In This Issue

In the past few years, some local jurisdictions in Maryland have switched their preferred method of receiving design plans from paper to electronic. Feedback from professionals to the design boards has been mostly positive, and it appears that many more permitting offices are planning to make the change soon.

In order to ensure the security of electronic documents and plans, three State boards have initiated amendments to their regulations to allow for the use of digital signatures by licensees. With these changes, engineers, land surveyors and architects are or will be free to electronically submit documents bearing their original signature and seal without having to worry if the documents will be altered without their knowledge or consent after submission.

It is important to note that Maryland design professionals may transition to using digital signatures, but they are not required to do so. The amended regulations simply allow for their use in addition to traditional wet signatures. 

A digital signature is a type of electronic signature that has added security to ensure the identity of the signer and the integrity of the signed document. While an electronic signature is essentially an image placed into a document---  easily changed or forged---  a digital signature is permanently embedded into the document so that any subsequent editing will automatically invalidate the signature and the document. A digital signature is legally more acceptable than other types of electronic signatures because it offers authentication to both the individual signing the document and to the document itself.

Digital signatures can be obtained through third-party entities known as Certificate Authorities, who usually charge a fee for the service of independently verifying the identity of the signer and issuing the digital certificate. Certificate Authorities use a type of technology known as Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to create, manage, store and distribute digital signatures. PKI technology provides the same level of security as a traditional wet signature because the digital signature cannot be copied or altered in any way. The document's authenticity is verifiable through checking the digital signature's certificate in a standard PDF viewer, and if the document has been altered since being signed, the certificate will display an "X" or a warning sign in it.

The Board for Professional Engineers was the first board to take final action on regulations to allow for the use of digital signatures. Maryland engineers have had the ability to sign and seal with digital signatures since September 1, 2014. The enabling regulation can be found online.

The Board of Architects has proposed regulations that are still in the open comment period until December 1, 2014. A public hearing was held on October 22, 2014 at the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. Final action is expected to be taken on December 15, 2014. The proposed amendment to the regulation can be found online.

The Board for Professional Land Surveyors has proposed amendments to their regulations regarding digital signatures as part of a larger endeavor to revise the entire Minimum Standards of Practice section in the Code of Maryland Regulations. The proposed amendments can be found online.

Three of the State's design boards have recently adopted regulations that will allow each board to grant a one-time waiver from compliance with continuing professional competency (CPC) requirements due to extenuating circumstances. The Board for Professional Land Surveyors, the Board for Professional Engineers, and the Board of Architects have all received requests from licensees suffering certain hardships that prevented them from fulfilling some or all of their CPC requirements; but in the past, the boards had no lawful authority to grant such requests. The regulations were written in order to give the boards the ability to change that. The waiver language is also contained in the pending regulations for Maryland licensed landscape architects, so when they begin CPC requirements (see story below), they will also have the option for a one-time exception.

The amended regulations are similar in that they allow each board to grant a waiver to licensees who cannot comply with their CPC renewal requirements due to physical disability, illness, military duty, or other extenuating circumstances. Licensees are required to notify the boards prior to their renewal date, and are required to make up the credits within a certain time frame, provided the requests are granted by the boards. If a request is based on physical disability or illness, the licensee must provide the Board with written documentation acceptable to the Board supporting the basis for the request, along with a plan of action for obtaining the required PDHs.

Each board has written slightly different language to amend its regulations, so be sure to read them carefully according to the license(s) you hold. For instance, the Board for Professional Engineers and the Board for Professional Land Surveyors expect licensees who are granted the waiver to make up their CPC requirements within six months after their license expiration date, while the Board of Architects allows 12 months to complete the requirements. Links to the regulations are as follows:

COMAR 09.21.05.08 Board of Architects
COMAR 09.13.08.12 Board for Professional Land Surveyors
COMAR 09.23.06.11 Board for Professional Engineers

Over the years, the Joint Chairs of the State's five design boards have been asked to provide guidance to local government officials regarding overlapping practice issues for the design professions. The most recent issues they have been asked to consider have been determining the scope of license for each profession regarding subdivision and right-of-way plats, stormwater management, and the FEMA Elevation Certificate. Some of the most significant decisions rendered by the Joint Chairs can be found online.

