Rule 180-2-.04 - Examinations, General(1) Examinations will be held at such times and places as the Board directs. The Board shall determine the passing grade on examinations. All examinations shall be approved by the entire Board.(2) With exception of a locally prepared examination on hydrology and the legal aspects of land surveying in Georgia, all examinations will be in accordance with the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).(3) Written examinations may be taken only after the applicant has met the other minimum requirements as set forth in O.C.G.A. 43-15-8 and 43-15-9 and has been approved by the Board for admission to the examination as follows: (a) Fundamentals of Engineering. Consists of an eight-hour examination on the fundamentals of engineering. Passing this examination qualifies the examinee for an engineer-in-training certificate, provided he/she has met all other requirements for certification by this Chapter.(b) Principles and Practice of Engineering Passing this examination qualifies the examinee for registration as a professional engineer, provided he/she has met the other requirements for registration required by this Chapter. Applicants shall designate the branch of engineering in which they intend to practice. The Board, after consideration of the designation and a review of the experience and other information listed in the application, shall identify the appropriate NCEES exam to be administered to the Applicant. (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), the Applicant will be directed to take the eight hour NCEES exam that is applicable to the branch of engineering identified by the Applicant.(2) If the Applicant designates that he/she will engage in the branch identified as structural engineering or the Applicant's experience is deemed to be within the branch of structural engineering, the Applicant shall be directed to take the NCEES 16 hour Structural Engineering Exam. For purposes of this rule,"structural engineering" shall be defined as engaging in the design or analysis of "Designated Structures. "Designated Structures" are defined as follows:
a. For buildings and other structures requiring a building permit as required by the International Building Code, adopted edition, with Georgia Amendments in current effect in the state of Georgia, a Designated Structure is any building or other structure which meets any one of the following criteria: I. Any building structure which has risk Category of III or IV in accordance with Table 1604.5 of the International Building Code, adopted edition, with Georgia Amendments. II. Any building structure which has a covered gross area of 100,000 square feet or greater, or has an occupied floor elevation that is 45 feet or more above the average ground level of the building. III. Any building structure which with height to least width aspect ratio of the structural lateral load resisting system greater than or equal to seven. IV. Any building structure which is designed using nonlinear time history analysis or with special seismic energy dissipation systems. b. For bridges and other related transportation structures, a Designated Structure is one that is considered to be a "complex bridge", as described in the Georgia Department of Transportation Consultant Prequalification Manual, which includes the following: I. Bridges of spans longer than 300 feet III. Cable-stayed bridgesVI. Trusses with spans longer than 300 feet IX. Balance-cantilever bridges X. Other bridges requiring unique analytical methods or design features not commonly addressed in standards set forth by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. (3) Civil Engineering applicants who engage in the design of structural elements, but will not perform Structural Engineering as defined in Paragraph (2), will be directed to take the 8 hour Civil Breadth and Structural Depth exam.(c) Fundamentals of Land Surveying. Consists of an eight-hour examination on the elementary disciplines of land surveying. Passing this examination qualifies the examinee for a land surveyor-in-training certificate provided he/she has met all other requirements for certification of this Chapter.(d) Principles and Practice of Land Surveying and the Laws of Georgia. The examination is administered in three parts. One part (the national land surveying examination) tests the applicant's understanding of the theory and practice and land surveying. A second part focuses on the application of hydrology to land surveying. The third part tests the applicant's knowledge of the law of Georgia as it applies to land surveying. An applicant must obtain a passing score in each of the three parts in order to pass the examination.(4) After administration of an examination, the contents of the examination will be treated as confidential and will not be disclosed, except in such circumstances and under such conditions as may be approved by the Board. No reuse, copying or reproduction in any manner of any portion of the examination materials is permitted without the Board's permission.(5) The Board will not conduct with examinees reviews of any portion of any examination. Further, the Board will not permit an examination to be re-scored.(6) In case of an applicant seeking registration by comity under O.C.G.A. 43-15-16, the Board shall review the prior experience of the applicant in determining which exam is required for licensure in Georgia.Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 180-2-.04
O.C.G.A. §§ 43-15-8, 43-15-11, 43-15-12, 43-15-13.
Original Rule entitled "Examinations, General" was filed Jun. 16, 1989; eff. July 6, 1989.Amended: F. Aug. 9, 1990; eff. Aug. 29, 1990.Repealed: New Rule of same title adopted. F. Aug. 12, 1993; eff. Sept. 1, 1993.Repealed: New Rule of same title adopted. F. Sept. 24, 1997; eff. Oct. 14, 1997.Amended: F. Nov. 16, 2012; eff. Dec. 6, 2012.Amended: F. May 30, 2017; eff. June 19, 2017.Amended: F. May 17, 2019; eff. June 6, 2019.