The Nebraska Professional

Continuing Education Matters: Nebraska Supreme Court Upholds Board Action

On July 2, 2026, the Nebraska Supreme Court issued its opinion in Gay v. Board of Engineers and Architects (312 Neb. 712, No. S-25-002).

In its opinion, the Court affirmed the Board’s five-year revocation of the former licensee’s architecture and professional engineer licenses after determining that he submitted forged documents and provided false statements to the Board during a random continuing education (CE) audit. In addition, the licensee was subject to a prior disciplinary settlement, which set forth that those matters could be considered for disciplinary purposes in the event of a future violation occurring within five years. The court also held that the Board’s disciplinary action, which revoked his licensed and barred him from reapplying for five years, was not arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable based on the facts of the case.

One of the key takeaways of this case is the fact that the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the critical role continuing education plays in maintaining professional competency and protecting the public.

While some may view mandatory continuing education requirements as separate from their daily professional work, they serve an important purpose: to safeguard the health, safety, and welfare of the public. Continuing education ensures licensed professionals stay current with evolving practices, technologies, and standards, giving them the knowledge and judgment needed to fulfill their professional responsibilities.

Architects and professional engineers have an ethical responsibility to apply current knowledge and sound judgment when providing services that can directly impact the lives of others. Through ongoing learning, licensees help support safe, reliable, and compliant projects, strengthen public confidence in the professions, and reinforce their commitment to protecting Nebraska's communities.

Recent Changes to the E&A Act

On July 17, 2026, two important changes were made to the Nebraska Engineers and Architects Act (E&A Act):

First, the statute that governs the placement of a licensee’s signature and date of application in connection with their seal was modified.  Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-3437.01(2) was revised to read, “Whenever the seal is applied, the licensee's signature and the date of the seal's application shall be placed across or adjacent to the seal in a manner that does not obscure the licensee's name or the license number on the seal.”

Second, the statutes requiring board approval for those wishing to sit for the NCEES Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Exam are removed in N.R.S. § 81-3451 Sections (2)(a) and (b). As a result, PE Exam applicants will no longer apply to the Board to be eligible to sit for the exam. 

Examinees who meet the exam and education requirements are automatically approved upon registering with NCEES. An automatic approval requires two verifications: passing the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam and a transcript showing they have graduated from an EAC/ABET-accredited program. 

The latest version of the E&A Act is available on the Board’s website. Hard copies will be available at a later date.

Bostelman Elected as Board Chair

At the Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects' meeting on July 17, 2026, Jan Bostelman was elected as Board Chair. 

A licensed professional engineer with more than 35 years of experience in the nuclear industry, safety and material assessments, application to materials systems reliability, nuclear reactor systems process, licensing, analytical modeling, and computer code utilization, she has served on the Board since her appointment in 2017. 

She is also a licensed professional metallurgical engineer in several states. Her expertise includes developing the reactor safety system, performance analysis methodologies, design and storage of reactor fuel, and public policy related to the nuclear industry. She has worked with federal and state regulators across the United States and overseas.

Kelly Elected as NCARB Region 5 Chair

During the NCARB Annual Business held in June, Board Member Brian Kelly, AIA, NCARB, was elected as the NCARB Region 5 Chair.

Kelly is a licensed architect and an associate professor of architecture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). He joined the Nebraska Board of Engineers and Architects as the Board's Education Member in 2018. Kelly is a graduate of UNL with a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies and a Master of Architecture. He is also an alumnus of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design's "Design Thinking Bootcamp" of Stanford University. 

To help meet the needs of the profession, NCARB’s membership is divided into six regions; each U.S. architectural licensing board belongs to one of these regions.

The regional structure helps streamline the management of licensure and reciprocity details and provides jurisdictions with a space to make decisions on issues specific to their location. Region 5 includes Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wyoming.

Latest Monthly Q&A Webinars with Board Staff

Thank you to those who recently attended the first Monthly Q&A Webinar with Board Staff on Thursday, July 9, 2026! The session is now available on the Board’s YouTube channel.

Be sure to join us on the second Thursday of each month at 12 PM CDT. Each conversation will vary, and you never know what you may learn! 

No registration is required, and no question is too basic—we're committed to providing the information and resources you need to navigate licensure and professional practice with confidence.