Many answers to other questions that code officials have about permissible overlaps and cross-scope activities can be found in the State's Overlapping Practice Guide for Local Government Officials. The guide is available online, and it covers the submission of plans and documents by professionals in each discipline, including advice on who has authority to sign and seal certain documents. It also contains a form that local officials can use to submit a request for an advisory opinion from the boards, if reading the guide doesn't answer a specific question.

The Joint Chairs are currently reviewing the guide in order to make any necessary changes since its last revision. If you have any suggestions for content or revisions, please contact Executive Director Pamela Edwards.

The Maryland Board of Examiners of Landscape Architects conducted a public hearing on September 15, 2014 to address all comments and concerns regarding pending State continuing professional competency (CPC) regulations. The new regulations, COMAR 09.28.04.01 through .11, were proposed by the Board to ensure the contemporary knowledge level of those individuals who offer landscape architectural services, and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the general public who utilize the professional services of Maryland licensed landscape architects.

Phase-in dates for the CPC requirements will begin on October 1, 2015. If a license renewal date is on or before September 30, 2015, the licensee does not have to complete any professional development hours (PDHs) as a condition of renewal. If a license expires between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2016, the licensee is required to report 12 PDH units, or half of the full requirement. If a license expires on or after October 1, 2016, the licensee is required to report the full 24 PDH units.

Final action on the regulations will be taken during a public meeting to be held on January 20, 2015. It will begin at 2:00 p.m., and will take place at the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation's third floor conference room at 500 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.

At the September 2014 meeting of the Board for Professional Engineers, board members continued to work on the implementation of the State's new firm permit requirement for businesses offering engineering services. Beginning on October 1, 2015, business entities other than sole proprietorships that offer engineering services must hold a permit issued by the Board. Firms may face substantial penalties if the permit is obtained or used fraudulently. Read the law online.

The firm permit application has been developed, and will be posted on the website as soon as an application fee and a renewal fee have been set in regulation. Proposed regulations regarding the fees will be published in The Maryland Register soon, and licensees and the general public will be permitted to submit comments once they are published. After the Board takes final action, licensees and firm contacts will be notified, and instructions will be given on how to apply for a firm permit online. If there are any updates in the interim, the Board will post them on the website.

Each month, a subcommittee of the Board for Professional Engineers meets to review formal complaints received by the Board. The group, known as the Complaint Committee, reviews all complaints submitted and then recommends a course of action to the full Board at its subsequent open meeting. Complaints usually concern practicing with an expired license, incompetence, negligence or improper conduct.

About half of all the complaints the Board receives are one of the simplest matters to avoid: signing and sealing engineering documents and plans on an expired license. In 2007, the Board took measures to reduce the likelihood that professional engineers would continue to practice with expired licenses by amending COMAR 09.23.03.10 Titleblock Rules. For the past seven years, engineers have been required to place professional certifications, containing the expiration dates of their licenses, on all documents signed by licensees. Therefore, every engineering document serves as a reminder to Maryland professional engineers to keep their licenses current.

The Board wishes to remind all licensees to avoid putting their livelihoods in jeopardy by failing to keep their licenses current and in good standing. If a complaint is filed against you for any reason, and it is found that you have let your license lapse or have failed to complete your continuing professional competency requirements, the Board will take action against you. You could be subject to reinstatement and renewal fees, additional fines for individual projects completed while unlicensed, or have your license revoked or suspended. The Board has the authority to assess up to $5000 per violation of statute or regulation, so practicing without a current license can be a big risk not worth taking.

Every so often, the State Board for Professional Engineers is approached by licensed engineers who ask for a definitive ruling on whether certain job titles or credentials can be lawfully used by people or entities that are either not licensed by the State or are in some unrelated profession. The short answer is yes, most of the time. Since the word "engineer" has been in our vernacular a long time before any professional licensing statutes were written, the State does not attempt to prohibit its use as long as it is clear to the public that engineering services are not being offered. In cases where position titles are listed with Federal, State, or local governments, those individuals are exempt from State licensing requirements, so the Boards have no jurisdiction over what they call themselves. Finally, there are certain professions that have been in existence for so long that it would be impossible to change professional designations. A person who operates heavy machinery that provides heat, light and climate control will always be known as a "stationary engineer."

