Petitioner's application reveals that he was employed by Florida Testing and Engineering, Inc., 6784 Northwest 17 Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida from May, 1971 to May, 1973 in the position of a driller crew chief. His professional duties during that period include the following:
subsurface investigations for foundation design;
securing and classifying subsurface samples in accordance with standard procedures of ASTM and AASHTO;
overall responsibility for drilling operations and sampling equipment (standard penetration tests using either split barrel sampler, shelby tube, hollow stem flight auger, steel casing, drilling mud and rock coring, when required).
From May, 1973 to January, 1979, Petitioner was employed by the same employer but held the position of laboratory and field engineering technician. His specific job duties include various construction sampling, testing and inspection as follows:
ASPHALT
asphaltic design mixes conforming to Florida Department of Transportation and FAA criteria;
quantitative extraction of bitumen from bitumen paving mixtures;
bulk specific gravity of compacted bituminious mixtures;
compressive strength of bituminious mixtures;
sampling bituminious paving mixtures;
sampling bituminious materials;
(o) bituminious mixing plant inspections;
coating and stripping of bitumen-aggregate;
determining degree of particle coating of bituminous-aggregate mixtures:
maximum specific gravity of bituminous paving mixtures;
specific gravity of solid pitch and asphalt displacement;
determining degree of pavement compaction of bituminous paving mixtures;
resistance to plastic flow of bituminous mixtures using marshall apparatus;
resistance to deformation and cohesion of bituminous mixtures by means of hveem apparatus.
CONCRETE
compressive strength of cylindrical concrete specimens;
making and curing concrete compressive and flexural strength specimens in the field and laboratory;
obtaining and testing drilled cores and sawed beams of concrete;
flexural strength of concrete (using simple beam with third point loading);
slump of Portland cement concrete;
weight per cubic foot, yield, and air content (gravimetric) of concrete;
(q) sampling fresh concrete;
measuring length of drilled concrete cores;
air content of freshly mixed concrete by the pressure method;
securing, preparing and testing specimens of lightweight insulating concrete;
air content of freshly mixed concrete by the volumetric method;
checking approximate strength of hardened concrete by the Swiss hammer method;
cement content of hardened Portland cement concrete;
specific gravity, absorption and voids in hardened concrete;
inspection and testing agencies for concrete materials as used in construction.
SOILS
investigating and sampling soils and rocks for engineering purposes;
dry preparation of disturbed soil and soil aggregate samples for test;
particle size analysis of soils;
determining the liquid limit of soils;
determining the plastic limit and plasticity index of soils;
determining the field moisture equivalent of soils;
moisture-density relations of soils using a 5.5 lb. rammer and a 12 in. drop;
specific gravity of soils;
moisture-density relations of soil-cement mixture;
cement content of soil cement mixture;
wet preparation of disturbed soil samples for test;
moisture-density relations of soils using a 10 lb. rammer and an 18 in. drop;
density of soil in place by the sand-cone method;
the California bearing ratio,
the line-rock bearing ratio;
unconfined compressive strength of cohesive soil;
permeability of granular soils (constant head)
one-dimensional consolidation properties of soils;
repetitive and nonrepetitive static plate load tests of soils and flexible pavement components, for use in evaluation and design of airport and highway pavements;
determination of moisture in soils by means of a calcium carbide gas pressure moisture tester;
bearing capacity of soil for static load on spread footings;
density and moisture content of soil and soil- aggregate in-place by nuclear methods (shallow depth);
classification of soils and soil aggregate mixtures for highway construction purposes;
determining the Florida bearing ratio test (Florida Department of Transportation)
determining the calcium carbonate content for base course materials (Florida Department of Transportation).
AGGREGATES
sampling stone, slag, gravel, sand, and stone block for use as highway materials;
amount of material finer than 0.075 mm sieve in aggregate;
unit weight of aggregate;
voids in aggregate for concrete;
organic impurities in sands for concrete;
sieve analysis of fine and coarse aggregates;
mechanical analysis of extracted aggregate;
sieve analysis of mineral filler;
specific gravity and absorption of fine aggregate;
specific gravity and absorption of coarse aggregate;
resistance to abrasion of small size coarse aggregate by use of the Los Angeles abrasion machine;
soundness of aggregate by use of sodium sulfate or magnesium sulfate;
clay lumps and friable particles in aggregates;
lightweight pieces in aggregate;
surface moisture in fine aggregate;
reducing field samples of aggregate to testing size;
total moisture content of aggregate by drying.
MISCELLANEOUS
percent of elongation, yield and tensile strength of steel members;
compressive strength of hollow load bearing masonry units;
inspection tests, including the inspection of pressure grout to insure proper distribution for foundation design;
inspection and testing agencies for reinforced concrete culvert, storm drain and sewer pipe as used in construction;
inspection and testing amenies for precast and prestress oiling members;
From January of 1979 through January of 1982, Respondent held the position of supervisor for the same employer, Florida Testing and Engineering, Inc. During that period, he was in charge or was otherwise overall responsible for field and laboratory operations, prepared engineering reports, analyses, recommendations and design for various construction projects;
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport-Resurface Requisition
No. 14905 and No. 29019
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport- ADAP No. 06-12-0025-10
R/W and T/W Improvements and Resurfacing
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport - ADAP No. 06-12-0025-11
R/W and T/W Improvements and Resurfacing
Key West International Airport - ADAP No. 06-12-0037-08
Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport Project No. 7155
City of Fort Lauderdale Parking Garage Project No. 7071
City of Fort Lauderdale 5 Ash Waste Water Treatment Plant Project No. 7642
From January of 1982 to the present time, Respondent formed his own company and holds the position as President of that firm (Eastcoast Testing and Engineering, Inc., 430 Northwest Flagler Drive, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301). Respondent is responsible for all phases of construction materials, testing, analysis, inspections, evaluations, quality control and quality assurance. The laboratory personnel and facilities of Eastcoast Testing and Engineering, Inc. has been inspected by the Cement and Concrete Reference Laboratory at the National Bureau of Standards. It is accredited by the Department of Commerce, National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program for selected test methods of freshly mixed field concrete. Eastcoast was awarded the annual testing contract for the City of Fort Lauderdale during its first year of operation.
