SECTION 137.77. Firm Registration Compliance

(a) Any firm or other business entity shall not offer or perform engineering services to the public unless registered with the board pursuant to the requirements of Chapter 135 of this title (relating to Firm Registration).

(b) A firm shall provide that at least one full-time active license holder is employed with the entity and that an active license holder performs or directly supervises all engineering work and activities that require a license that is performed in the primary, branch, remote, or project office(s).

(c) An active license holder who is a sole practitioner shall satisfy the requirement of the regular, full-time employee.

(d) No engineering services are to be offered to or performed for the public in Texas by a firm while that firm does not have a current certificate of registration.

(e) A business entity that offers or is engaged in the practice of engineering in Texas and is not registered with the board or has previously been registered with the board and whose registration has expired shall be considered to be in violation of the Act and board rules and will be subject to administrative penalties as set forth in §§1001.501 - 1001.508 of the Act and §139.35 of this title (relating to Sanctions and Penalties).

(f) The board may revoke a certificate of registration that was obtained in violation of the Act and/or board rules including, but not limited to, fraudulent or misleading information submitted in the application or lack of employee relationship with the designated professional engineer for the firm.

(g) If a firm has notified the board that it is no longer offering or performing engineer services to the public, including the absence of a regular, full-time employee who is an active professional engineer licensed in Texas, the certificate of registration record will be placed in inactive status until the board is notified of resumed offering and services. If firm certificate of registration is inactive, the certificate of registration will expire under the same requirements of subsection (e) of this section unless renewed.

(h) All engineering documents released, issued, or submitted by or for a registered engineering firm, including preliminary documents, must clearly indicate the firm name and registration number.

(i) A firm registered under Chapter 135 of this title may voluntarily surrender the registration by submitting a request in writing provided that the firm:

(1) is in good standing; and

(2) does not have an enforcement case pending before the board.

(j) A firm registration that has been voluntarily surrendered may not be renewed. A firm which has voluntarily surrendered a registration may apply for a new registration.

Source Note: The provisions of this §137.77 adopted to be effective May 20, 2004, 29 TexReg 4878; amended to be effective January 1, 2006, 30 TexReg 8688; amended to be effective June 20, 2006, 31 TexReg 4862; amended to be effective December 10, 2006, 31 TexReg 9833; amended to be effective December 21, 2008, 33 TexReg 10178; amended to be effective June 13, 2010, 35 TexReg 4716; amended to be effective July 3, 2022, 47 TexReg 3687