

The new regulations should go into effect this Fall.

SURVEYORS SHARPEN FOCUS ON LAW, ETHICS AND STANDARDS OF PRACTICE

The Board for Professional Land Surveyors has moved to sharpen the focus of Continuing Professional Competency requirements on issues of Law, Ethics and the Minimum Standards of Practice. This move is in reaction to an obvious insufficient level of understanding by licensees of the basic requirements of the law and the regulations evident in complaints filed and inquiries made to the Board. The amendment to Chapter 09.13.08-B reads:

AS PART OF COMPLIANCE WITH THE CPC REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH IN THESE REGULATIONS, A LICENSEE SHALL COMPLETE, AS A CONDITION OF A LICENSE RENEWAL, A MINIMUM OF 6 CPC UNITS IN EVERY OTHER INDIVIDUAL 2-YEAR LICENSING TERM IN CONTENT AREAS RELATED TO THE MINIMUM STANDARDS OF PRACTICE OR MARYLAND LAW AND ETHICS. THE 6 CPC UNITS DESCRIBED IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE IN CATEGORY A PROGRAMS AND SHALL BE PART OF, AND NOT IN ADDITION TO, A MINIMUM NUMBER OF CPC UNITS OTHERWISE REQUIRED FOR A LICENSE RENEWAL.

The Board for Professional Engineers has periodically recognized those engineers who have been continuously licensed in Maryland for 50 years. This professional milestone has been reached by thirty-one Professional Engineers who will be recognized on September 19th by the Board and the Maryland Society of Engineers.

The award is named after A.G. Christie who was the first Professional Engineer licensed by Maryland and who served as the first Chairman of the Board. Mr. Christie was a well respected mechanical engineer who chaired the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University for 27 years. He was instrumental in the State and national movement to license engineers.

The inductees are:

As part of the Design Boards’ communications outreach program, the brochure Becoming a Licensed Architect is now available for distribution.  The publication outlines the requirements for Maryland architectural licensure.  The brochure is fifth in a series designed to explain licensure and the various professions represented by the Design.  The other brochures are Land Surveying: The Career Opportunity of a Lifetime; Understanding Professional Land Surveyors’ Licensure; Understanding Professional Engineers’ Licensure; and the Design Boards Complaint Process. For more information about obtaining any of these brochures, please call (410) 230-6215.