§ 5-8-21. Exemptions. This chapter shall not be construed to prevent or to affect:

(1) Temporary certificates of registration.

(i) Nonresidents. The practice or offer to practice of engineering by a person not a resident of or having no established place of business in this state, when that practice does not exceed in the aggregate more than thirty (30) days in any calendar year; provided, the person is legally qualified by registration to practice engineering, as defined in § 5-8-2(h), in his or her own state or country. The person shall make application to the board, in writing, and after payment of a fee set by the board in an amount not to exceed two hundred dollars ($200) may be granted a written temporary certificate of registration for a definite period of time to do a specific job; provided, no right to practice engineering accrues to an applicant as to any work not prescribed in the temporary certificate.

(ii) Recent arrivals in state. The practice of a person not a resident of and having no established place of business in this state, or who has recently become a resident of the state, practicing or offering to practice engineering in the state for more than thirty (30) days in any calendar year, if he or she has filed with the board an application for a certificate of registration and has paid the fee required by this chapter; provided, that the person is legally qualified by registration to practice engineering in his or her own state or country. That practice shall continue only for the time that the board requires for the consideration of the application for registration.

(2) Employees and subordinates. The work of an employee or a subordinate of a person holding a certificate of registration under this chapter, or an employee of a person practicing lawfully under subsection (1)(ii) of this section; provided, that work does not include final engineering designs or decisions and is done under the direct supervision of or checked by a person holding a certificate of registration under this chapter or a person practicing lawfully under subsection (1) of this section.

(3) Partnership, limited-liability partnership, corporate, and limited-liability company practice. The practice or offer to practice of engineering as defined by this chapter by individual registered professional engineers through a partnership, limited-liability partnership, corporation, joint stock company, or limited-liability company, or by a partnership, limited-liability partnership, corporation, limited-liability company, or joint stock company, through individual registered professional engineers as agents, employees, officers, or partners or members or managers, provided, that they are jointly and severally liable for their professional acts; and provided, that all personnel of that partnership, limited-liability partnership, joint stock company, corporation, or limited-liability company who act on its behalf as engineers in the state are registered under this chapter or are persons practicing lawfully or are exempt under subsection (1) or (2) of this section. Each partnership, limited-liability partnership, joint stock company, corporation, or limited-liability company providing engineering services is jointly and severally liable with the individually registered professional engineers, and all final plans, designs, drawings, specifications, and reports involving engineering judgment and discretion, when issued, shall be dated and bear the seals and signatures of the engineers who prepared them.

(4) Federal employees. The practice by officers and employees of the government of the United States while engaged within this state in the practice of engineering for that government; provided, that no right to practice engineering accrues to those persons as to any other engineering work. The rights to registration after leaving government employment shall not be granted except under the provisions established under § 5-8-11.

(5) Railroad, telephone, telegraph, and other public utility companies. The practice of engineering, as prescribed in this chapter, by railroad, telephone, telegraph, and other public utility companies, and their officers and employees while engaged in the work of those companies in this state; provided, that the practice is carried on under the responsible charge of an engineer or engineers in this state, or in any other state under requirements equivalent to those prescribed in this chapter; provided that all plans for natural gas infrastructure, including, but not limited to, repairs, maintenance, and construction, shall be built in accordance with design plans and specifications approved by a Rhode Island registered professional engineer when the work could pose a material risk to public safety; and provided, that no right to practice engineering accrues to any unregistered person as to any other engineering work.

(6) Manufacturing corporations. The practice of engineering, as prescribed in this chapter, by manufacturing corporations, and their officers and employees while engaged in manufacturing and research and development activities for those corporations.

(7) Research and development corporations. The practice of engineering, as prescribed in this chapter, by research and development corporations, and their officers and employees while engaged in research and development activities for that corporation.

(8) Other professions. The practice of architecture, landscape architecture, or land surveying.

History of Section. (P.L. 1990, ch. 330, § 2; P.L. 1991, ch. 304, § 1; P.L. 2004, ch. 56, § 2; P.L. 2004, ch. 63, § 2; P.L. 2007, ch. 420, § 1; P.L. 2019, ch. 189, § 1; P.L. 2019, ch. 240, § 1; P.L. 2019, ch. 308, art. 1, § 7.)