Board approves multiple consent orders and fines after lengthy disciplinary docket
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Summary
The Tennessee Board of Architectural and Engineering Examiners reviewed a large legal docket, approving grouped continuing-education consent orders, civil penalties for misuse of seals and several cease-and-desist orders for unlicensed practice. Notable outcomes included a $3,500 penalty for stamping manufacturer drawings and administrative actions opened against individuals using expired firm credentials.
The Tennessee Board of Architectural and Engineering Examiners spent a large portion of its Feb. 5 meeting reviewing enforcement cases brought by staff and legal counsel, approving several consent orders and opening administrative complaints in matters ranging from continuing-education noncompliance to unlicensed practice and misuse of professional seals.
Board counsel presented a long legal report and recommended consistent dispositions on clusters of similar cases. The board voted to approve a block of continuing-education (CE) audit cases with the penalties recommended by staff (consent orders, civil penalties and requirements to submit missing documentation), consolidating several matters to save time and ensure consistent handling.
A more contested matter involved an engineer who affixed a stamp to a 14-page set of manufacturer/shop drawings without the reviewer performing independent calculations or verifying the design. Board members debated per-sheet fines and settled on $250 per sheet, for a total of $3,500, and required the respondent to take and pass the rules-and-laws exam. One member opposed the amount but the motion passed by voice vote.
The board also addressed multiple reports of individuals or entities holding themselves out as licensed engineers or firms even though the firm registration had lapsed or the individual was not registered in Tennessee. For several complaints staff recommended, and the board approved, administrative actions including cease-and-desist letters, opening new complaints for unlicensed activity against named individuals, and assessing civil penalties where appropriate.
Other matters on the docket included: a case referred from the attorney general's consumer-protection division about rubber-stamping preliminary plans as final; a complaint about fraudulent use of another practitioner's stamp through a third-party contractor platform (Upwork) that the board closed as the principal wrongdoer appeared to be the third party and the project was outside Tennessee; and conflicts-of-interest or impartiality allegations that the board deferred pending further staff follow-up.
Board members emphasized the need for consistent application of the civil-penalty guidelines (mitigating/normal/aggravating ranges) and asked colleagues to review the guidance so future penalties match the seriousness of the violations. Counsel reminded the board that failure to comply with a lawful order can lead to hearings and default hearings if a respondent does not engage.
Ending: The board approved the legal recommendations presented by counsel, grouped several CE cases into a single block vote, and asked staff to gather more evidence where records were incomplete. A number of individual administrative complaints were opened for further investigation.