Florida Administrative Code › 61 - DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL REGULATION › 61G15 - Board of Professional Engineers › Chapter 61G15-20 - APPLICATION FOR LICENSURE, EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS, AND EXPERIENCE › Section 61G15-20.002 - Experience

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1)
(a) In
				order to qualify for licensure, an applicant is required to have the requisite
				number of years of acceptable experience in engineering at the time of
				application for licensure and acceptable educational qualifications. In
				determining whether an applicant's experience background is sufficient to meet
				the requirements set forth in Sections 471.015(2)(a)1. and 2., F.S., the Board
				has determined that an individual must have the requisite number of years of
				acceptable engineering experience gained through education and through the
				requisite amount of full-time employment in engineering. The type of employment
				which shall be acceptable must principally involve activities in the field of
				engineering as defined in Section
				471.005(7),
				F.S. The Board may accept engineering experience in foreign countries if such
				experience is properly verified by the Board from evidence supplied by the
				applicant to be equivalent to that accepted as experience by the Board as to
				any state or territory.
(b) Because
				the evaluation of experience is a complex and subjective matter, the Board
				establishes the following guidelines which shall be generally applicable absent
				extraordinary evidence and documentation supporting a departure therefrom:
1. The acquisition of acceptable engineering
				experience should logically follow and constitute an application of the
				engineering education previously obtained.
2. Engineering experience obtained prior to
				the completion of the approved engineering program is usually of a
				subprofessional nature. If the full-time experience is obtained within the 2
				years immediately preceding completion of the approved engineering program, and
				involves tasks and responsibilities consisent with the disciplines of
				engineering, experience credit may be awarded at 50% of actual time. In any
				event, the total engineering experience credit allowable for pregraduation
				experience shall not exceed 12 months.
3. Experience credit is based on a 40 hour
				per week full-time employment basis. No additional credit is allowable for
				overtime work, or for part-time work experience obtained while pursuing
				engineering education on a full-time basis. For purposes of this rule, a
				"full-time basis" means the applicant is enrolled in twelve (12) or more credit
				hours per semester; less than 12 credit hours is considered to be "part-time
				enrollment."
4. Experience must be
				progressive on engineering projects to indicate that it is of increasing
				quality and requiring greater responsibility.
5. Experience must not be obtained in
				violation of the licensure act.
6.
				Experience gained in the armed services, to be creditable, must be of a
				character equivalent to that which would have been gained in the civilian
				sector doing similar work. Normally, it would be expected that the applicant
				while in the armed services served in an engineering or engineering-related
				group.
7. Experience should be
				gained under the supervision of a licensed professional engineer or, if not, an
				explanation should be made showing why the experience should be considered
				acceptable.
8. For sales experience
				to be creditable, it must be demonstrated that engineering principles were
				required and used in gaining the experience.
9. Teaching experience, to be creditable,
				must be in engineering or engineering-related courses at an advanced level in a
				college or university offering an engineering program of four years or more
				that is approved by the Board.
10.
				Experience gained in engineering research and design projects by members of an
				engineering faculty where the program is approved by the Board is
				creditable.
11. Experience may not
				be anticipated. The experience must have been gained by the time of the
				application.
12. Experience in
				construction, to be creditable, must demonstrate the application of engineering
				principles.
13. Experience should
				include demonstration of a knowledge of engineering mathematics, physical and
				applied science, properties of materials, and the fundamental principles of
				engineering design.
14. Experience
				should include demonstration of the application of engineering principles in
				the practical solution of engineering problems.
15. Engineering experience gained after
				licensure as a Professional Engineer in another jurisdiction is
				creditable.