2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE TWENTY - Examining Boards and Professional Colleges (§§ 1 — 6033) › Chapter 37 - College of Engineers and Surveyors (§§ 731 — 744) › § 732 - Powers

The College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico shall be authorized:
(a) To subsist perpetually under that name.
(b) To sue and be sued as a juridical person.
(c) To have and use a seal which it may alter at will.
(d) To acquire rights and property, whether real or personal, by donation, bequest, contributions from the members thereof, purchase, or otherwise; and to own, mortgage, lease and dispose of them in any way.
(e) To appoint its Directors and Officers or Officials who shall be elected without a number limitation, of which at least one (1) shall correspond to each Chapter or Institute.
(f) To adopt bylaws, which shall be binding on all its members as provided in the Annual Assembly, and to amend such bylaws in the manner and under the terms therein prescribed.
(g) To adopt or implement a code of professional ethics that shall govern the professional conduct of engineers and surveyors, which code shall be included in the Regulations of the Board of Examiners of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico.
(h) To receive and investigate any complaints brought in relation to the conduct of members in the practice of their profession and forward them to the Board of Directors for action.
Complaints relating to the ethical conduct of engineers and surveyors in the practice of their profession shall be filed with Professional Practice Office of the College within a term of three (3) years to be counted from the date in which the complainant learned or should have learned of the possible ethical violation, and within an expiration term of ten (10) years, to be counted from the date in which the events that gave rise to the complaint took place, except for cases in which the events that gave rise to the violation involve fraud and/or moral depravation, in which case the aforementioned terms shall not apply.
The regulations shall provide for the holding of a hearing in which the interested parties shall be granted full opportunity to be heard, present evidence, and cross-examine witnesses by themselves or their legal representatives, after which, and if just cause is determined, the corresponding sanctions shall be imposed, including the suspension of the member of the College for the time and under the conditions that are discretionally established. In those cases entailing the suspension of a member, the College shall initiate the corresponding license cancellation or suspension process before the Examining Board of College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico within a term that shall not exceed fifteen (15) days. If the College orders suspension, the member shall not practice the profession for the duration of the suspension, nor enjoy the activities and benefits provided in this chapter and in the regulations.
Nothing provided herein shall be construed as limiting or altering the authority of the Examining Board of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico to initiate any disciplinary procedure on its own initiative.
(i) To protect its members in the practice of their profession and, through the creation of pension funds, protection or benefit systems and special funds, or to otherwise aid those who retire because of physical disability or old age, and the heirs or beneficiaries of those who die.
(j) To exercise such incidental powers as may be necessary or convenient for the purpose of its creation and operation and which are not in conflict with this chapter.
(k) To receive and investigate complaints brought in relation to situations that could result in the illegal practice of the professions, violations regarding the same, and, if there is evidence to such effects, in the case nonmembers, to proceed before the competent authorities for the purpose of enforcing compliance with the laws regarding the practice of the professions.
(l) To implement its service programs for the community and the professions, the College of Engineers and Surveyors is hereby authorized to create the “College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico Foundation”, which shall function as a nonprofit corporation, but upon the approval of the Board of Directors, it shall be empowered to make investments to fulfill the purposes of the College. The Foundation shall provide community, educational, sports, cultural, and any other professional and social Service Programs, among others.
Upon authorization of the General Assembly or its Board of Directors, the College may transfer to the Foundation authorized herein, with or without a valuable consideration, any personal or real property it deems convenient and necessary for the Foundation to better fulfill the objectives and purposes for which it was created. The real or personal property of the College of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico Foundation, as well as any proceeds or surplus from investments or activities that it is empowered to carry out hereunder shall be exempt from any and all taxes.
(m) To determine the form, composition and representative character of the regular annual assembly and the special assemblies. If a system of assembly by delegates is used, it shall assure an adequate and uniform representation of the members, chapters and institutes.
(n) To establish in educational institutions student chapters formed by students of the different engineering and surveying disciplines. To likewise establish chapters or groups constituted by persons graduated from said disciplines until they complete the examination and certification or licensing process before the Examining Board of Engineers and Surveyors of Puerto Rico. The regulations shall provide for all that pertains to these groups concerning their organization, location, operation, obligations and duties; Provided, however, That the establishment of these chapters and groups shall always be subject to the authority and discretion of the College, and that no rights are being created in favor of private persons or other institutions alien to said College; provided, further, that the College shall retain the authority and discretion to abolish what has been established, if in its sole judgment, it would be in the best interests of the College.
History —May 15, 1938, No. 319, p. 562, § 2; May 7, 1965, No. 7, p. 11; Sept. 29, 1980, No. 12, p. 977, § 2; Dec. 29, 2009, No. 214, § 1; Aug. 9, 2016, No. 147, § 1.