PE Stamp Question 1

[NTME76249]

I had a question about PE Stamps.
My company is in Texas. We do designs requiring a PE stamp for lifting lugs and Skid calculations for Oil field equipment. Does this need to be stamped by a Texas PE or does it matter? I am not sure of all the end locations for the equipment. From what i can tell, the PE stamp requirements comes from our customer, not the state.
Thanks

 

[zdas04]

I'm not a lawyer, and don't do much work in Texas, but I can tell you the answer that the New Mexico board gave me to nearly that exact question (except I was curious about a Fed requirement instead of a company requirement).

The board said:
1. If there is a New Mexico regulation that requires a stamp, then the stamp must be under the jurisdiction of the NM Board (i.e., an out-of-state stamp would be the same as no stamp).
2. If another entity is requiring the stamp, then the Board has no way of objectively evaluating the work that was stamped and won't intervene. The guy I was talking to went on to say that a Federal requirement for a stamp would likely have to come under the "Good Faith and Credence" clause and the Feds can't officially prefer one state's stamp over another. He was a regulator, not a lawyer, so his opinion on that may not be worth much.

I would think that unless the company specified that it must be a Texas P.E. (unlikely) then it won't matter, but I would ask the company to see if maybe they have an (irrational) preference for in-state P.E. stamps. This is a company requirement, so I don't know how much value an attorney would do you on this one.

David

 

[JohnRBaker]

I think you may find that California might be the exception to any rule that you might think of. That being said, we've had a recent discussion of this California issue in another forum which you may wish to review, not that it'll provide a clear answer, but if there's a chance that these products are headed for Cal you may need to check into this issue anyway:

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=314609

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Engineering Software
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

UG/NX Museum:

http://www.plmworld.org/p/cm/ld/fid=209

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[chicopee]

You could always have two stamps, one from out-of-state and the other from in-state.

 

[dhengr]

Check with your state registration board. Things like buildings and their mechanical and electrical work, bridges, civil works, and the like typically require a P.E. stamp from the state where the project is located. Manufactured products, various equipment, etc. tend to be exempt from this absolute need for a P.E. stamp in their design process. Although, many customers like the idea that the product’s engineering and manufacturing is managed by someone with real engineering credentials. And, they like the idea that reports, calcs. and the general engineering package are signed by someone with a P.E. behind their name. They don’t generally care what state you are registered in, and they do assume the company is backing the product, not a particular single engineer. I do not mean to imply that only P.E’s. can do good engineering. I have known plenty of P.E’s. who I wouldn’t want doing engineering for me, and I have had some draftsmen and techs who turning into darn good engineers, with some mentoring. Check with your customer and/or your company and I’ll bet the fact that you are registered will suffice, without question of which state. After all, it’s the quality of your work, your fabricating and manufacturing, and the finished product that really counts, not your title.

 

[Cockroach]

The whole purpose of stamping a document is to convey that the results thereof have been under your control. As a PE therefore, you had a hand in every aspect of that documents being and sign off on it based on your accredited education, experience and skill/seasoned judgement of the practice. You are taking ownership of that document and concur with the statements made.

Regards,
Cockroach

 

[MiketheEngineer]

We have found that in industrial applications - they just want SOME PE stamp on them.

Federal OSHA even spells that out - they don't care what state - just want a PE.

That said - if it comes under some kind of public review process - like local building officials - you know they will want a local (state) stamp.

In additions - some states are very specific about you having their state PE - they simply want your money!!

So, bottom line, be careful. And that is why we are registered in all 50 states and D.C.