Signing as an individual for a company

[LOTE]

I run a solo niche civil engineering business and recently set up an LLC. I perform engineering in multiple states and I am looking at how best to do this in the short term until I get COA's in every state I work in (my current states allow for an individual to practice in their own name without a COA). I am also working on branding with my newly formed company.

Question: Can I put my company information and logo on drawings, but still sign the drawings as a sole proprietor in my own name? How do I best show that on my drawings so I do not run into an regulatory issues?

 

[dik]

I almost always identify the client on the drawings, but unless I'm doing a specific job for them, don't include their logo. Some clients want to use their own sheets. I've also prepared title blocks for companies that don't have them. It depends. Best to see what they want, but you should identify them. Also have them vet as much as you can... for contracts, I generally forward it on for their legal department to review.

A case in point; I had a project for an auto manufacturer and in it, I excluded consequential damages because if I had left it, no one would have bid the job. I sent it on to their legal department. During the project DB, due to a problem, shut down the line for 14 minutes. They want to bill DB for several hundred thousand dollars, and were disappointed that consequential damages were not included in the contract. Fortunately, their legal department had vetted the contract.

Rather than think climate change and the corona virus as science, think of it as the wrath of God. Feel any better?

-Dik

 

[phamENG]

LOTE - no, you cannot name your company (the LLC) anywhere on the documents if you do not have a COA in that state. And if you do, and the state finds out, there can be significant penalties. I believe NC is particularly picky about that one (I'm on the VA/NC border and have COAs in both).

If you've already transitioned your insurance, check with your carrier and make sure they'll still cover "LOTE, PE" if the policy documents now say "LOTE's Engineering Emporium, LLC".

 

[IRstuff]

phamENG,

What's the rationale for that? It it to protect the companies from getting sued? The stamp is, by definition, a personal liability, so I would have thought the company was essentially irrelevant in that aspect.

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[phamENG]

IRstuff - to get a Certificate of Authority or Firm License (different states call them different things, and in some states you need both!), you have to have an engineer licensed in that state. So it's a way for the regulators to make sure companies offering engineering in their jurisdiction meet all of the requirements.

Many states go so far as making it illegal to have Engineering your company name if you don't have a valid COA.

 

[IRstuff]

No, I get that, but I didn't understand why having gotten the license and stamp that you couldn't mention your own company name in any stamped documents

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[phamENG]

If the company is licensed and has a COA, that's fine - it's actually required if the contract is with the company. But if you don't have the firm license and/or COA and you put the firm name on official documents or even provide a proposal in some states, then the company is guilty of practicing without a license.

 

[IRstuff]

Thanks for the clarification

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