Out of state company - California registration required?

[N_P_P]

Hi All,
I had a question that relates to company registration.

I have a company in Washington State and recently got structural design projects in CA state. Am I required to register my company in California in order to provide structural design services in California?

Does anyone have any ideas on this? Any help is highly appreciated.

Thank You.

 

[JedClampett]

I'm not a lawyer, but I'd say, "Hell yes!"
Not only your company, but the engineers.

 

[phamENG]

Go to the state board's website. They'll explain everything there. You'll likely need to register your company with board AND with the Secretary of State of as a foreign corporate entity (whatever your organizational structure is.)

One state where my company is registered (NC, if I remember correctly), I had to do both, but you can't get your company license without a CoA from the SecState, and you can't get a CoA as an engineering firm without a license from the board. So the board had to issue a provisional license (that I couldn't use to practice) to get the CoA, and then once I had the CoA I could go back and get my real license. Oh, and before any of that, I had to be personally licensed in the state as a PE. So yeah...it's a confusing mess. And don't forget about annual reports, paying for a registered agent with a California address, etc.

 

[bimr]

You need to speak to an attorney that works in this area of expertise.

A firm is required to register in each state that the firm works in. Each state may have specific requirements such as the percentage of people that are licensed. You also need to have a professional license to seal plans.