MSPE Formally Opposes SE Licensure; Submits Letter to the Board of Registration of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
In August 2015, the Massachusetts Society of Professional Engineers voted unanimously to oppose separate licensure for Structural Engineers. In a letter to The Board of Registration of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, the MSPE Board recorded their opposition, outlining these reasons:
The separate designation:
- Is unnecessary to protect the public safety. Prudent and ethically responsible licensed engineers will not undertake work for which they are not qualified.
- Will divide the profession into factions while we are still striving for full recognition as professionals. Much of the public still does not recognize licensed engineers as specially qualified professionals. Creating specialty subsets will not enhance our image. Attorneys and physicians avoided making this mistake, engineers should not now make it.
- Demeans all the other Professional Engineers in the Commonwealth as it seems to suggest they cannot be trusted to act responsibly if their licenses are not limited.
UPDATE: SE Motion Was Defeated… for now
Arielle Elser, NSPE’s Senior Manager of Government Relations, provided member societies of NSPE with this update: “I wanted to provide an update on the NCEES Motion for Structural Engineering. Thank you to everyone for the incredible outreach efforts to your state Boards and delegates. As a result of this concerted national-state effort to convey the importance of this issue to the state Boards, licensed PEs secured an important victory for the profession by defeating this motion. However, we must remain vigilant and proactive on this issue. There was substantial support for the motion and it is absolutely vital that we educate these states about the enormously negative impact such a change would have for the profession. NSPE will continue to keep you updated on this issue.”