During his tenure as an employee of Florida Testing and Engineering, Inc., Petitioner planned and implemented testing programs for the purpose of developing design criteria; implemented investigation and testing programs for the purpose of determining the cause of failures; prepared reports documenting material test data; and assisted in the preparation of reports for engineering evaluation under the guidance of a professional engineer. (See Petitioner's Exhibit No. 1.)
For Petitioner's experience at Florida Testing during the period 1971 to 1973, Respondent determined that "zero time" was credited for that experience based on the Board's determination that Petitioner's work was more a "technician's job than engineering-related job." (Testimony of Board member William B. Bradley, Tr. page 16.)
For Petitioner's experience during the period Nay, 1973 to January, 1979, Respondent allotted fifty percent or 34 of the 68 months experience that Petitioner served in that position. The Board determined that the "in-house testing" would have a lot more association with normal engineering procedures than Petitioner's earlier work. (Tr. 17.) The Board considered the technical testing and reporting thereof that took place in the laboratories was more responsible for engineering and, therefore, creditable as opposed to Petitioner's field work. (Tr. 17-18.)
Again, for the period 1979 through 1992, Respondent gave Petitioner 59 percent credit for a total of 18 months of the 3 years in question.
For the period 1979 through 1982, the Board determined that Petitioner was not essentially doing anything different but, rather, that he was "in charge of people now; he is preparing engineering reports here which I assume Mr. Winterholler signed." For that service, Petitioner was given credit for 18 of those 36 months.
From the period of January, 1982 to the present time, the Board gave Petitioner 199 percent credit because, as President of his own firm, he would be more involved and would have more responsibility for the actions of his testing laboratory and, therefore, entitled to full credit for that time. (Testimony of Bradley at Tr. page 21.)
Finally, Mr. Bradley determined that be saw no design engineering in the Petitioner's submissions because designing is "actually putting onto paper what's going to be there." (Tr. page 29.)
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties to this action. Section 120.57(1), Florida Statutes.
The parties were duly noticed pursuant to the notice provisions of Chapter 120, Florida Statutes.
The authority of the Respondent, Board of Engineers, is derived from Chapter 471, Florida Statutes, and Rule Chapter 21H, Florida Administrative Code.
Section 471.013(1)(a), Florida Statutes, 1/ provides in pertinent part that a person shall be entitled to take an examination for the purpose of determining whether he is qualified to practice in the State as an engineer if the Person is of good moral character and:
3. Has, in lieu of such education and experience requirements, ten years or more of active engineering work of a character indicating that the applicant is competent to be placed in responsible charge of engineering.
The type of employment which shall be acceptable must principally involve activities in the field of engineering as defined in subsection 471.005(4)(a), and shall include at least one year of engineering design experience.
Section 471.005(4)(a) "Engineering" includes the term "professional engineering" and means any service or creative work, the adequate performance of which requires engineering education, training, and experience in the application of special knowledge of the mathematical, physical and engineering sciences to such services or creative work as consultation, investigation, evaluation, planning, and design of engineering works and systems, planning the use of land and water, teaching of the principles and methods of engineering design, engineering surveys, and the inspection of construction for the purpose of determining, in general, if the work is proceeding in compliance with drawing
and specifications; any of which embraces such services or work, either public or private, in conjunction with any utilities, structures, buildings, machines, equipment, processes, work systems, projects, and industrial or consumer products or equipment of a mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, or life, health, or property, and including such other professional services as may be necessary to the planning, progress and completion of any engineering services.
"Responsible charge" shall mean direct, control and personal supervision of engineering work done by oneself or by others over which the applicant exercises supervisory authority.
"Engineering design" shall mean the process of devising a system, component, or process to meet desired needs. It is a decision-making process (often iterative) in which the basic sciences, mathematics, and engineering sciences are applied to convert resources optimally to meet a stated objective. Among the fundamental elements of the design process are the establishment of objectives and criteria, synthesis, analysis, construction, testing and evaluation. Central to the process are the essential and complementary roles of synthesis and analysis. This definition is intended to be interpreted in its broadest sense. In particular, the words "system, component, or process" and "convert resources optimally" operate to indicate that sociological, economic, aesthetic, legal, ethical, etc. considerations can be included. Rule 21E- 18.11(1) and (2), Florida Administrative Code.
An examination of the Petitioner's experience and background reveals that he satisfies the requirements to sit for the professional engineering examination for the following reasons:
Has completed ten (19) or more "ears of service which required the use of engineering education, training and experience;
Has demonstrated competence to be placed in responsible charge of engineering; and
Has engaged in "engineering design" for a period in excess of one (1) year as that process is defined in Subsections
21H-18.11(1) and (2), Florida Administrative Code.
Petitioner's extensive experience in the areas of synthesis, analysis, testing and evaluation fit squarely within the confines of the Board's definition of "engineering design." Additionally, Petitioner's experience is of the type and character "in the field of engineering" as set forth in Subsection 471.995(4)(a), Florida Statutes.
