Senate Bill 6048 amends the Washington professional engineers' registration act and reenacts RCW 18.43.020. The bill, introduced at the request of the Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, revises board structure and governance, licensing categories and requirements, corporate and limited liability company authorization to practice, fee authorities, and certain enforcement and administrative procedures. Key changes update board composition and member qualifications (seven governor-appointed members: five professional engineers and two professional land surveyors; five-year terms; maximum of two consecutive terms; residency and experience prerequisites), create rules for up to three pro tem board members (minimum five years registration/licensure, appointments up to 180 days unless extended), require the director to be a licensed engineer or land surveyor, and allow the board to adopt bylaws, hire staff, and publish a roster. The bill defines the practices of engineering and land surveying, lists categories and numeric thresholds for "significant structures," and clarifies examination and experience requirements: applicants need passing board-prescribed exams and generally eight or more years of qualifying experience for professional engineer or land surveyor registration, with engineer-in-training and land-surveyor-in-training status available after four years of experience plus passing fundamentals exams. Structural engineering is treated as a specialty that requires separate registration and at least two additional years of structural experience and additional exams. The bill also addresses certificate issuance, seals and stamping requirements, renewal procedures (including nonrefundable fees and verification of continuing professional development for land surveyors), and authorizations for corporations and LLCs including designation of a responsible licensed professional, notification duties for changes, fee authority, and board enforcement powers against entities and responsible individuals. Additional provisions suspend registration immediately when DSHS certifies noncompliance with a support order with automatic reissuance upon DSHS release, permit the Department of Licensing to provide technical services to the board by interagency agreement, and allow the legislature to transfer excess board fund balances to the general fund in specified biennia. Several sections of amended text are incomplete or truncated in the provided facts: the detailed content of RCW 18.43.040 (full licensure requirements), the exact amended language for many cited sections (18.43.050–18.43.200), the specific continuing professional development hour requirements, and some corporate/partnership provisions are not fully shown, so those particulars are uncertain from the material provided.

If enacted, the bill tightens who sits on and runs the state licensing board, requires experienced, Washington-resident engineers and surveyors for appointments, allows up to three short-term pro tem members, and requires the board director to be a licensed engineer or land surveyor. For practitioners, it reinforces experience and exam gates: eight years of qualifying experience for full licensure (with up to four years credit for relevant college work), a four-year path and exam for an engineeror land-surveyor-in-training certificate, and an extra two years plus exams to be licensed as a structural engineer for work on the newly defined “significant structures.” Registrants must use board seals on signed work, pay nonrefundable application/renewal fees set to cover board costs, and land surveyors must meet continuing education verification before renewal (number of hours not specified here). Firms and LLCs that offer engineering or surveying must designate a licensed responsible professional, file that designation and any changes or name amendments with the board within 30 days, and obtain a board certificate of authorization subject to initial and annual fees; corporations, LLCs, and their managers or officers remain personally accountable for professional conduct. The board’s fee account is funded by those fees but the Legislature may transfer excess balances in certain biennia (including 2025–2027), which could reduce the board’s reserves. The bill also makes registrations immediately suspendable if DSHS certifies child-support noncompliance (with automatic reissuance on DSHS clearance) and calls for the Department of Licensing to provide agreed technical services to the board. Several implementation details are missing from the provided text—exact fee amounts, the required continuing education hours for surveyors, and some amended section language—so how those operate in practice is uncertain.