HB 167-ARCHITECTS, ENGINEERS, SURVEYORS  1:31:53 PM CHAIR DUNLEAVY announced the consideration of HB 167. "An Act relating to the regulation of architects, engineers, land surveyors, and landscape architects." [CSHB 167(RLS) was before the committee.] ANNA LATHAM, Staff, Representative Kurt Olson, sponsor of HB 167, explained that the bill clarifies statutory language and intends to prevent the misuse of professional seals. She provided a sectional analysis. Section 1 amends AS 08.48.221 and requires registrants to sign the seal on documents. It deletes language that allows the registrant to certify on the face of the document the extent of the registrant's responsibility. Section 2 adds a new subsection to AS 08.48.221 that requires documents containing the work of multiple fields of practice to be sealed and signed by a registrant in each of the fields covered by the document. Section 3 adds "architect, land surveying, or landscape architecture" to this section wherever "engineering" appears. It adds language to the exceptions regarding revegetation or placement of plant material to require a board determination that the action does not affect the public health, safety, or welfare. Section 4 adds definitions for "design of minor importance," "shop drawing" and "field drawing." She pointed out that the proposed changes were brought forward by the Architects, Engineers and Land Surveyors (AELS) Board. She explained that one of the purposes of a professional licensing board is to take into account the concerns of its licensees and serve as a conduit for bringing those concerns to the attention of the legislature. She highlighted that while most registrants work within their field of expertise, current statutes allow a crossover of disciplines and, therefore, the misuse of seals. MS. LATHAM explained that the statute was intended to allow multiple engineering disciplines to stamp a drawing and indicate the portion for which they were responsible. However, this has been exploited or misinterpreted to allow designers to opt out of taking responsibility for large portions of their work. This has resulted in building code violations that are costly and time consuming for the board and harmful to public health and safety. She noted that the AELS Board added 490 new licensees to its oversight in 2012 and, with that increase, it's an opportune time to clean up the statutes. 1:35:00 PM MS. LATHAM said that the only change between the original bill and the committee substitute (CS) is found in Section 3. The AELS Board suggested on page 3, line 14, changing the exemption from four to three residential units. Contractors were opposed to this change and the sponsor decided to offer an amendment to revert to the language currently in statue. Under current statute, an architect's stamp is only required on fiveplexes and larger. 1:37:12 PM ERIC ERICKSON, Chair, Architects, Engineers, Land Surveyors Board, introduced himself. 1:37:46 PM DALE NELSON, Chair, Liaison Committee, Alaska Professional Design Council(APDC), Anchorage, Alaska, stated support for HB 167 on behalf of APDC. 1:38:12 PM CHAIR DUNLEAVY opened public testimony. 1:38:25 PM HARLEY HIGHTOWER, Architect, Anchorage, Alaska, said he served eight years on the AELS Board, seven of which were spent on the enforcement investigative committee. He stated that the revisions in HB 167 address issues that were continually before the committee. Generally, they clarify the intent of the statutes. 1:39:39 PM SARA CHAMBERS, Administrative Operations Manager, Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing Division, Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development (DCCED), said she was available to answer questions. 1:40:08 PM CHAIR DUNLEAVY stated that he would keep public testimony open and hold HB 167 in committee for further consideration.