La. Admin. Code tit. 46 § LXI-2503

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, September 20, 2024

Section LXI-2503 - Licensees

A. Licensees shall hold paramount the life, health, property and welfare of the public in the performance of their professional duties.

B. Licensees shall at all times recognize that their primary obligation is to protect the life, health, property, and welfare of the public. If their professional judgment is overruled by nontechnical authority, they will clearly point out the consequences, notifying the proper authority of any observed conditions which endanger public life, health, property and welfare.

C. Licensees shall approve and seal only those documents which are safe for public life, health, property, and welfare, which are complete and accurate, which are in conformity with accepted engineering and land surveying standards or practice, and which conform to applicable laws and ordinances.

1. Licensees shall comply fully with Chapter 27 (Use of Seals).

2. Except as permitted by §2701. A.3.b ii, licensees shall not seal the work of or take the professional responsibility for any documents related to engineering or land surveying not performed by the licensee or under their responsible charge.

3. Licensees shall not accept the responsibility for, nor review, revise, sign, or seal documents when such documents are begun by persons not properly licensed; or do any other act to enable anyone to evade the requirements of the licensure law.

D. Licensees shall submit to a client only that work prepared by the licensee or under their responsible charge; however, licensees, as third parties, may complete, correct, revise, or add to the work of another licensee or other related design professional, if allowed by Louisiana law, when engaged to do so by a client, provided:

1. the client furnishes the documentation of all such work submitted to him/her by the previous licensees or other related design professionals;

2. the previous licensees or other related design professionals are notified in writing by the licensee of the engagement referred to herein within five business days of acceptance of the engagement; and

3. all work completed, corrected, revised, or added to shall contain a notation describing the work done by the licensee now in responsible charge, shall have the seal and signature of the licensee affixed thereto, shall contain the date of execution, and shall become the responsibility of the licensee.

E. Licensees shall be objective and truthful in all professional reports, statements or testimony. Licensees shall include all relevant and pertinent information in such reports, statements or testimony.

F. When serving as an expert or technical witness before any court, commission, or other tribunal, licensees shall express an opinion only when it is founded upon adequate knowledge of the facts in issue, upon a background of technical competence in the subject matter, and upon honest conviction of the accuracy and propriety of the licensee's testimony.

G. Licensees shall issue no statements, criticisms, or arguments on engineering or land surveying matters connected with public policy which are inspired or paid for by an interested party or parties, unless the licensee has prefaced the comment by explicitly identifying the licensee's name, by disclosing the identities of any party or parties on whose behalf the licensee is speaking, and by revealing the existence of any pecuniary interest the licensee may have in the instant matter.

H. Licensees shall not attempt to injure, maliciously or falsely, directly or indirectly, the professional reputation, prospects, practice or employment of another licensee, nor indiscriminately criticize another licensees work in public. If the licensee believes that another licensee is guilty of misconduct or illegal practice, such information shall be presented to the board in a manner consistent with the requirement of those rules for reporting personal knowledge of rule or licensure law violations.

La. Admin. Code tit. 46, § LXI-2503

Promulgated by the Department of Transportation and Development, Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, LR 7:648 (December 1981), amended LR 11:950 (October 1985), LR 16:776 (September 1990), LR 17:273 (March 1991), amended by the Department of Transportation and Development, Professional Engineering and Land Surveying Board, LR 27:1037 (July 2001), LR 30:1721 (August 2004), Amended LR 44624 (3/1/2018), Amended LR 482365 (9/1/2022).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 37:688.