To join the monthly Q&A sessions, use this recurring link. 

You may also dial in by phone. Please call +1 402-257-5560 and enter the phone conference ID: 796 558 53#. 

Important Reminders: 

• Board staff are not speaking on behalf of Board members.

• These sessions are for general informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice.

• Please keep questions general and avoid sharing project-specific, personal, or identifying information.

• It is anticipated that the Board will not give CE credit for these sessions. As a result, Board staff WILL NOT provide attendance verification for continuing education credits. 

NCEES News

For professional engineers (P.E.) educated or practicing outside the United States (U.S.) who seek to become licensed in the U.S., NCEES provides information and resources on its website about this process.

If a non-U.S. P.E. has Chartered Engineer (CEng) and International Professional Engineer (IntPE) statuses in the United Kingdom (U.K.), they may apply for a P.E. license in select U.S. states (including Nebraska) via the Mutual Recognition Agreement. If they are not a CEng on the U.K. IntPE Registry, contact the U.K. Engineering Council to inquire about applying for its International Registry.

For those interested in learning more about this process or applying for licensure, visit the NCEES website.

In the most recent Board Rules update, rules were added regarding this new licensure pathway. Please refer to Board Rule 4.1.5 for more information.

On July 1, 2026, NCARB released a new version of the Continuing Education Guidelines to align the document with the NCARB Competency Standard for Architects.

To achieve this alignment, the following changes were made:

• Using the Competency Standard instead of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Continuing Education (CE) Standard to define acceptable health, safety, and welfare (HSW)

• Updating language under HSW Subjects to better align the document’s conceptual framework with the Competency Standard, while emphasizing that the list of competencies is not intended to limit content that may meet the definition of HSW

• Adding the Competency Standard as a reference document for each HSW subject area

• Under each HSW subject area, replacing the list of acceptable topics with a list of relevant competencies, and—where applicable—the sub-bullet of the competency description applicable to the subject area

• In Practice Management, explicitly identifying two topics as HSW-eligible: effective supervision of licensure candidates and professional ethics

Download and review the updated CE Guidelines.

Effective September 1, 2026, changes will be made to the NCARB Certification Guidelines, expanding access to NCARB certification for architects licensed through historic, jurisdiction-specific exams.

NCARB is updating the examination requirements outlined in the Certification Guidelines to address longstanding inequities resulting from historical examination variances. The changes will ensure that architects who have been licensed and practicing responsibly for decades are not unduly burdened by outdated or inconsistent examination and scoring structures.

Learn more about the updates coming to the Certification Guidelines on September 1, 2026.

On July 6, 2026, NCARB and the South African Council for the Architectural Profession (SACAP) implemented a new Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA), increasing international practice opportunities for U.S. architects. The agreement provides a new path for architects to gain reciprocal licensure and expand their careers in each country. 

The agreement is based on shared competencies obtained at the point of licensure and accepts architects from a variety of backgrounds, including all of those who hold the NCARB Certificate, whether licensed via a traditional path or through the Education Alternative or International Architect Path. This latest MRA is modeled after similar arrangements between NCARB and Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. To apply for a reciprocal license in either country, architects must: 

• Be licensed and in good standing in a participating jurisdiction in their home country

• For U.S. architects, hold an active NCARB Certificate

• For South African architects, be licensed at the level of “professional architect”

• To learn more about earning a license to practice architecture abroad, visit www.ncarb.org/international. 

Licensure Updates

Recently Resolved Compliance Cases

Case 25.32 - Unlicensed Individual Practice - 81-3442(1)(a)

Summary: The Board was notified of the submission of unsealed plans to another state agency for the construction of a single-story building [mixed Business (B) and Storage (S) occupancy] comprising approximately 5,500 square feet. 

Any structure that contains two or more occupancies is governed by the most restrictive occupancy for purposes of determining whether the project is exempt (Neb. Admin. Code, Title 110, Chapter 10.3.11). The exemption level for Business (B) occupancies is 3,000 or more square feet (Neb. Admin. Code, Title 110, Chapter 10.3.2). The exemption level for Storage (S) occupancies is 5,000 or more square feet (Neb. Admin. Code, Title 110, Chapter 10.3.9). In this case, the most restrictive occupancy is Business (B), and therefore, the entire project is considered a Business (B) occupancy. 

