§32101. NAME
§32102. GENERAL PROVISIONS
§32103. DEFINITIONS
§32104. BOARD - APPOINTMENTS; TERMS
§32105. BOARD - QUALIFICATIONS OF MEMBERS
§32106. BOARD - COMPENSATION AND EXPENSES
§32107. BOARD - REMOVAL OF MEMBERS - VACANCIES
§32108. BOARD - ORGANIZATION AND MEETINGS
§32109. BOARD - POWERS
§32110. RECORDS AND REPORTS
§32111. RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS
§32112. ROSTER
§32113. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR REGISTRATION
§32114. APPLICATION AND REGISTRATION FEES
§32115. EXAMINATIONS
§32116. CERTIFICATE - SEALS
§32117. EXPIRATIONS AND RENEWALS
§32118. REPLACEMENT OF CERTIFICATES
§32119. PUBLIC WORKS
§32120. DISCIPLINARY ACTION - Revocation, Suspension or Reprimand
§32121. DISCIPLINARY ACTION - PROCEDURES
§32122. VIOLATIONS AND PENALTIES
§32123. CERTIFICATE OF AUTHORIZATION
§32124. EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE BOARD - Restriction on Requirement for Additional
Licenses or Fees
§32125. CONTRACT LAW LANGUAGE
§32126. EXEMPTION CLAUSE
§32127. DUTIES OF RECORDERS
§32128. INVALID SECTIONS
§32129. EFFECTIVE DATE

32116. CERTIFICATE - SEALS

(a) The Board shall issue to each applicant meeting the requirements of this Chapter a certificate of registration which gives the registrant proper authority to practice his profession on Guam. The certificate of registration for a professional engineer shall carry the designation "PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER", and shall also designate the branch in which he is authorized to practice. The certificate of registration for an architect shall carry the designation "REGISTERED ARCHITECT", and the certificate of registration for a Landscape Architect shall carry the designation "REGISTERED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT", and the certificate of registration for a land surveyor shall carry the designation "PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR". It shall give the full name of the registrant with his registration number and shall be signed by the Chairman, the Secretary/Treasurer and the Executive Board Administrator under the seal of the Board.

A properly entitled and endorsed identification card shall be issued with the certificate of registration and reissued thereafter, as prescribed by §32117 of this Chapter, to each registrant upon payment of the renewal fee.

Every registered engineer, architect, landscape architect or land surveyor having a place of business or employment within this jurisdiction shall display his certificate of registration in a conspicuous place in such place of business or employment.

(b) The issuance of a certificate of registration by the Board shall be prima facie evidence that the person named therein is entitled to all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities of an engineer, architect, landscape architect or land surveyor while the said certificate remains unrevoked or unexpired.

(c) The Board shall issue to each applicant meeting the requirements of this Chapter a certificate of "engineer intern" or "land surveyor intern", as applicable. The certificate issued to the "engineer intern" or "land surveyor intern" does not authorize the practice of engineering or land surveying, and only indicates that his name has been recorded by the Board as having passed the required examination.

(d) Each registrant hereunder shall, upon registration licensure, have a seal of a design authorized by the Board, bearing the registrant's name, registration number, and the designation, "Professional Engineer", "Registered Architect", "Registered Landscape Architect", or "Professional Land Surveyor". For Professional Engineers, the stamp or seal shall contain the specific discipline for which he is authorized, the expiration date of the registrant, or a space within which the expiration date must be written:

1. The seal shall be an image, imprint or other medium approved by the Board. Except for progress submittals, whenever the seal is applied to a final work product, the registrant's written signature, and date shall be signed adjacent to the seal with the statement "This work was prepared by me or under my responsible control". If the work product is not intended for construction, a statement to that effect shall be placed on the document adjacent to the seal. A facsimile signature will not be acceptable. Computer- generated signatures and dates are not acceptable.

2. Seals must be a permanent mark on the document being sealed. The standard seal must be used on all original tracings, blueprints, drawings, specifications, reports, and other documents prepared by professional engineers, registered architects, registered landscape architects or professional land surveyors.

3. The seal and dated signature shall be placed on all technical submissions, such as specifications, reports, plats, drawings, plans, design information and calculations, whenever presented to a client or any public or government agency, including government in-house designs.

4. The seal and dated signature shall be placed on all original copies, tracings or other reproducible documents in such a manner that the seal and signature will be reproduced. The application of the registrant's licensee seal and signature shall constitute certification that the work thereon was done by him or under his responsible control. In the case of multiple sealings, the first or title page shall be sealed and signed by all involved. In addition, each sheet shall be sealed and signed by the registrant or registrants responsible for each sheet. In the case of an authorized firm, partnership or corporation, each sheet shall be sealed and signed by the registrants involved. The Responsible Managing Employee (RME) in charge of operations within the jurisdiction shall sign, seal, and date the title or the first sheet.

