# Employer wont allow PE on Buisness Cards



## spydergt1 (Aug 7, 2012)

I passed the PE a few years back. I work as Project Manager in the Chicago construction industry. I recently switched employers. When going through the process of getting my new buisness cards I was informed that corporate legal department would not allow me to place P.E. on my cards. My old employer was family owned company and did not have a issue.

My new one is a much larger global construction company based out of NY. When I pressed my supervisior I got a standard "Its corporate policy"

Anyone else experiance this or something like this? Any ideas why would this be a liability to corporate legal?


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## Supe (Aug 7, 2012)

Perhaps its to avoid the implication that you're licensed in a state that a client is based out of when you may not be?


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## MA_PE (Aug 7, 2012)

you say it's a global construction company, maybe they do not want people to think of them as design engineers, or that as a PE you might have some liability as far as the engineering of whatever you construct.

Also, as Supe said it maight have to do with the state that your regsterd as a PE versus the state that the company is based in.


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## Peele1 (Aug 7, 2012)

Can you put something like "licensed PE in __, __ and __". I know attorneys who do that on their web site, marketing materials and business cards.

Find other credentials to list on the card. Collect cards from other employees and see if any of them have it, if so, point it out, if it is important to you.

Use a personal card, not listing your company name, and you can put whatever you want on it - though this may be against policy as well.

Though if it is a big company, you know the saying, "you can't fight city hall" , well, you can't fight a giant corporation's legal department policy.

If you really want to press it, you can ask to see a copy of this policy.


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## Dexman PE PMP (Aug 7, 2012)

If you plan on doing work in other states you run the risk of possibly mis-representing your services, as you can only advertise engineering services in states in which you are licensed. Additionally, your company may not carry the necessary E&amp;O or Liability insurance necessary to allow you to practice as a PE.


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## tmacier (Aug 7, 2012)

If he is not stamping he is not practicing.

I don't understand why it cant be on the card.

The company I work for does not carry E&amp;O insurance. When we want something stamped we sub out the work.

I have PE on my cards and in my email signature.

Not sure what the risk is....

Tim


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## Dexman PE PMP (Aug 7, 2012)

You don't have to practice in order to "advertise".


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## kevo_55 (Aug 7, 2012)

Holding yourself out as a PE while not licensed in that particular state is a no-no. You really do need to be very specific or don't call yourself a PE at all.


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## tmacier (Aug 7, 2012)

Respectfully Kevo I don’t agree.

From what I have seen everyone that I know personally or professionally that holds a PE license lists it after their signature and on their cards,. This ranges from many disciplines across a broad spectrum on industries including DOE, DOD, government labs, commercial nukes, pharma, civil firms, etc

I don’t think any of them have licensure in all states.

It is my personal belief some people take this to far. I list it on my email and cards because I am a professional engineer. 

In my line of work some of the companies are just as satisfied with calcs/drawings stamped in the state the deliverable was produced? (whether it is a calculation or a piece of equipment)

I don’t know, maybe I am way off here but I think I fall in with the norm with putting PE after my name.

Tim


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## snickerd3 (Aug 7, 2012)

depends on the state...some are very particular about what justifies offering/advertising and others are much less so. The national company likely got burned once and just made it policy to prevent it from happening again.


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## solomonb (Aug 7, 2012)

I believe that the issue is this. If your card says that your office is in New York AND you are licensed in New York, then PE can be placed on the card. You are a licensed engineer in New York. If your office is in Mississippi and you are licensed in New York, but not Mississippi, then putting PE on the card would be a violation of most state laws because you are holding your self out as an engineer in the state of Mississippi, when in fact you are licensed in New York, but not Mississippi.

Now, if you put PE on your card, your office is in Mississippi and put a star by PE and then state at the bottom of the card "Licensed PE in New York", I think that may work. However, I am NOT a lawyer, so am not sure. However, I think that this is crux of this question.


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## tmacier (Aug 8, 2012)

solomonb said:


> If your card says that your office is in New York AND you are licensed in New York, then PE can be placed on the card. You are a licensed engineer in New York.


This is reasonable and what I usually see.


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## gte636i (Aug 8, 2012)

tmacier said:


> Respectfully Kevo I don’t agree.
> 
> From what I have seen everyone that I know personally or professionally that holds a PE license lists it after their signature and on their cards,. This ranges from many disciplines across a broad spectrum on industries including DOE, DOD, government labs, commercial nukes, pharma, civil firms, etc
> 
> ...


Actually I don't list my PE anywhere, cards or signature. Our senior PE doesn't list it either. I prefer to stay anonymous, only telling people when needed.


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## MA_PE (Aug 8, 2012)

solomonb has it correct. If your business card lists an address, then the logical assumption is that your PE registration is in that state and if it's not then it's necessary to either clarify where the registraition is (for example John Q. Public,PE (MA, NY, VT, 3 other states) of just leave it off completely.

I believe that there have been some cases where a licensing board has gone after someone for "practicing without a license" because they weren't registered in the state where the project was located and they signed an project document as "PE" or because they were distributing business cards with "PE" but weren't licensed where the cards were distributed.

gte636i: that is certainly your preogative. due to the effort involved in getting a PE, many folks like to add the distinction.


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## RIP - VTEnviro (Aug 8, 2012)

I'm in the company not wanting to misrepresent itself and possibly being burnt in the past. Some states won't even let you hold the title of engineer on your card i if you aren't licensed.

I used to work with a guy who started in drafting and picked up the engineering skills along the way. He was called a 'project designer.'


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## knight1fox3 (Aug 8, 2012)

MA_PE said:


> gte636i: that is certainly your preogative. due to the effort involved in getting a PE, many folks like to add the distinction.


My thoughts exactly MA!


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## gte636i (Aug 8, 2012)

knight1fox3 said:


> MA_PE said:
> 
> 
> > gte636i: that is certainly your preogative. due to the effort involved in getting a PE, many folks like to add the distinction.
> ...


Don't get me wrong, I understand why people do, I was just answering the OP when he said he hadn't heard of any PE's that didn't advertise their status.


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## tmacier (Aug 9, 2012)

gte636i said:


> I was just answering the OP when he said he hadn't heard of any PE's that didn't advertise their status.



I actually said I did not know any personally of professionally - and that is still a true statment.

Tim


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## Slugger926 (Aug 9, 2012)

Maybe they only allow the Principals to have PE on their cards? Or they are afraid it will imply that the company itself is licensed in a state where they are not licensed. I know several companies offering engineering services without being properly licensed themselves.


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