Colonel Thomas c.

Member Ssoretary Texas State Board for Profeeaional Austin,Tsxas



### men August 9, 1960

Qreen :
.

of Registration Engineere
OpinionMO. W-900 R&3: Dosrathe lloense of’ a Reglstiered Profesulonal Engineer legally permit him to engage in the practic8 of land survrgln$ or the praotice OS land measurement under circumbtances~ ..L-L- 3 Oolonel Qrren: mama. Your lett@r requesting an opinion of this officehae rW3Wmd and resfb inpart 88 follows: “Doa the license of a Registered Profssaional Bn~ineer legalLypermit him to enSa& b the praotice of land surveying or thr practice of landmeasurement, aooording to established recognleedmethods, engaged in their practice as Registered ProfessionalEngineerr, or servicesavailable to thepublic, generally, for compensation when such services are comprised of, among other things, the dstermlnatlonby meana of surveyin& of the location or relooatlon of land boundaxles and landboundarg corners; the calculotlon of areaa; the preparation of field note derorlptlonsof surveyed land; the preparation of maps, showing the boundarier and arsae of the s’ubdlvision of traate of land and smaller traats; the preparation of offioial plats or maps of eald land or subdivision In oomplianokwith thelaws of the State OS Texa6 and pOlttiCa1 eubd.tvtrrloneColonel Thomas C. Green, Page 2 (WW-900)

thereof; of such other duties as sound engineeringpractices and principles would deem necessary?” The answer to your request requiresa thoroug;h analysis and construction of both Articles 3271a and 5202a,Vernon’s Civil Statutes. The purpose of Article 3271a Is lndloated by Seatione 1 and 2 of the Act, set forth below:

. “Section1. That in order to safeguard life,health, and property, any person practicing or offering to practice the profession of engineeringas hereinafter defined shallhereafterbe required to submit evldenoe that he Is qualified so to practice and shall be registeredas hereinafterprovided; and It shall be unlawful for any person to practice or offer to practice the profession of engineering In this State, or to use In connectionwith his name or otherwise assume, use, or advertise any title or description tending to convey the lmpression that he is a professional engineerunless such personhas been duly registered or exemptedunder theprovisions of this Act.

“Sec. 2. The term professional engineer as used In this Act shallmean a personwho, by reason of his knowledge of mathematics, the physical sciences,and the principles of engineering, acquiredby professional educationand practlcal experience, Is qualified to engage In englneerlng practice as hereinafter defined.
“Thepractice of professional engineering within themeaning and Intent of this Act includes any professional service, such as consultation, Investigation,evaluation,planning, designing, or responsible supervisionof construction In connectionwith any public or private utilities, structures,buildings, machines, equipment,processes,works, or Q7?0- jects,wherein the public welfare, or the safeguardingof life, health, or property fs

.Colonel Thomas C. Qreen, Page 3 (WW-900)

concerned or involved,wh n such profeeaional servhae requires the applfcation of engineerlng prlnolplss and interpretationof engineering data. “The term ‘Board’a8 used in thle Aot shallmean the State Board of ReglstratIon &&W;etslonal Engineers,provided Par by

. lhe first paragraph of Section 15 oS,the Aot reads a6 Sollows:

“Sec. 15. The Board shall issue a oertlflaate of registrationupon payment of registration fee as provided for in this Aat, to any applicant,who, In the opinion OS the Board, ha8 satisfactorilymet all the requiremente of thlrr Act. In case of a reglatered engineer, the certificate shall authorize the praatlce of proiesslonal engineering. Certifioates of registration shall show the full name of the registrant, shallhave a serialnumber, and shallbe signedby the Chairmanand the Secretary of the Board under seal of the Board. The issuance of a certificate of registration by this Board shallbe evidence that the~person named therein 18 entitled to all rights and prlvIlegee of a registered professional engineer, while the said certificate remainsunrevoked or unexpired.”
It ia clear that the Legislature Intended that everyonewho desired to practloe engineering should first show thathe was quallfled to do’so to the satisfaction of the Boara of Reglstratlon for Professional Engineers. If the

. Board agreed that the applicantwas a0 quallfted, then it would issue the applicant a certlflcate authorlzlng him to praatlce as a regleteredproieesional engineer.
The praotice of proSess2onal engineer&n6 Includes several fields, or areas, in all of which engineering prlnolples are applied. One of these fields Is generally referred to as “alvll engineering.” This field includes euahwork a8 highway design and layout, dealgn and constructionof draltptgesystems,mapping and aurveylng. SeeColonel Thomas C. Green, Page 4 (WW-900)

Journal of the Surveying and Mapping Division, Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers.Vol. 85, No. Su 1, September, 1959. The Legislature,when passing Article 3271a, obvlously felt that surveyingwas Includedwithin the practice o? engineering,as Is evidencedby the wording of Section 25:

