| Action | Amend regulations to license onsite sewage system professionals. |
| Stage | Proposed |
| Comment Period | Ended on 3/6/2009 |
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Title 54.1-2301.D.(f) allows the board to include regulations beyond the licensing of persons as noted in previous comments. As DPOR and the APSCELIDLIA Board requires of its regulants, the board should do the same regarding ethical obligations to the public. Onsite Soil Evaluators design treatment works and submit plans and specifications to agencies for approval (mostly to VDH). Since this activity mimics what professional engineers and surveyors do, the board should have the same kinds of requirements.
OSEs also act as installers and operators and conflicts of interest are readily apparent when a designer installs and operates. The regulations should require OSEs, installers, and operators to fully disclose any material information that may affect the advice that they give. OSEs, installers, and operators sometimes represent manufacturers or act as distributors to certain products. These alliances and affiliations should be disclosed before performing any work to the public and the board should require in regulation that these material facts be disclosed before taking on business.
I recommend that the following requirements be added into the regulation (see 18 VAC10-20-690 et. seq.):
The primary obligation of the professional is to the public. The professional shall recognize that the health, safety, and welfare of the general public are dependent upon professional judgments,decisions, and practices. If the professional judgment of the professional is overruled undercircumstances when the health, safety, and welfare, or any combination thereof, of the public are endangered, the professional shall inform the employer or client of the possible consequences and notify appropriate authorities. A. The professional shall be truthful in all professional matters. The professional shall include all relevant and pertinent information in professional reports, statements, or testimony, which shall include the date indicating when such information was current. B. When serving as an expert or technical witness, the professional shall express an opinion only when it is based on an adequate knowledge of the facts in the issue, on a background of competence in the subject matter, and upon honest conviction. Except when appearing as an expert witness in court or an administrative proceeding when the parties are represented by counsel, the professional shall issue no statements, reports, criticisms, or arguments on matters relating to professional practice which are inspired or paid for by an interested party or parties, unless the regulant has prefaced the comment by disclosing the identities of the party or parties on whose behalf the professional is speaking, and by revealing any self-interest. C. A professional shall not knowingly make a materially false statement or fail deliberately to disclose a material fact requested in connection with his application for licensure, certification, registration, renewal or reinstatement. D. A professional shall not knowingly make a materially false statement or fail to deliberately disclose a material fact requested in connection with an application submitted to the board by any individual or business entity for licensure, certification, registration, renewal or reinstatement.
Conflicts of interest.
A. The regulant shall promptly and fully inform an employer or client of any business association, interest, or circumstance which may influence the professional's judgment or thequality of service. B. The regulant shall not accept compensation, financial or otherwise, from more than one party for services on or pertaining to the same project, unless the circumstances are fully disclosed to, and agreed to by, all interested parties in writing. C. The regulant shall neither solicit nor accept financial or other valuable consideration from material or equipment suppliers for specifying their products or services. D. The regulant shall not solicit or accept gratuities, directly or indirectly, from contractors, their agents, or other parties dealing with a client or employer in connection with work for which the regulant is responsible. Solicitation of work or employment. In the course of soliciting work or employment: 1. The regulant shall not give, solicit, or receive, either directly or indirectly, any gratuity, contribution, or unlawful consideration to influence the award of a contract by a public authority, or which may reasonably be construed as having the effect of intending to influence the awarding of such a contract. The regulant shall not offer or provide any gift or other valuable consideration in order to secure work. The regulant shall not pay a commission, percentage, or brokerage fee in order to secure work, except to a full-time employee or established commercial or marketing agency retained by them. 2. The regulant shall not falsify or permit misrepresentation of his or an associate's academic or professional qualifications or work, nor shall the regulant misrepresent the degree of responsibility for prior assignments. Materials used in the solicitation of employment shall not misrepresent facts concerning employers, employees, associates, joint ventures or past accomplishments of any kind. Competency for assignments. A. The professional shall undertake to perform professional assignments only when qualified by education or experience, or both, and licensed or certified in the profession involved. The professional may accept an assignment requiring education or experience outside of the field of the professional's competence, but only to the extent that services are restricted to those phases of the project in which the professional is qualified. All other phases of such project shall be the responsibility of licensed or certified associates, consultants or employees. B. A professional shall not misrepresent to a prospective or existing client or employer his qualifications and the scope of his responsibility in connection with work for which he is claiming credit. C. The professional shall adhere to the minimum standards and requirements pertaining to the practice of his own profession, as well as other professions if incidental work is performed. Professional responsibility. A. The regulant shall not knowingly associate in a business venture with, or permit the use of the regulant’s name, by any person or firm when there is reason to believe that person or firm is engaging in activity of a fraudulent or dishonest nature or is violating statutes or any of these regulations. B. A regulant who has direct knowledge or reason to believe that any individual, or firm may have violated or may currently be violating any of these provisions, or the provisions of Chapters 1 through 4 of Title 54.1 or Chapters 7 and 13 of Title 13.1 of the Code of Virginia, as amended, shall immediately inform the board in writing and shall cooperate in furnishing any further information or assistance that may be required by the board or any of its agents. C. The regulant shall, upon request or demand, produce to the board, or any of its agents, any plan, document, book, record or copy thereof in his or its possession concerning a transaction covered by this chapter, and shall cooperate in the investigation of a complaint filed with the board against a regulant. D. A regulant shall not utilize the design, drawings, specifications, or work of another regulant to complete the design, drawings, specifications, or work, or to replicate like design, drawings, specifications, or work without the knowledge and written consent of the person or organization that owns the design, drawings, specifications, or work. E. A professional who has received permission to modify or otherwise utilize the designs,drawings, specifications, or work of another professional pursuant to subsection D of this section may seal that work only after a thorough review of the design, drawings, specifications, or work to the extent that full responsibility shall be assumed for all design, drawings, specifications, or work. F. The information contained in recorded plats or surveys may be utilized by another professional without permission. If modifications are made to the plats or surveys, the professional must conduct a thorough review and verification of the work to the extent that full responsibility shall be assumed for any changes or modifications to the plats or surveys. Good standing in other jurisdictions. A. A regulant licensed, certified, or registered to practice architecture, engineering, land surveying, landscape architecture or interior design in other jurisdictions shall be in good standing in every jurisdiction where licensed, certified, or registered. B. A regulant who has received a reprimand, civil penalty, or monetary penalty, or whose license, certificate or registration is revoked, suspended, denied, or surrendered as a result of a disciplinary action by another jurisdiction, shall be subject to discipline by the board. C. A regulant who has received a reprimand, civil penalty, or monetary penalty, or whose license, certificate or registration is revoked, suspended, denied, or surrendered as a result of a disciplinary action by another jurisdiction, must notify the board of such action within 30 days.