Amends TCA Title 62, Chapter 2.

This bill updates a reference to a standardized building code that defines certain types of occupancies relating to the practice of architecture and engineering from the 1985 edition of the Standard Building Code to the International Building Code currently adopted by the state fire marshal. This bill expands the circumstances under which the state board of examiners for architects and engineers may issue a reciprocal certificate of registration to a landscape architect to include a person who holds a like unexpired certificate of qualification or registration issued to such person by a foreign jurisdiction; holds an unexpired national certificate issued by the Council of Landscape Architectural Registration Boards; and presents proof of the certificates upon application to the board. Present law provides two pathways by which a person may obtain registration as an engineer: (1) Graduation from an approved engineering curriculum, minimum four years experience, passage of an examination on the fundamentals of engineering, and passage of an examination on the principles and practice of engineering; or (2) Graduation from an approved engineering curriculum, minimum 12 years' experience, and passage of an examination on the principles and practice of engineering. This bill adds the following additional pathways by which a person may obtain registration as an engineer: (1) Graduation from a four-year curriculum leading to a baccalaureate degree, approved by the board in rules, completion of post-graduate coursework in engineering curriculum leading to a master's degree or higher in engineering approved by the board, passage of the examination on the fundamentals of engineering, passage of the examination on the principles and practice of engineering, and minimum eight years' experience. This bill authorizes the board to approve an applicant having less than eight years' experience if the applicant's education and experience are that of a grade and character that indicates to the board that the applicant may be competent to practice engineering; or (2) Graduation from an ABET ETAC accredited engineering technology curriculum of four years or more that is approved by the board, holding a post-graduate degree in engineering from an institution with an ABET EAC accredited undergraduate engineering program approved by the board, minimum eight years' experience, passage of the examination on the fundamentals of engineering, and passage of the examination on the principles and practice of engineering. Under present law, an applicant is qualified for registration as an engineer intern if the applicant is a graduate in a board approved curriculum of at least four years leading to a baccalaureate degree in engineering or who is a prospective graduate in good standing in the senior year in such a curriculum, and who passes an examination on the fundamentals of engineering. This bill authorizes substitution of the completion of board-approved post-graduate coursework in engineering curriculum leading to a master's degree or higher in engineering or engineering technology for the undergraduate engineering coursework in order to qualify for registration as an engineer intern. Under present law, one of the qualifications an applicant must possess for registration as a landscape architect is graduation from a school of landscape architecture where the professional degree curriculum has been accredited. Present law defines an accredited degree in landscape architecture to be a degree that was accredited by the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board (L.A.A.B.) at the time of graduation, or graduation was not more than two academic years prior to accreditation. This bill adds that, if an applicant for registration as a landscape architect does not hold a degree accredited by the L.A.A.B., that is substantially equivalent to a degree from an L.A.A.B. accredited program, the board may consider the following factors and approve the applicant in its discretion: (1) Evidence of having obtained at least three years' acceptable practical experience in landscape architectural work; and (2) The receipt of at least five references from individuals having knowledge of the applicant's technical competence as a landscape architect.