GA Code § 43-15-17 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 43 - Professions and Businesses|Chapter 15 - Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors|§ 43-15-17. Issuance, Expiration, and Renewal of Certificates and Certificates of Registration

  Certificates, certificates of registration, or licenses shall be issued to applicants who successfully complete the respective requirements therefor upon the payment of fees prescribed by the board.   Certificates of registration or licenses shall be renewable biennially. Renewal may be effected for the succeeding two years by the payment of the fee prescribed by the board. Certificates of registration or licenses may be renewed subsequent to their expiration upon the payment of accumulated unpaid fees and of a penalty in an amount to be determined by the board. A certificate of registration or license that has been expired for a period of greater than four years shall be automatically revoked.   The division director shall give notice by mail to each individual holding a certificate of registration or license under this chapter of the date of the expiration of the certificate of registration or license and the amount of the fee required for renewal, at least one month prior to the expiration date; but the failure to receive such notice shall not avoid the expiration of any certificate of registration or license not renewed in accordance with this Code section.    (Ga. L. 1937, p. 294, §§ 16, 17; Ga. L. 1945, p. 294, §§ 25, 27, 28; Ga. L. 1956, p. 691, § 1; Ga. L. 1958, p. 358, § 2; Ga. L. 1972, p. 222, § 9; Code 1933, § 84-2118, enacted by Ga. L. 1975, p. 1048, § 1; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1706, § 19; Ga. L. 2018, p. 583, § 1/SB 425.)    The 2018 amendment,  effective July 1, 2018, substituted "Certificates, certificates of registration, or licenses" for "Certificates and certificates of registration" near the beginning of subsection (a); in subsection (b), inserted "or licenses" in the first and third sentences, substituted "or license that" for "which" in the fourth sentence; and, in subsection (c), substituted "individual" for "person" near the middle and inserted "or license" three times.   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL    Expiration of renewal right for licensees whose licenses expired December 31, 1976,  is subject to this section. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-50.    All licenses which have been expired more than five years are irretrievably lost;  those licenses which expired prior to July 1, 1975, but which have not been expired for five years, may be renewed by the holder by complying with provisions of this section as those licensees have a vested right to renew their licenses at any time within five years of the date of expiration, which right the licenses could not be deprived of by subsequent legislation, and rights of all other licensees are controlled by provisions of the statute. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-50.   Earliest dates for automatic revocation following renewal.   - As the initial expiration date for any certificate of registration under registration law was December 31, 1976, and as this section provides that certificates of registration are to be automatically revoked when they have been expired for a period of greater than four years, the earliest date for automatic revocation of a certificate of registration would be January 1, 1981, in the event a person renewed a certificate of registration for the period January 1, 1977 through December 31, 1978, that certificate of registration could likewise not be automatically revoked prior to January 31, 1983. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-37.   RESEARCH REFERENCES   ALR.   - Right to enjoin business competitor from unlicensed or otherwise illegal acts or practices, 90 A.L.R.2d 7.