Because this project exceeds 3,000 square feet, it is subject to the Act.

The plans did not bear the seal of a Nebraska-licensed architect or professional engineer. 

Action: The Board authorized architecture and engineering remediation to bring the project into compliance with the Act.

Per Board Rule 8.4, the project owner engaged a Nebraska-licensed architect and professional engineer to evaluate the project for compliance with the Act. During this review, the remediation professionals identified deficiencies and recommended design solutions. The project owner corrected the identified deficiencies based on the recommendations from the remediation professionals. As a result, the Board dismissed the complaint without disciplinary action based on the successful completion of architecture and engineering remediation.

Case 26.16 – Unlawful Use of Seal - 81-3442(1)(e)

Summary: A complaint was submitted alleging that an individual offering services through an online marketplace for freelance service platform used a Nebraska-licensed professional engineer’s seal without authorization and produced project plans bearing a forged professional engineer seal. 

Action: Upon investigation, the Board took several steps to address the unauthorized use of a Nebraska-licensed professional engineer. First, the Board sent correspondence to the online marketplace (fiverr.com) regarding the individual’s unauthorized use of a Nebraska-licensed professional engineer seal on engineering documents and requested that appropriate action be taken to address the matter.

Fiverr notified the Board that the individual who provided the document at issue had represented through its platform that they could lawfully provide engineering-stamped materials. Following an internal review, Fiverr confirmed that the user’s account had been restricted and that the individual was no longer available to provide services through the platform.

The Board also issued a press release notifying Nebraska-licensed architects and professional engineers, as well as project owners, building officials, contractors, and the public, of the increasing occurrence of unauthorized and fraudulent use of architect and professional engineer seals, particularly through online freelance marketplaces.

The Board continues to work with the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office to address instances of unauthorized and fraudulent use of architect and professional engineer seals as they are identified.

Following confirmation from Fiverr that this particular user had been restricted from the platform, the Board closed the complaint.

Case 26.19 – CE Audit Failure

Summary: A complaint was submitted alleging that Randy G. Brown (A-2451) supplied false information regarding the completion of continuing education. Board Rule 9.1 requires every architect to meet the continuing education requirements as a condition for license renewal.

Action: The Board found Brown failed to meet the continuing education requirements for the 2024-2025 renewal period. The Board proposed a settlement agreement in which Brown agreed to the disciplinary action, which imposed a $1,000 civil penalty and $192.22 in investigative costs to be paid within thirty (30) days. The licensee accepted the terms of the settlement agreement, and the Board closed the complaint based on satisfying the terms of the settlement agreement.

Case 26.20 – Unlicensed Individual Practice

Summary: A complaint was submitted alleging that the Respondent was engaging in the unlicensed practice of engineering in commercial renovation by sealing engineering sheets of the plans. The Respondent is a Nebraska-licensed architect but is not a Nebraska-licensed professional engineer.

The building project consisted of the commercial construction of a single-story building [Assembly (A) occupancy] comprising approximately 12,000 square feet. The exemption level for Assembly (A) occupancies is less than 1,000 square feet, as noted in Neb. Admin. Code, Title 110, Rule 10.3.1.

Because this project exceeds 1,000 square feet, it is subject to the Act.

Action: After reviewing the complaint, the Board found that no formal administrative or disciplinary action was warranted but chose to issue a Letter of Caution to the Respondent and to inform them to use greater care to avoid any repetition of such activities.

Case 26.22 – CE Audit Failure

Summary: A complaint was submitted alleging that Craig J. Joss (E-8615) failed his continuing education audit. Board Rule 9.1 requires every professional engineer to meet the continuing education requirements as a condition for license renewal. 

Action: The Board found Joss failed to meet the continuing education requirements for the 2024-2025 renewal period. The Board proposed a settlement agreement in which Joss agreed to the disciplinary action, which imposed a license suspension of 30 days or until he provided the Board with the appropriate supporting documentation illustrating he completed the required continuing education hours, a $500 civil penalty and $58.18 in investigative costs to be paid within thirty (30) days. The licensee accepted the terms of the settlement agreement, and the Board closed the complaint based on satisfying the terms of the settlement agreement.

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More information about the enforcement process is available.

The Board also maintains a list of formal disciplinary actions it has taken.