This change was proposed some time ago in our State Professional Engineering Journal and now is being proposed as a revision CR-102 to the Revised Code of Washington RCW 34.05.320
The purpose given for this change is to address applicants that are seeking licensure in Washington State that are currently licensed in Non-U.S. jurisdiction. License mobility for eligible Canadian Professional Engineers will be promoted with adoption of the new rule.
It is inoteworthy that an engineer can obtain licensure in Canada without writing the Fundamentals of Engineering or Professional Engineering test (but is required to write a morals and ethics test regarding Intelectual property etc.)
It is possible for graduates of American Schools to obtain licensure in Canada, and with this proposed change it would be possible for those graduates to obtain Washington State license and then other state licenses by comity.
I have written objections to this apparent breach of standard to the State Board, but they are proceeding full speed ahead, eager to collect more license fees.
My personal experience includes working for Canadian Engineering firms, working for Canadian customers and working in Canada (I obtained a BC license). It is very clear to anyone remotely familiar to this work that the cultures are different including the expectation of professional duty. There are different engineering and construction laws in Canada governing these fields that do not exist in Washington State. I am not commenting on which is better; however to ignore the difference could be dangerous to the public and catastrophic to engineering careers. It is very easy to imagine that foreign engineers will submit unrealistic proposals based on a different expectation of service.
I predict that our State Board will learn the different expectations with time, and then subject Washington State Engineers to new corrective regulations, in the meantime how many projects will get mis-funded or lost?
At this time, there is no restriction on foreign engineers, other than to pass the same PE and FE test that in state engineers are required to pass.
The purpose given for this change is to address applicants that are seeking licensure in Washington State that are currently licensed in Non-U.S. jurisdiction. License mobility for eligible Canadian Professional Engineers will be promoted with adoption of the new rule.
It is inoteworthy that an engineer can obtain licensure in Canada without writing the Fundamentals of Engineering or Professional Engineering test (but is required to write a morals and ethics test regarding Intelectual property etc.)
It is possible for graduates of American Schools to obtain licensure in Canada, and with this proposed change it would be possible for those graduates to obtain Washington State license and then other state licenses by comity.
I have written objections to this apparent breach of standard to the State Board, but they are proceeding full speed ahead, eager to collect more license fees.
My personal experience includes working for Canadian Engineering firms, working for Canadian customers and working in Canada (I obtained a BC license). It is very clear to anyone remotely familiar to this work that the cultures are different including the expectation of professional duty. There are different engineering and construction laws in Canada governing these fields that do not exist in Washington State. I am not commenting on which is better; however to ignore the difference could be dangerous to the public and catastrophic to engineering careers. It is very easy to imagine that foreign engineers will submit unrealistic proposals based on a different expectation of service.
I predict that our State Board will learn the different expectations with time, and then subject Washington State Engineers to new corrective regulations, in the meantime how many projects will get mis-funded or lost?
At this time, there is no restriction on foreign engineers, other than to pass the same PE and FE test that in state engineers are required to pass.