BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1063
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 15, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
AB 1063 (Eggman) - As Amended: May 6, 2013
Policy Committee: Business and
Professions Vote: 10 - 3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
Yes Reimbursable: Yes
SUMMARY
This bill provides title protection for city and county
engineers and surveyors by prohibiting the use of the title
engineer or surveyor unless an individual is a licensed,
professional engineer or professional surveyor. In addition,
this bill authorizes a licensed surveyor or civil engineer to
include additional information filed with a record of survey, as
specified, and requires a local public agency's land survey
marker to identify the land surveyor or civil engineer that set
it.
FISCAL EFFECT
Reducing the pool of applicants for engineer and surveyor
positions would likely drive up costs for cities and counties
due to the pressure to increase salaries to attract properly
licensed engineers and surveyors. Given the number of cities and
counties in the state, over time those increased costs could
easily reach several hundred thousand dollars. Because this
bill constitutes a reimbursable mandate, those costs would
potentially be borne by the state GF.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . This bill would enact three distinct changes of
interest to engineers and land surveyors:
a) Provides title protection for city and county engineers
and surveyor.
b) Authorizes land surveyors and civil engineers to file
additional kinds of information with a record of survey.
AB 1063
Page 2
c) Requires a land marker set by public agencies to
identify the engineer or surveyor that set it.
This bill is sponsored by the Americans Council of Engineering
Companies of California (ACEC California).
According to the author's office, this bill restricts the use
of titles that contain Land Surveyor and Professional Engineer
to those who have the professional qualifications and
licensing required in the state. Current law restricts the use
of professional titles to those who are examined, registered,
and licensed by the state to practice as engineers and
surveyors in California. But is does not restrict the use of
the title city or county engineer or city or county surveyor.
The author argues that because those specific titles are not
protected, there are some cases of political appointments to
the positions of county and city surveyor/engineer of
non-professionals.
While there does not seem to be evidence that this is a safety
hazard, the author notes that this title protection is
intended to be preventative, as problems regarding land
surveying associated with non-professionals have the potential
to be a threat to public safety.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081