“Sec. 25. All laws or parts of laws In conflictwith the provisions of this Act shall be and the same are hereby repealed. Provided, however, that this Act shallnot be construed as repealing or amending any law affecting or regulating licensed state land surveyors;and such licensed state land surveyors in performing their duties as such shallnot be subject to the provisions of this Act; nor shall this Act be construed to affect or prevent the practice of any other legally recognizedprofession by themembers of suchprofession licensedby the State or under its authority. Acts 1937, 45th Leg.,p. 816, ch. 404."
It is noted that the Legislaturedid not exclude the practice of surveying itself from the coverage of the Act, but only such surveyingas was performedby licensed state land surveyors. In otherwords, all other surveying,when involving life,health or property,must be done by registered professional engineersunder the terms of Article 3271a.
In 1955,because some Individualswith little or no qualificationhad been attempting to performvarious kinds of surveying for the general public, and because the Leglelature also felt the need to authorize qualified individual8 to do certain types of surveyingwhich theretoforehad been performed legally only by registeredprofessional engineerg, the Legislaturepassed Article 5282a, referred to as the Registered Public Surveyors Act. This Actprovides that Individualswho meet the qualifications set forth in the Act, to the satisfactionof the State Board of Registrationfor PublicSurveyors,may engage in public surveyingas define& by the Act. Section 11 of the Registered Public Surveyors Act read8 as follows:ColonelThomas C. Green, Page 5 (WW-900)

“Sec. 11. All laws or parts of laws in conflictwith the provisions of this Act shall be and the same are hereby repealed. Provided, however, that this Aat shall not be construed as repealing or amending any laws affecting or regulating licensed state land surveyorsor registered

### professional engineers,and suoh licensed state land surveyors or registeredprofessional englneers in performing their duties or profession as such shall not be subject to the provisions of this Act;provided further that registrationunder this Aat shall not of itself qualify the registrant to conduct surveys of Public Landsunder the provisions of Article 5299, Revised Civil Statutes, nor tomake any surveys, the field notes of which are to be filed In the General Land Offloe of ,Texas;nor shall 

### this Actbe construed to affect or prevent the practice of any other.legally recognized profession 

### by the members of suchprofession licensed or reflsteredby the State or under lta authority.
The language in this Seatlon 1s clear and unambiguous, and states tha+‘thls Act does not apply to either licensed state land surveyors’ or regEatere.d

professional engineers when ‘performlngtheir duties or professlgn. This Section goes even further and states that this Act shall not affect the practioe of any legally recognizedprofession by 

### the members of thatprofWslon who have been licreneed under 

### the authority of 

### the State. It is noted that the title of the Registered Public Surveyors Aat, in referring to Section 11 (above-quoted), 8tatea only:

0

. . .;repealing lawe in oonflict;

. . .I’, and says nothing conoerning the exceptionsprovided for in Section 11. However, the great weight of authorlty is that exceptions to the provlslons of a statute 

### need not be set out In the title of the statute.

“Merelimitationsand reetrictlonsby proviso, on the general saope of the law a8 lndicated bg the body of the aat, ofidlnarily relate and ‘. 

### are germane,Co Its 

### general ob)eot and are.of 

### general, and unlverrel uu*, ?iheqh 

### no reierencee

### Colonel Thombs C. Green, Page 6 (W-900)

. **bre** made to them in the title of the sat, To require every llmltatlon or qualifioation contained In the aot to be expressed in,the title,would require the title to be almost a8 lonn as the act itself.” Austin v. Q.C. &-S.F.RR. Co., 45~Tex. 234 ~SUP. Ct. lU7b).
“It Is generallyheld that exceptions need not be set out In the caption of an a&.’ Pottorffv. El Paso-HudspethCounties Road l&t. of Texas, et al, b2 F d 2d r r. Ct. of Appeals, 5th Mr., :9;31. Articles 3271a and 5282amust be construed together, bearing Inmind the fundamental rule of statutoryconstruetion as set forth in City of Mason v. West Texgb UtllitZ.ea &. 3 150 Tex. 18, 237 S.W. 2d 273 (1951): *.
“The fundamental rule controlling the construction of a statute Is to ascertain the intention of the Legislature expressed therein. That intention shouldbe ascertained from the entire act, and not from isolated
’ portiona thereof. This Courthas repeatedlf held that the intention of the Legislature in enactinga law is the law Itself; and hence the aim and object of construction is to ascertain and enforce the Legislative intent, and not to defeat, nullify or thwart It.”
It is the clear intention of the Leglsleture that registeredprofessional engineers,when acting within their profession, are not to be affectedby the provlaions of thb Registered Public Surveyors Act. Therefore, the lioensa of a registeredprofesslqnal engineer does legally permit him to engage in the praotlce of land surveying **and** lbnd measurement under the circumstances stated in your request as quoted above. %%k ‘?&&%& conclusion shallprevail over ‘anyvievr to the contrary expressed in Attorney Oenerbllu Opinion lb. w-569.

The license of a Reglatered Profeetionl;t &##SMWP does legallypermit him to engage ‘Lntkm moor oT land surveying i?+nd the prbotlcr Crcclad Iw)amn?ement under the ctrukstanaer rtrtitd,. .

Colonel Thomas C. Green, Page 7 (WW-900)

The foregoing conclusion shall prevail over any viewe to the contrary expressed in Attorney General's Opinion No. W-569.
Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas

PSP:mm

APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEJ2 J. C. Davis, Chalrinan Henry G. Braewell Marietta Payne H. Grady Chandler Byron F. Fullerton
REVIEWEDFORTHE ATTORNEYGENEFtAL
BY: Leonard Passmore ..

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