BPELS Article - The Responsibilities of Serving as a Reference

[Administrator]

During your career, you may be asked to be a reference for an applicant pursuing his or her professional license. Consider the following issues before you put your name, reputation, and license on the line.

Serving as a reference for a professional engineer, land surveyor, geologist, or geophysicist applicant means being responsible to the Board; the engineering, land surveying, geology, and geophysics professions; consumers; and the applicant. A reference’s appraisal of an applicant and endorsement for professional licensure is looked at closely and is a critical component in the Board’s decision-making process.

It is important to note that references are technical (not character) appraisals, so review of the applicant’s plans, calculations, maps, and/or reports is necessary for a truly valid assessment. Therefore, the person providing the reference must possess the technical knowledge and abilities necessary to assess those duties that the applicant is claiming to have performed while employed. Appraisals are confidential and should not be shared with the applicant.

Civil engineer applicants can only use licensed civil engineers as references, electrical engineer applicants must use licensed electrical engineers, and mechanical engineer applicants must use licensed mechanical engineers. It may be acceptable for civil engineers to serve as references for mechanical and electrical engineer applicants if the civil engineer possesses the technical competency to appraise the work of the electrical and/or mechanical engineer applicant. For the other professional engineer disciplines (not including geotechnical or structural engineering), the reference need not be a professional engineer; however, the reference still must be technically competent to appraise the applicant’s abilities. Land surveyor applicants can only use licensed land surveyors or civil engineers legally authorized to practice land surveying as references, and geology and geophysics applicants can only use licensed geologists and geophysicists, respectively.
For questions regarding the completion of the Engagement Record and Reference form or the Independent Evaluation of Scope, Character, and Duration of Applicant’s Qualifying Geologic Work Experience form, contact the appropriate Board staff as listed at:
http://www.pels.ca.gov/about_us/contact.shtml.