An Act To Amend Title 24 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Professional Engineers.
Summary
HB81 amends Delaware’s professional engineering licensing and discipline statutes in Title 24. The bill updates definitions and administrative provisions for the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers, including references to applicants, members, permittees, and certificates of authorization. It also expands the Council’s authority to recognize certain foreign jurisdictions for licensure by comity, including Council-approved foreign jurisdictions and International Professional Engineer (IntPE) registrants, while preserving minimum experience and reference requirements.
The bill also revises enforcement and disciplinary provisions. It strengthens rules for examination security and misconduct, reflecting the use of computerized examinations, and authorizes the Council to impose penalties such as invalidating exam results, barring retesting for a period, requiring ethics training, or revoking licenses or certifications obtained through improper conduct. In addition, it clarifies complaint investigation procedures, disciplinary penalty guidelines, whistleblower protections for complainants and witnesses, and the Council’s ability to seek injunctive relief to enforce cease-and-desist orders. The synopsis states that the bill removes outdated permit references, updates comity recognition, modernizes exam-violation rules, and clarifies enforcement procedures.
Impact
HB81 would amend multiple sections of Title 24 governing professional engineers, affecting licensure applicants, licensed engineers, engineering firms, the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers, and the Council that regulates the profession. It removes or updates outdated permit language, broadens recognition of out-of-state and certain foreign credentials, and formalizes procedures for discipline, investigations, and cease-and-desist enforcement. The bill would therefore change both who may qualify for licensure and how the profession is policed in Delaware.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly supported and noncontroversial. It passed the House 33-0 and the Senate 20-0, indicating unanimous approval in both chambers. The synopsis and the lack of recorded committee opposition suggest the measure was viewed as a technical and administrative update rather than a major policy dispute.
Contention
No major contention is reflected in the available record. The main policy choices embedded in the bill are the Council’s discretion to recognize foreign jurisdictions for comity, the stricter treatment of exam misconduct in a computerized testing environment, and the clarified enforcement powers for cease-and-desist orders. These changes primarily affect the engineering licensing board and applicants seeking licensure, but the unanimous votes suggest little or no public disagreement during consideration.