Board flags online seal exploitation and approves consent orders, licensing recommendations

Board directors reported enforcement, licensing and exam updates and approved several consent orders and licensing recommendations at the Feb. 19 meeting of the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.

Michael Sims, director of compliance and enforcement, told the board the office received about 105 new complaints over the prior three months, closed 85 and had roughly 250 pending as of January. He described recurring incidents in which third‑party websites and overseas contractors offer engineering plans and attach seals that match names and license numbers from the board roster, making the fraudulent plans appear legitimate to consumers and permitting authorities. Sims cited online platforms such as Upwork and sites offering gig work as examples and said the agency’s ability to act is constrained when the alleged vendors are outside the United States or use transient contact information.

"Our ability to reach them and take action against them is pretty challenging because we just have an email address and they're all gone by the time we're aware of it," Sims said. Board members discussed possible longer‑term solutions including digital authentication of seals and stronger provenance for electronic filings.

Separately, Rick Strong, director of licensing and registration, updated the board on exams and licensing: Texas‑specific surveying exams have been administered (seven to date) with an average pass rate of 46.5 percent; PE and FE pass rates were discussed as context (PE ~58 percent over five years, FE ~50 percent). Strong also noted that 23 mutual‑recognition applicants from the United Kingdom have been licensed in Texas with one pending.

On discipline and licensure actions, the board approved an agreed board order for RPLS Xavier Sandoval and accepted consent orders including an informal reprimand on case D43480 and another engineering consent order. Board minutes show Miss Johnson recused herself from the Xavier Sandoval matter because she had served on the committee handling the case.

The licensing and registration committee’s recommendations to approve several candidates for PE licensure (after completion of required coursework or exams, and in some cases additional corrective action plans) were moved and accepted by the board under a consent motion.

Next steps: Staff said it will continue to pursue technological and interagency responses to online fraud and will report back as work progresses; adopted consent orders and licensing approvals will be reflected in the board’s disciplinary and licensing records.