Section 34-11-35.1 Legislative Findings; Rulemaking Authority.
The board may regulate engineering and land surveying, including limiting unlicensed practice and requiring certain rules on solicitation and bidding.
(a) In addition to the powers provided to the board by Section 34-11-35, the Legislature finds and declares all of the following: (1) The power to adopt rules regulating the practice of engineering and land surveying in the state includes the power to prohibit unlicensed persons from practicing engineering or land surveying and the power to regulate how licensed persons practice. (2) The primary goal of the provision of engineering and land surveying in the state is to prioritize health, life, safety, welfare, and property. (3) The board is in the best position to determine the engineering and land surveying practices that prioritize health, life, safety, welfare, and property. (4) Prioritizing health, life, safety, welfare, and property may sometimes be at odds with the goals of state and federal antitrust laws which include prioritizing competition and efficiency. (5) It is the intent of the Legislature, by passage of this section, to immunize the board and the members of the board from liability under state and federal antitrust laws for the adoption of a rule that prioritizes health, life, safety, welfare, and property, and may be anti-competitive. (b) Subject to subsection (c), rules adopted by the board pursuant to this section or Section 34-11-35, may define and regulate the practice of engineering and land surveying in a way that prioritizes health, life, safety, welfare, and property, even if the rule is anti-competitive. (c) A rule adopted pursuant to this section or Section 34-11-35 may supplement or clarify a statutory definition, but may not conflict with any statute that defines the practice of engineering or land surveying. (d)(1) Except as otherwise provided in subdivision (2), the board shall adopt rules pursuant to this section that allow engineers and land surveyors to solicit professional services in accordance with competitive, qualification-based selection policies and procedures. The rules shall prohibit competitive bidding based solely upon price or fee. (2) The rules adopted under subdivision (1) shall not apply to a boundary survey on private land where the survey is not intended for use as a basis for engineering design at the time of preparation, unless the survey is prepared in accordance with the standards specified by the American Land Title Association and the National Society of Professional Surveyors. (e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to constrict or expand the current rights and privileges of any individual governed by the State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors beyond that which existed before the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States in N.C. State Board of Dental Examiners vs. FTC, 135 S.Ct 1101 (2015). (f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to constrict or expand the current duties or responsibilities of the members of the State Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors in any context outside of federal or state antitrust immunity beyond that which existed before the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States in N.C. State Board of Dental Examiners vs. FTC, 135 S.Ct 1101 (2015).