Q:
Does a Professional Engineer (P.E.) have to be an “employee” of a firm
in order to act as the P.E. in responsible charge of engineering work
performed?
A:
A firm providing or offering to provide professional engineering services
must have a professional engineer in responsible charge of any engineering
work performed. The P.E. need not be an employee of the company, and
certainly not be a full-time employee, but by signing and sealing the
application, he or she is representing that s/he is the individual in
responsible charge of engineering work performed by the company.
Q:
Can a firm obtain a Certificate of Authorization (COA) if the P.E. is
only a subcontractor of the firm rather than an employee?
A:
The Wisconsin statutes provide that a COA may be issued to a firm, partnership,
or corporation which submits a list of the names and addressed of all
individuals in its employment who are registered or granted a permit
to practice architecture, professional engineering, or designing in
this state. 443. 08 (3)(a) If there is a change in one of these persons,
the change shall be reported to the Board within 30 days of the change.
The firm, partnership or corporation shall be responsible for the conduct
of its agents, employees or officers. 443.08(4) (a). Since the term
employee” is not restrictively defined in the statute, it is possible
that a firm may obtain a COA if they have a contractual agreement with
a permit holder, even if the individual is not an actual employee of
the firm. It is presumed that the contractual relationship will be on-going
in nature, rather than limited in duration and the firm is required
to notify the Board whenever there is a change in the permit holder
who is responsible for the architectural, engineering or design work
of the firm.
Q:
What are the ramifications of a P.E. signing and sealing “selected designs”?
Does the P.E. become responsible for all work that is prepared by the
firm?
A:
A professional engineer should sign and seal "selected designs"
only if the work was in fact prepared by the P.E. or under his or her
direction and supervision. If not, the PE should not be signing them.
If other work prepared by the firm is engineering work, it too should
be prepared by a PE or under a PE's direction and supervision. A PE
must take care to avoid situations where he or she could be considered
as the individual represented as in charge of all such work.
