Earlier this week, Governor DeSantis signed into law a statute that provides a full limitation of liability for any licensed engineer or architect providing engineering or architectural services in response to an emergency and at the direction of a government emergency management agency. This statute also applies to out of state engineers or architects who are rendering help as part of a mobile support unit from that state. The full text of the statute is as follows:
768.38 Limitation of liability for certain voluntary engineering or architectural services.—
(1) For the purposes of this section, the term “structures specialist” means a person who has been trained by, and holds a current certification from, the United States Army Corps of Engineers as a structures specialist.
(2) An engineer as defined in s. 471.005, an architect as defined in s. 481.203, or a structures specialist, and any qualified business organization of such person, who voluntarily participates in emergency response activities by providing engineering or architectural services while under the direction of, or in connection with, a community emergency response team, a local emergency management agency, the Division of Emergency Management, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency in response to a declared federal, state, or local emergency, may not be held liable for any personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, or other economic loss related to his or her acts or omissions in the performance of his or her services, unless the act or omission constituted gross negligence or willful misconduct.
(3) The immunity from liability under this section also applies to any person who is licensed or registered as an engineer or architect in any other jurisdiction and who is rendering aid in this state as a member of a mobile support unit of another state.
(4) The immunity from liability under this section applies only to services provided within 90 days of the first declaration of a particular federal, state, or local emergency.
The statute becomes effective July 1, 2020.