5. The seal and signature and date shall be used by registrants only when the work being stamped was under the registrant's complete direction and responsible control, provided, that if the work was performed at an office outside of the locale in which the registrant permanently resides, then the seal may be used only if the registrant supervised the work on a full-time basis.

6. In the case of temporary permit issued to a registrant licensee of another state or jurisdiction, the registrant shall use his state of registration seal and shall affix his signature and temporary permit number and date of issue to all his work.

7. It shall be unlawful for a registrant to affix or permit his seal and signature, or facsimile thereof, to be affixed to any document as above described after the expiration of a certificate, or for the purpose of aiding or abetting any attempt to evade any provision of this Title.

8. Seals of Professional Engineers on Engineering Documents:

A. The seal of a professional engineer shall be placed on each drawing, specification, plan, report or other document which is in its final form and which involves the practice of engineering as defined in this Chapter. A separate seal of a professional engineer of the appropriate branch of engineering, as such branches are designated on the various forms of professional engineer registration certificates, and is required for each portion of such document that involves a separate branch of engineering, except as provided in sub-item (B) of this item (8). For example, except as provided in sub-item (B) of this item (8), so long as registration certificates classify "civil engineering", "structural engineering", "mechanical engineering" and "electrical engineering" as different branches of engineering, the seal of a professional engineer of the civil branch shall be required for each portion of an engineering document involving civil work; the seal of a professional engineer of the structural branch, or civil branch, shall be required for each portion of an engineering document involving structural work for any structure or building three (3) stories or less in height; wherein the height of the stories shall be defined as not more than twelve (12) feet, the seal of a professional engineer of the structural branch shall be required for each portion of an engineering document involving structural work for any structure or building higher than three (3) stories; the seal of a professional engineer of the mechanical branch shall be required for each portion of an engineering document involving mechanical work; and the seal of a professional engineer of the electrical branch shall be required for each portion of an engineering document involving electrical work.



B. The requirement of a separate seal for each portion of an engineering document involving a separate branch of engineering is subject to the following exceptions:

i. in the case of a document involving an individual single family dwelling, two (2) family dwellings, or two (2) family dwellings in a subdivision, the seal of a professional engineer in the civil branch or the seal of an architect, shall be sufficient;

ii. in the case of a document involving work incidental to the practice of engineering, the seal of any professional engineer, regardless of his branch of engineering, or the seal of an architect, shall be sufficient.

iii. a seal of a professional engineer of the mechanical branch is sufficient for documents involving plumbing, work, air-conditioning and ventilation, regardless of the height of a building;

iv. in the case of document involving the design of a fire sprinkler system, a seal of a professional engineer in the fire protection branch shall be required.

v in the case of a document involving the structural portion of a site adaptation of a pre-engineered structure or building, the seal of a professional engineer of either the civil branch or the structural branch is sufficient; and

vi in the case of a document involving work for which more than one (1) branch of engineering is qualified, other than those types of work provided for in Sub-items (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), and (v) of this item (8), the Board shall promulgate general guidelines for the sealing of such a document. The guidelines shall reflect that there are often broad overlaps between the authorized practice of the various branches of engineering.

9. Seals of Architects.

A. All technical submissions, such as, drawings, specifications, plans, reports or other documents, prepared by a registered architect or under his responsible control shall bear his seal, which shall mean that the architect was in responsible control over the content of such technical submissions during their preparation, and has applied the required professional standard of care. An architect may sign and seal technical submissions, only if the technical submissions were: (i) prepared by the architect, or; (ii) prepared by persons under the architect’s responsible control.

B. Notwithstanding the provisions of sub-item (A) of this item (9), in the case of a document involving an individual single family dwelling, a seal of either an architect or a professional engineer of the civil engineering branch shall be sufficient. Documents involving two (2) family dwellings, or a subdivision development with single family and two (2) family dwellings, the seal of a professional engineer of the civil engineering branch is sufficient.

C. The requirement contained in sub-item (A) of this item (9) does not affect the need for a seal of a professional engineer of the appropriate branch of engineering for each portion of a document that involves a system of a separate branch of engineering.

