Engineers require exceptional skills to apply scientific strategies in analyzing, designing, inventing, coding, building, and creating designs to solve various problems. Through their creations, they make the world a better place to live. On the other hand, land surveyors use exceptional skills to map and measure property boundaries accurately. They also determine a property's actual location and size, including its existing structures and topography. These are skills that take you a very long time to master. Even after learning the skills to work as an engineer or land surveyor, you must demonstrate your competence and readiness to offer safe, professional services to obtain a license in California.
Sadly, your license is always at risk, regardless of how hard you work to obtain it. A mistake or misunderstanding with your clients can cause the Board of Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists to cancel your license. However, you can get help from our legal experts at San Jose License Attorney. We defend licenses and livelihoods for professionals like you in case of an allegation of professional misconduct, negligence, or incompetence. We can compel the board to dismiss your allegation or rule favorably in your case.
The Valuable Role of Engineers
Engineers create, produce, and aid in making the things we need for everyday life, including vehicles, buildings, and even the water we consume. They develop, design, and maintain critical technologies and systems that simplify the model life. They design cellphones, agricultural equipment, bridges, household appliances, and technologies that bring valuable items close to the people, like water and the internet. The exact role of an engineer mostly depends on their training and area of specialization. Here are the main types of engineers in California today:
Chemical Engineers
These use scientific principles from disciplines like chemistry, physics, and biology to manufacture or create valuable products for everyday use. Some work in refineries, producing oil-based products like gasoline, lubricating, and heating oil. Others work in manufacturing companies that convert raw materials like beeswax into valuable products like candles. Some chemical engineers are involved in producing body creams, furniture polish, and similar valuables.
Civil Engineers
Civil engineers conceptualize, design, and create infrastructure, including airports, roadways, water plants, tunnels, and sewage systems. While most work with local and state governments, others work in private engineering firms. They specialize in various areas, including traffic, highways, and architectural engineering.
Electrical Engineers
These engineers design and test various electrical equipment, such as electric motors and power generators. They can also work with different electrical equipment, including navigation systems and radar. Their primary roles include implementing and designing ways to utilize electrical power. They also direct and oversee electrical equipment design, installation, and testing.
Mechanical Engineers
These experts create, design, and develop mechanical devices like sound and sports equipment. They also design robots, microsensors, car engines, and production equipment. Their skills are required in multiple places, including the medical, air, space, and manufacturing industries. They also have much to contribute to the growth of the infrastructure and transportation industries.
The Noble Role of Land Surveyors
A land survey is a technical area that involves precisely mapping and measuring property boundaries, including precise properties like topography and other physical features. Surveyors also provide accurate spatial data of the lands they survey, which is critical in construction projects and property transactions. Sometimes, they are used to determine actual ownership of properties. Their insight is necessary for the future development of properties.
Land surveyors require proper training and experience to perform various duties, including the following:
- Site Surveying
- Establishing property boundaries
- Topography surveying
- Preparing legal property documents
- Border dispute resolutions
They also work with other professionals and experts in capacities that require their expertise.
Professional Licenses for Engineers and Land Surveyors
Training to become an engineer or land surveyor is lengthy, costly, and extensive. It takes years to acquire the necessary skills needed by the licensing board. You must showcase your capabilities and prove your competence to obtain a license. The Board of Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists also require you to demonstrate an understanding of your professional ethics, criminal laws, and other laws governing your profession. A license is proof of your competence and professionalism. Once you have it, you can discharge your services throughout California.
However, a license does not protect you from an administrative process in case of unprofessional conduct. If an employer, client, or colleague is unhappy with how you render your services or put anyone at risk of harm, you risk losing a career you have built for a long time. The board takes matters of unprofessionalism, negligence, and incompetence very seriously. An incompetent or unprofessional engineer or land survey puts everyone at risk of physical, emotional, or financial harm. That is why the board has various disciplinary actions that it uses against any licensed professional who fails to abide by their professional code of conduct.
However, not all allegations the bard receives are true. Sometimes, your colleague or client can exaggerate the matter to cause you trouble with the law or your licensing board. Other times, professionals make regrettable mistakes. This does not mean you do not deserve to keep your license. Losing your license can be a significant loss, mainly if you and others depend on your career for provision. It helps to consult a license defense attorney on the best strategies to defend your license and career.
Skilled professional license defense attorneys understand how one mistake can ruin a professional’s career. They work closely with those facing administrative processes to help them determine the best defense for their licenses and careers. An experienced attorney knows how long it took you and how much it cost to build your career. They will work to ensure you continue doing what you love and earning a livelihood through it.
