CopyCited 2 times | Published | Florida 4th District Court of Appeal | 2004 WL 2290393
...Rimes, III, Lee Ann Gustafson, and Paul Martin, Assistant Attorneys General, Tallahassee, for appellee. KRATHEN, DAVID H., Associate Judge. Joseph E. Gaudet ("Gaudet") appeals a Final Order of the Florida Board of Professional Engineers ("Board") denying his petition for licensure as an engineer by endorsement, pursuant to section 471.015(3)(a) and (b), Florida Statutes (2002)....
...cience in Commerce and Engineering Sciences degree. Since receiving his degree, Gaudet has practiced as a full-time engineer. He obtained his engineering license from the State of Pennsylvania in 2001. Gaudet asserted that subsections (a) and (b) of section 471.015(3), Florida Statutes, are mutually exclusive and that he qualified for licensure under both sections. Despite acknowledging that Gaudet met the examination and experience requirements for a license by endorsement in Florida, the Board concluded that he did not qualify for a license by endorsement under section 471.015(3)(a), because he did not receive a degree from a Board approved engineering program, as defined in the Board's duly promulgated rules....
...Further, the Board determined that when Gaudet received his Pennsylvania license, that state did not require ABET accreditation for an applicant's *576 degree program, so Pennsylvania did not have a statute that was substantially the same as Florida's and therefore Gaudet was not eligible for licensure by endorsement under section 471.015(3)(b)....
...ursuant to section
471.013(1)(a). He argued that this evaluation would be done routinely, pursuant to rule 61G15-20.007, if he had attended a foreign school. Gaudet again claimed that such an evaluation would establish that he met the criteria under section
471.015(3)(a), as the curriculum for a Bachelor of Science degree in Commerce and Engineering Sciences from Drexel University was substantially equivalent to those programs accredited by ABET, as defined by the Board in rule 61-G15-20.007(2). Gaudet also contended that he was qualified for licensure under section
471.015(3)(b). He argued that section
471.015(3)(b) requires a review of the Pennsylvania licensing requirements and asked the Board to review Pennsylvania's licensing statute. He maintained that Pennsylvania's licensing requirements were substantially the same as those in Florida at the time he received his Pennsylvania license in 2001. Although Gaudet asserted that subsections
471.015(3)(a) and (b) are mutually exclusive, the Board reasoned that since Gaudet was licensed in Pennsylvania based on an educational curriculum and school not accredited by ABET, the criteria in Pennsylvania could not have been substantially the same as an ABET accredited program. Therefore, it denied Gaudet a license by endorsement under section
471.015(3)(b), as well as section
471.015(3)(a), and adopted the facts set forth in the original Notice of Denial as its findings of fact....
...rricula to ABET. Therefore, Gaudet argues, the Final Order must be set aside and rule 61G15-20.006, Florida Administrative Code, upon which it is based, be declared unconstitutional. Gaudet contends that the Board erroneously interpreted subsections 471.015(3)(a) and (b) in concluding that he was not entitled to a license. He argues that under section 471.015(3)(a) the Board was required to review his education and could not rely solely upon whether Drexel University's program was ABET accredited. He further maintains that under section 471.015(3)(b) the Board was required to review Pennsylvania's licensing criteria....
...A statutory delegation of rulemaking authority must declare the legislative policy or standard, be complete in itself, and limit the power delegated. Florida APA Symposium: An Overview of the 1996 Administrative Procedure Act, 48 Fla. L.Rev. 1, 32 (Jan.1996). In section 471.015(3), the Legislature mandated that the Board certify an individual as qualified for a license by endorsement when such applicant meets either one of the two enumerated standards....
...471.013; or (b) Holds a valid license to practice engineering issued by another state or territory of the United States, if the criteria for issuance of the license were substantially the same as the licensure criteria that existed in this state at the time the license was issued. §
471.015(3), Fla. Stat. (2002). Section
471.013 provides, in relevant part, the following prerequisites to taking an examination to practice as an engineer and, therefore, for qualifying for a license by endorsement under section
471.015(3)(a), above: A person shall be entitled to take an examination for the purpose of determining whether she or he is qualified to practice in this state as an engineer if the person is of good moral character and: 1....
...ence, including having graduated from "an approved engineering curriculum . . . [from] a school . . . which has been `approved by the board,'" and having passed a "substantially equivalent" examination are eligible for licensure by endorsement under section
471.015(3)(a). §§
471.013(1)(a)1 and
471.015(3), Fla....
...Alternatively, those persons who hold licenses from another state, if the educational, experiential and examination criteria for issuance were "substantially the same" to the then existing *579 requirements in Florida, are eligible for licensure by endorsement, as provided in section 471.015(3)(b)....
...The legislature delegated and, in fact, mandated that the Board adopt rules for reviewing and approving the curricula and schools from which an applicant must graduate to qualify under section
471.013(1)(a) and, therefore, licensure by endorsement under section
471.015(3)(a)....
...s to address the constitutional issue at this time. Accordingly, the Final Order under review is REVERSED and REMANDED with instructions to correct the scrivener's error as to Gaudet's state and date of licensure and reconsider his application under section
471.015(3)(a) & (b), Florida Statutes, again, after it promulgates the rules mandated by section
471.013(1)(a), Florida Statutes....
CopyPublished | District Court of Appeal of Florida | 1999 Fla. App. LEXIS 2690, 1999 WL 129392
...A professional engineer who possesses a license to practice in another state can obtain a Florida engineering license by endorsement if he establishes, inter alia, that he has passed an out-of-state licensing examination that is substantially equivalent to the examination required by Florida law. See § 471.015(3), Fla....
...s total score to 72%. As a result of the award of the additional veterans’ preference points, Mr. Eason qualified to receive an engineering license in Georgia. Nine years later, Mr. Eason applied in Florida for licensure by endorsement pursuant to section 471.015(3), Florida Statutes (1997)....
...556 , 180 N.E.2d 533 (1962)(the term “substantially equivalent” means “that which is equal in essential and material elements”). This being so, petitioner’s request for licensure by endorsement must be denied. [[Image here]] 15. [Mr. Eason] contends that he is .entitled to licensure under the terms of section 471.015, Florida Statutes, which requires that the Board “license any applicant who ......
...nsure requirements. The heart of Mr. Eason’s argument lies in his insistence that, since he passed the Georgia examination which was identical to the Florida examination with a score of 72%, he is entitled to receive licensure by endorsement under section 471.015(3), Florida Statutes (1997)....
...deny Mr. Eason’s application for licensure by endorsement. See Guiseppe Pizzeria v. Department of Business Regulation, Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco,
472 So.2d 1331 (Fla. 3d DCA 1985). AFFIRMED. W. SHARP, and THOMPSON, JJ., concur. . Section
471.015(3) of the Florida Statutes (1997), provides:
471.015 Licensure....