10. Seals of Land Surveyors:

A. The seal of a Land Surveyor shall be placed on each drawing, plan, property metes and bounds descriptions, computation sheets, reports and other documents in their final form, which involve the practice of land surveying, to wit:

i. any office offering to perform land surveys must have a licensed professional land surveyor in charge of the operations, be available on a full time basis with a 75% physical presence, and must have full control of the survey operation;

ii. to further insure that field conditions of survey documents are in full conformance with such survey, the surveyor of record is required to establish a field reference point from which building corners, setbacks and other pertinent points may be derived if and when improvements are contemplated on a property. This reference point must remain in place and be protected from damage for the duration of the construction of a project. Such reference point must be indicated as referenced on the site plan of the project. It will be the surveyor's responsibility to follow setbacks defined in the Zoning Law, as may be required for building permit purposes; and

iii. all documents prepared and certified by a professional land surveyor shall be stamped with a statement under the seal stating: "I hereby certify that this map was prepared by me or under my direct supervision, that it is based on a field survey made in (insert date), in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations, and that I am responsible for the accuracy of all data and information shown hereon. I also certify that all the monuments are of the character and occupy the positions indicated in this map".

11. With respect to work incidental to the practice of engineering and work incidental to the practice of architecture, the Board shall promulgate general guidelines, which shall include examples of incidental work, and which shall set limitations on the permissible extent of such incidental work. Such guidelines shall be consistent with items (8) and (9) of this Subsection (d), including the requirements in those items for separate seals per branch of engineering and for the seal of an architect, in the case of a building which has as its principal purpose human occupancy or habitation.

12. An Engineer, Architect, Landscape Architect and Land Surveyor shall provide construction contract administration when applications are made for building or construction permits involving the public safety and health. The term "construction contract administration" means making periodic visits to the site by a registered engineer, architect, landscape architect or land surveyor, or authorized representatives as the case may require, to observe the progress and quality of the executed work and to determine, in general, if the work is proceeding in accordance with the contract documents. It is not required that they make exhaustive or continuous on-site inspections to check the quality or quantity of the work, nor is it intended that the engineer, architect, landscape architect and land surveyor be responsible for construction means, methods, techniques, sequences or procedures, or for safety precautions and programs in connection with the work.

13. Building Official: The Building Official charged with the responsibility of issuing building permits, must be in possession of a signed/sealed set of plans and specifications.

32117. EXPIRATIONS AND RENEWALS

  1. Certificates of Registration shall expire on the last day of the month of April, and Certificates of Authorization for corporations, partnerships, proprietorships and associations shall expire on the last day of the month of October of each year, following their year of issuance, and become invalid after that date, unless renewed by submission of appropriate forms, as prescribed by the Board.

    1. Renewals of Certificates of Authorization for corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies, proprietorships and associations shall require a clearance form from the Department of Revenue and Taxation that they are current on their taxes with the government of Guam, or have an agreement with the Department of Revenue and Taxation for their back taxes. Such clearance shall be submitted with their renewal application form.

    2. Expired Certificates of Registration may be renewed at any time within sixty (60) days following the expiration date without submission of an "Application for Reinstatement", upon payment of the renewal fee plus the penalty fee as prescribed by the Board. Any individual registrant who fails to renew within (60) sixty days after the date of expiration, shall be required to apply for a reinstatement of registration, and pay the prescribed (back registration and penalty) fees as prescribed by the Board.

    3. Certificates of Authorization may be renewed anytime prior to the expiration date. A Certificate of Authorization is considered null and void if not renewed before the expiration date.

  2. It shall be the duty of the Secretary/Treasurer of the Board to notify every person registered under this Chapter, and every corporation, partnership, limited liability company, proprietorship and association holding a Certificate of Authorization under this Chapter, of the date of the expiration of said Certificate of Registration or Certificate of Authorization, and the amount of the fee required for its renewal. Such notice shall be mailed to the registrant, or corporation, partnership, proprietorship or association at his/her or its last known address at least one (1) month in advance of the date of the expiration of said certificate. Renewal may be effected at any time prior to or during the month of September by payment of a fee as established by the Board.

  3. A Certificate of Registration shall expire upon the death of a registrant.

32118. REPLACEMENT OF CERTIFICATES

  1. Replacement of Certificates. A new Certificate of Registration, to replace any certificate lost, destroyed, or mutilated, may be issued, subject to the rules of the Board and upon payment of the prescribed fee, and such certificate shall be stamped or marked "duplicate".

  2. Re-issuance of Certificates. The Board for reasons it deems sufficient may reissue a certificate of registration to any person whose certificate has been revoked providing four (4) or more members of the Board vote in favor of such re-issuance.


32119. PUBLIC WORKS

Government employees shall not engage in the practice of engineering, architecture, landscape architecture or land surveying, involving either public or private property, without the project being under the direct charge and supervision of a registered engineer, architect, landscape architect or land surveyor, as provided by this Chapter.