2023 California Code › Business and Professions Code - BPC › DIVISION 3 - PROFESSIONS AND VOCATIONS GENERALLY › CHAPTER 7 - Professional Engineers › ARTICLE 3 - Application of Chapter › Section 6738.

6738. (a) This chapter does not prohibit one or more civil, electrical, or mechanical engineers from practicing or offering to practice within the scope of their license civil (including geotechnical and structural), electrical, or mechanical engineering as a sole proprietorship, partnership, firm, or corporation (hereinafter called business), if all of the following requirements are met:
(1) A civil, electrical, or mechanical engineer currently licensed in this state is an owner, partner, or officer in charge of the engineering practice of the business.
(2) All civil, electrical, or mechanical engineering services are performed by, or under the responsible charge of, a professional engineer licensed in the appropriate branch of professional engineering.
(3) If the business name of a California engineering business contains the name of any person, then that person shall be licensed as a professional engineer, a licensed land surveyor, a licensed architect, or a geologist registered under the Geologist and Geophysicist Act (Chapter 12.5 (commencing with Section 7800)). Any offer, promotion, or advertisement by the business that contains the name of any individual in the business, other than by use of the name of an individual in the business name, shall clearly and specifically designate the license or registration discipline of each individual named.
(b) An out-of-state business with a branch office in this state shall meet the requirements of subdivision (a) and shall have an owner, partner, or officer who is in charge of the engineering work in the branch in this state, who is licensed in this state, and who is physically present at the branch office in this state on a regular basis. However, the name of the business may contain the name of any person not licensed in this state if that person is appropriately registered or licensed in another state. Any offer, promotion, or advertisement that contains the name of any individual in the business, other than by use of the names of the individuals in the business name, shall clearly and specifically designate the license or registration discipline of each individual named.
(c) The business name of a California engineering business may be a fictitious name. However, if the fictitious name includes the name of any person, the requirements of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) shall be met.
(d) A person not licensed under this chapter may also be a partner or an officer of a civil, electrical, or mechanical engineering business if the requirements of subdivision (a) are met. This section does not permit a person who is not licensed under this chapter to be the sole owner of a civil, electrical, or mechanical engineering business, unless otherwise exempt under this chapter.
(e) This section shall not prevent the use of the name of any business engaged in rendering civil, electrical, or mechanical engineering services, including the use by any lawful successor or survivor, that lawfully was in existence on December 31, 1987. However, the business is subject to paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a).
(f) A business engaged in rendering civil, electrical, or mechanical engineering services may use in its name the name of a deceased or retired person provided all of the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) The person’s name had been used in the name of the business, or a predecessor in interest of the business, before and after the death or retirement of the person.
(2) The person shall have been an owner, partner, or officer of the business, or an owner, partner, or officer of the predecessor in interest of the business.
(3) The person shall have been licensed as a professional engineer, or a land surveyor, or an architect, or a geologist, (A) by the appropriate licensing board if that person is operating a place of business or practice in this state, or (B) by the applicable state board if no place of business existed in this state.
(4) The person, if retired, has consented to the use of the name and does not permit the use of the name in the title of another professional engineering business in this state during the period of the consent. However, the retired person may use their name as the name of a new or purchased business if it is not identical in every respect to that person’s name as used in the former business.
(5) The business shall be subject to the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subdivision (a).
(g) This section does not affect the provisions of Sections 6731.2 and 8726.1.
(h) A current organization record form shall be filed with the board for all businesses engaged in rendering civil, electrical, or mechanical engineering services.
(i) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2026.
(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 150, Sec. 2) by Stats. 2022, Ch. 302, Sec. 2. (SB 1120) Effective January 1, 2023. Section operative January 1, 2026, by its own provisions.)