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April 26, 2024 Clear | 55°F
The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Section 81R: Limitation of application of sections to other practices, services or activities

Section 81R. Nothing in said sections shall be construed to prevent or to affect:—

(a) the practice of any other legally recognized profession including the practice of architecture as defined in this chapter and the practice of any trade, including, in connection with the practice of the electrical, plumbing, heating, ventilating, air conditioning, refrigeration and all other trades, the preparation of plans, specifications or shop drawings by any person, firm, partnership, corporation or association practicing any such trade, for work to be installed or being installed by the same person, firm, partnership, corporation or association preparing such plans, specifications or shop drawings;

(b) a person not a resident of and having no established place of business in the commonwealth from practicing or offering to practice therein the profession of engineering or land surveying, when such practice does not exceed in the aggregate more than thirty days in any calendar year; provided, such person is legally qualified by registration to practice the said profession in his own state or country in which the requirements and qualifications for obtaining a certificate of registration are not lower than those specified in said sections;

(c) a person not a resident of and having no established place of business in the commonwealth or who has recently become a resident thereof, from practicing or offering to practice engineering or land surveying therein for more than thirty days in any calendar year, if he shall have filed with the board an application for a certificate of registration and shall have paid the fee required by said sections; provided, that such person is legally qualified by registration to practice engineering or land surveying in his own state or country in which the requirements and qualifications for obtaining a certificate of registration are not lower than those specified in said sections. Such practice shall continue only for such time as the board requires for the consideration of the application for registration;

(d) the work of an employee or a subordinate of a person holding a certificate of registration under said sections, an employee of a person practicing lawfully under clause (b) or (c) of this section, or an employee of a firm, co-partnership, corporation or joint stock association engaging lawfully under clause (f) of this section; provided, such work does not include final designs or decisions and is done under the direct responsibility, checking and supervision of a person holding a certificate of registration under said sections or a person practicing lawfully under clause (b) or (c) of this section;

(e) the practice of officers and employees of the government of the United States while engaged within the commonwealth in the practice of engineering or land surveying for said government;

(f) the practice of engineering or land surveying in the commonwealth by a firm, co-partnership, corporation or joint stock association; provided, that the person in charge of such practice by such firm, co-partnership, corporation or joint stock association is a professional engineer or land surveyor, holding a certificate of registration under said sections;

(g) the performance of engineering work or services by employees of a corporation engaged in manufacturing, research or development operations, which work or services are performed in connection with the research or development activities of, or the manufacture, sale, installation, maintenance, repair or service of the products of, such corporation, or of its parents, affiliates or subsidiaries; provided, that such research or development activities which are not related to the manufacture, sale, installation, maintenance, repair or service of the products of such corporation, or of its parents, affiliates or subsidiaries, are not primarily in connection with the construction of fixed works which are to be made available for use by the general public;

(h) the practice of landscape architects, city planners and regional planners, in so far as their work consists in the consultations and preparation of master plans of parks, land areas, sites, organized groups of buildings or communities, or the preparation of detailed plans and the supervision of planting, grading, paving, and such structural features as fences, steps, walls, minor pools, garden structures and minor utilities normally included as part of their work;

(i) sales personnel from recommending applications to specific uses of products for which they act as sales representatives;

(j) the performance of engineering work or services by any person employed by an insurance company or by its agents, its affiliates or subsidiaries, or the performance of engineering work or services for insurance inspection and actuarial bureaus, provided such work or services in either case are incidental to the operation of an insurance company;

(k) the work of an owner or managing agent of a building or any employee of such owner or agent making alterations or repairs to such building or supervising the same, or of a person engaged by such owner or agent to perform work of any other legally recognized trade exempted under clause (a) of this section;

(l) the performance of engineering work and services by a person, firm or corporation subject to the jurisdiction of the department of public utilities or the department of telecommunications and cable which work and services are performed as part of their employment and for the benefit of such person, firm, or corporation; provided, however, that this subsection shall not apply to engineering work or services that could pose a material risk to public safety, as determined by the department of public utilities, performed by or on behalf of a gas company, as defined in section 1 of chapter 164, that distributes and sells gas within the commonwealth; or

(m) the performance of engineering work and services by employees of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority which work and services are performed as part of their employment and for the benefit of the said authority.