6735. (a) All civil (including structural and geotechnical) engineering plans, calculations, specifications, and reports (hereinafter referred to as “documents”) shall be prepared by, or under the responsible charge of, a licensed civil engineer and shall include his or her name and license number. Interim documents shall include a notation as to the intended purpose of the document, such as “preliminary,” “not for construction,” “for plan check only,” or “for review only.” All civil engineering plans and specifications that are permitted or that are to be released for construction shall bear the signature and seal or stamp of the licensee and the date of signing and sealing or stamping. All final civil engineering calculations and reports shall bear the signature and seal or stamp of the licensee, and the date of signing and sealing or stamping. If civil engineering plans are required to be signed and sealed or stamped and have multiple sheets, the signature, seal or stamp, and date of signing and sealing or stamping shall appear on each sheet of the plans. If civil engineering specifications, calculations, and reports are required to be signed and sealed or stamped and have multiple pages, the signature, seal or stamp, and date of signing and sealing or stamping shall appear at a minimum on the title sheet, cover sheet, or signature sheet.
(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), a licensed civil engineer who signs civil engineering documents shall not be responsible for damage caused by subsequent changes to or uses of those documents, if the subsequent changes or uses, including changes or uses made by state or local governmental agencies, are not authorized or approved by the licensed civil engineer who originally signed the documents, provided that the engineering service rendered by the civil engineer who signed the documents was not also a proximate cause of the damage.
(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 430, Sec. 4. (AB 181) Effective January 1, 2016.)