Engineering and land surveying: limited liability partnerships.

The Professional Engineers Act provides for the licensure and regulation of engineers and the Professional Land Surveyors' Act provides for the licensure and regulation of land surveyors by the Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Existing law provides for the formation of various types of legal entities, including registered limited liability partnerships and foreign limited liability partnerships. Under existing law, a registered limited liability partnership or a foreign limited liability partnership may only be formed by persons licensed to engage in the practice of accountancy, the practice of law, or, until January 1, 2012, the practice of architecture. This bill would authorize registered limited liability partnerships and foreign limited liability partnerships to be formed by persons licensed to engage in the practice of engineering or land surveying, and would provide that one or more engineers or land surveyors are not prohibited from practicing or offering to practice, within the scope of their licensure, as a limited liability partnership if specified requirements are met. Existing law requires that every registered limited liability partnership and foreign limited liability partnership provide specified security for claims arising out of the partnership's professional practice. Under existing law, the total aggregate limit of liability under the policy or policies of insurance or the amount of security required to be provided by those partnerships providing architectural services is $100,000 multiplied by the number of licensed persons, but not less than $1,000,000 and not more than $5,000,000, as specified. This bill would also impose those security requirements on a limited liability partnership and foreign limited liability partnership providing engineering or land surveying services, except that the amount of security required to be provided would be not less than $2,000,000. This bill would specify that its provisions shall become inoperative on January 1, 2016, unless a later enacted statute, enacted prior to that date, deletes or extends that date. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.