State Boards only get involved when a title is used by someone who holds himself or herself out to the public as providing engineering services, but is unlicensed to practice in the State. Job titles and descriptions used internally for HR purposes do not fall under that set of circumstances. Similarly, individuals who began the process of earning their licenses in other states, but who plan to gain experience in Maryland, should not hold themselves out to the public as being in training without qualifying their designation with the name of the state in which the credentials were earned.

The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) has announced its plans to change the structure of the Intern Development Program (IDP) beginning June 2015. After polling its 54 member jurisdictions about intended changes, plans have been made to streamline the process in two phases. The first phase, set to debut in June, will be to simply drop the 1,860 elective hours that are currently part of the IDP program, leaving a core program of 3,740 hours in the 17 required core experience areas. NCARB expects that dropping the elective hours will shorten the typical path after graduation to obtaining licensure from more than seven years down to five or six. The Maryland Board approved the change.

The second anticipated change to IDP will come in June 2016, when NCARB hopes to narrow down core experience areas from the current 17 areas down to six. The six areas will match the six divisions of the new ARE 5.0, set to launch in late 2016. NCARB has published a set of frequently asked questions for those who are currently enrolled in IDP to help them navigate the changes to the program.

Two more NCARB proposals are being formulated to streamline both the Broadly Experienced Architect (BEA) Program and the Broadly Experienced Foreign Architect (BEFA) Programs. NCARB hopes that by changing the requirements of both programs, it will significantly reduce the completion time and the cost of obtaining an NCARB certificate towards licensure. Since our State is one of 17 jurisdictions that do not require a degree from a National Architectural Accrediting Board (NAAB) accredited program, Maryland architects rely on obtaining an NCARB certificate to gain reciprocity in other jurisdictions. NCARB plans to vet the proposed changes through its member jurisdictions in time for a final vote at its annual meeting in June 2015.

  

410-230-6256  

Email the Board of Landscape Architects

 

Christopher Schein, Chair, Landscape Architect,  

Anne Arundel County

Charles Adams, Landscape Architect, Baltimore County

Gareth Diedrick, Consumer Member, Prince George's County

Suzanne Grefsheim, Consumer Member, Montgomery County

David E. Locke, Landscape Architect, Baltimore City

Deborah Heil, Administrative Secretary

 

410-230-6260

Email the Board for Professional Engineers

 

Howard (Skip) Harclerode II, P.E., Chair, Chemical Engineer, Baltimore County

Steven A. Arndt, Ph.D., P.E.,
Vice Chair, Mechanical Engineer, Montgomery County

Pastor Farinas, P.E.,  

Electrical Engineer,  

Montgomery County

David G. Mongan, P.E.,  

Civil Engineer, Carroll County

Sandra J. Murphy, Consumer Member, Baltimore City 

Sallye E. Perrin, P.E.,  

Civil Engineer, Baltimore City

Karl J. Rickert, P.E.,  

Structural Engineer, Baltimore County

Rosalind L. Yee, Consumer Member, Anne Arundel County

Ruby Courtney, Administrative Secretary

410-230-6261

Email the Board of Architects 

 

Diane Cho, Chair, Architect, Baltimore County

Paul R. Edmeades, Architect, Harford County

Gary Ey, Consumer Member, Harford County

William N. Parham Jr., Consumer Member,  

Anne Arundel County

Stephen L. Parker, Architect, Montgomery County

Cynthia Shonaiya, Architect, Baltimore County 

Magda Westerhout, Architect, Baltimore City

Terry White, Administrative Secretary

 

410-230-6259

Email the Board of Certified Interior Designers

 

Carla K. Viar, Acting Chair, Certified Interior Designer, Washington County  

Danielle Bush, Certified Interior Designer, Baltimore County

Robyn Dubick, Certified Interior Designer, Howard County

H. Christine Pirrung, Consumer Member, Anne Arundel County

Barbara Portnoy, Certified Interior Designer,  

Baltimore County

Kevin Sneed, Architect, Montgomery County

Karen Zopf, Certified Interior Designer, Baltimore County

Janis Daniels, Administrative Secretary

 

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