Earlier this week, I posted about changes to Florida’s construction licensing scheme brought about by the new Florida Occupational Freedom and Opportunity Act. In addition to impacting building and trade contractors throughout Florida, the act has also altered the reciprocity requirements for engineering licensing, making it easier for engineers in other states to become licensed in Florida.
Specifically, under the new law an applicant who seeks licensure by endorsement and has passed an examination substantially equivalent to the fundamentals examination in Florida can be certified for endorsement when the applicant has held a valid professional engineer’s license in another state for 10 years. This reduces the number of years of licensure from 15 to 10 and removes the requirement of having 20 years of continuous professional level engineering experience.
Further, an applicant who seeks licensure by endorsement and has passed an examination substantially equivalent to the fundamentals examination and the principles and practices examination can be certified for endorsement when such applicant has held a valid license in another state for 15 years. This reduces the number of years of licensure from 25 to 15 and removes the requirement for 30 years of continuous professional level engineering experience.
It will be interesting to see if this results in more engineers coming into Florida, and also if it will result in greater opportunities outside of Florida for Florida-licensed engineers. As always, please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.