Types of Allegations Engineers and Land Surveyors Face in California
Even the best-trained engineer or land surveyor can make a mistake when discharging their service. Sometimes, people misinterpret your actions or omissions. Other times, they are just unhappy with how you handle their projects or finances. This could cause one or more people to file a complaint with your licensing board, triggering an administrative process from which you could lose your license. The Board of Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists receives all kinds of complaints from the public regarding licensed professionals. Although it does not act on all of them, you could lose your likelihood if the allegation against you is severe and the board pursues it.
Although the board is the licensing body for qualified engineers and land surveyors, its mandate goes beyond issuing licenses and ensuring licensed professionals adhere to their professional code. The board exists mainly for the public, to protect the public from unsafe or substandard practices by unprofessional or unqualified engineers. Everything it does, including issuing warnings to licensed engineers and suspending licenses, is geared toward protecting the public from damages. Thus, when you are accused of incompetence or unprofessionalism, the board will like to look into the matter for the sake of public safety.
Here are examples of unprofessional conduct that could affect your license:
- Using or abusing drugs or alcohol, especially on the job
- Working without a legal license
- Surpassing the limits of your incense when discharging duties
- Working with illegal, incompetent, or unlicensed assistants
- Failure to supervise a project under your supervision
- Inability to finish projects within the agreed time
- Breaching your contracts with companies or individuals
- Ordinary, gross, or criminal negligence
- Any fraudulent act
- Demonstrating incompetence while on the job
- Using misleading, false, or exaggerated advertising techniques
- Refusing to work with a written agreement
- Any unprofessional conduct at work with a client or colleague
- Violating the terms and conditions of a signed contract
- Criminal acts that affect your professionalism or competence
- Violating any law that governs your profession, including the Health and Safety Code and the Business and Professions Code
- If you are being investigated by another government agency or a licensing agency of another state
Remember that the board relies on the public to know how best, or otherwise, licensed engineers and land surveyors are performing in various industries. The public is very good at giving positive and negative reviews, depending on their experience with a particular service or professional. Some people will file a complaint with the board if they suffer a financial loss or are injured due to a licensed professional's incompetent or unprofessional acts. This is usually the start of the administrative process with the Board of Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists.
When a person files a complaint with the board, it must determine the claim's credibility before taking action against the accused. If the matter is substantiated, you will be notified by the board about the complaint and a pending hearing. This notice also marks the beginning of an investigation against you. The investigation allows the board to gather credible evidence before taking action. It will present the evidence before an administrative judge during the hearing to support its decision to take action against you.
What To Do After Receiving Notice of an Administrative Hearing
Even if the allegation you face is due to a misunderstanding, an honest mistake, or an exaggerated fact by a client, employer, or colleague, you should prepare well for the administrative hearing. Remember that a career that has taken years and cost you tons of money is at risk. The board will do everything possible to protect the public from unsafe or unprofessional practices. This means you can quickly lose your license even to an unsubstantiated allegation.
You should start the process by hiring a skilled license attorney. Your attorney will ensure you understand the gravity of the matter and the possible consequences. For example, they will discuss how citations and fines for lenient allegations can affect your reputation, primarily if they are publicly issued. The attorney will also understand how license probations and suspensions work and how they can affect your career. Additionally, they will explain how much you will lose if the board suspends your license due to a grave violation of your professional conduct.
Your attorney will also prepare you for the administrative process. This will likely be the most challenging process in your engineering or land surveying career. Thus, you need support and assistance to navigate the complex legal processes that will follow. Your attorney will ensure you understand what to expect and the possible outcome of an administrative hearing.
The attorney will gather evidence and prepare compelling statements to fight your allegations. A strong defense can compel the administrative judge to give a fair ruling or dismiss your claims. Thus, you need the assistance of a skilled attorney for that. License attorneys know the kind of evidence to present in cases like these. They also know how best to show that evidence to obtain a favorable outcome.
Your attorney will also be your legal representative during the administrative process. They will work closely with you to ensure the process serves your best interests. They will also fight any outcome affecting your career, license, or reputation. For example, if the allegation is grave and the board wants to suspend your license, your attorney can fight it. They can present mitigating factors to push the board to reconsider its decision.
Your attorney can also negotiate for a favorable result in your case. For example, they can negotiate for license probation instead of suspending your license and leaving you without an income for months or years. This way, you can earn a living while improving your skills and attitude.
Find an Experienced Professional License Attorney Near Me
Even after working hard and paying a lot of money to obtain an engineering or land surveyor license, you can lose it due to unprofessional conduct. The Board of Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists is stringent on how to conduct yourself after obtaining a professional license. It will not hesitate to cancel or suspend your license if your actions demonstrate incompetence, unprofessionalism, or negligence.
However, we can help you fight for your license at San Jose License Attorney, regardless of the gravity of your mistake. If keeping your license is essential to you and your dependents, we can vigorously defend against the allegations. We can also protect your license and help you through the complex legal processes. Call us at 408-850-3740 if you are under the board’s investigation in San Jose. Let us discuss your case and our services further.
