SB125: SB125 Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors; decouple the sequential order of experience and examination requirements

Georgia's Construction Industry Licensing Board oversees electrical contractors, plumbers, conditioned air (HVAC) contractors, low voltage contractors, and utility contractors. This bill rewrites large parts of that chapter of Georgia law: updating definitions, renumbering many Code sections, adjusting board qualifications, raising some penalty amounts, and clarifying continuing education and license renewal rules for each trade. Separately, the bill directs the Secretary of State's office to build a continuing education tracking system covering all professional licensing boards under its jurisdiction, so boards can verify a licensee's compliance before renewing a license starting January 1, 2026. The bill also changes O.C.G.A. § 43-15-9 so that a person seeking a professional engineer license no longer has to pass the licensing exam only after completing their required years of work experience; the two requirements can now happen in either order. A final part updates cross-references to the renumbered sections in other titles of Georgia law, including the building codes, telemarketing, local government fence detection, and public utility statutes.

• Renumbers and reorganizes Chapter 14 of Title 43 governing electrical, plumbing, conditioned air, low voltage, and utility contractors, and updates related definitions.
• Creates a statewide continuing education tracking system run by the Secretary of State's office to check licensee compliance before renewing licenses, effective January 1, 2026.
• Removes the requirement that professional engineers pass their licensing exam only after completing their required years of experience, letting the exam and experience requirement happen in any order (O.C.G.A. § 43-15-9).
• Raises certain penalties, such as increasing a cease and desist fine from $500 to $1,500 and the general misdemeanor fine from $1,000 to $3,000 for violations of the contractor licensing chapter.
• Updates cross-references throughout Titles 8, 10, 36, 43, and 46 of Georgia law to match the renumbered Code sections in Chapter 14 of Title 43.

Electrical contractors, plumbers, conditioned air (HVAC) contractors, low voltage and utility contractors, and members of the State Construction Industry Licensing Board; aspiring and licensed professional engineers; and any professional licensee in Georgia whose board requires continuing education and falls under the Secretary of State's oversight.

Contractors and engineers would face reorganized but largely similar licensing rules, with some penalties increasing. Engineers could sit for their licensing exam without first finishing years of required work experience, potentially speeding up their path to licensure, while a new statewide tracking tool would make it harder for any licensee to renew without proving completed continuing education.

• Section 1-1 rewrites Chapter 14 of Title 43, updating definitions such as 'alarm system,' 'low voltage contracting,' and 'utility system,' and renumbering many Code sections (for example, old 43-14-8.1 becomes 43-14-9).
• Section 1-1 raises the cease and desist fine for unlicensed conditioned air, plumbing, or electrical contracting from $500 to $1,500 and the general misdemeanor fine for chapter violations from $1,000 to $3,000.
• Section 1-2 amends O.C.G.A. § 43-15-9 to remove the word 'Subsequently' before the exam requirement, decoupling the order of the experience requirement and the professional engineer exam.
• Section 2-1 adds new O.C.G.A. § 43-1-4.1.1, directing the Secretary of State to create a continuing education tracking system for licensing boards under its jurisdiction, with compliance required for license renewals starting January 1, 2026.
• Section 43-14-22 (added within Chapter 14) lets the board create an inactive license status process, while prohibiting licensed work while a license is inactive.
• Part III (Sections 3-1 through 3-5) updates cross-references in Titles 8, 10, 36, 43, and 46 to reflect the renumbering of Chapter 14 sections and standardizes 'low-voltage' and 'high-voltage' spelling to 'low voltage' and 'high voltage.'

1. 2025-05-09Effective Date 2025-07-01
2. 2025-05-09Act 93
3. 2025-05-09Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2025-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2025-04-04Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
6. 2025-04-02House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
7. 2025-04-02House Third Readers (House)
8. 2025-03-31House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)

• Larry Walker (R, SD-020)Primary sponsor
• Ed Setzler (R, SD-037)
• John Kennedy (R, SD-018)
• Brian Strickland (R, SD-042)
• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Lee Hawkins (R, HD-027)

1. PassedSenate voteFebruary 24, 2025

   56 yea, 0 nay

   Passage: Senate Vote #87

2. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2025

   104 yea, 61 nay (7 not voting, 8 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #385

3. PassedSenate voteApril 4, 2025

   37 yea, 14 nay (2 not voting, 3 absent)

   Agree To House Substitute: Senate Vote #470

• professional licensing
• contractor regulation
• professional engineers
• continuing education
• construction industry