Article From the Board
By Jeremy L. Achter, Current SEAU President
On August 8, 1980, 37 structural engineers from firms and practices throughout Utah came together under one umbrella to form the Structural Engineers Association of Utah. 44 years later, we are nearly 400 members strong and growing. Since that date, a lot has changed in the practice of structural engineering and is continuing to change. Perhaps nothing is more noticeable than the rate of change, which seems to be increasing every day. I believe that none of those 37 engineers could have imagined what the practice would look like today.
In the years since, one thing hasn’t changed, or more specifically, six things haven’t changed, the original goals of the organization. Each goal is just as relevant today as it was in 1980. Even if we realize today that we can (and probably should) add some new ones to the list, I argue that these are still at the top.
- Promote acquaintance and understanding among structural engineers.
- Promote technical expertise.
- Promote legislation and codes relating to structural engineering.
- Increase public awareness of structural engineering.
- Discourage unethical and detrimental practice.
- Promote high standards of structural engineering in the best interests of clients, community, public and the profession.
44 years ago, the most important thing in my world was whether my blue Schwinn Scrambler with the red pin stripe had air in the tires. Today, I am grateful that those 37 individuals recognized the importance of what they were doing and had the vision and the means to lay the SEAU foundation. I hope we all recognize the value in SEAU’s original goals and how important they are to what we do and how we interact today.
SEAU has accomplished many great things since its inception and with your help will continue to do so into the future. As an organization, we must stay true to these six goals and over the course of the next year, we will further our commitment to each of them. Thank you for being a member and thank you for the contribution that you make every day to this noble and important profession.
Jeremy L. Achter, P.E., S.E., LEEDap
SEAU President
2025 Utah Legislative Session Report
By Mike Buehner, SEAU Legislative Committee Chair
The Utah Legislative Session for 2025 closed at midnight March 7. Other than the senate bill to allow horse race betting, so that you firm leaders would be able to get a quick influx of cash in a pinch to make payroll, that didn’t pass, the following are bills relevant to Utah structural engineers that did pass except for one that didn’t.
House Bill 58 Building Inspector Amendments adds the definition for a “Qualified building official.” It adds more responsibilities to the Unified Code Council of the Uniform Building Code Commission, with assistance from DOPL, to gather data related to the building inspection process, including building code interpretation and enforcement. And submit an annual report of data collected to present to the Legislature. It adds a definition of a private home inspector and the requirement for them to meet minimum qualifications set by DOPL. It also adds new items to the list of actions that are considered unlawful and unprofessional conduct. Drive-by inspections are unfortunately still not on that list..
House Bill 160 Professional License Degree Amendments, when initially submitted, was going to eliminate the requirement for professional engineers to hold a bachelor’s degree from an accredited university or college program. SEAU joined others to express opposition to this proposal and after a quick flurry of activity, it was removed from the bill.
House Bill 368 Local Land Use Amendments added language that allows local jurisdictions to use “automated review” in their plan review process. Automated review is defined to “mean a computerized process used to conduct a plan review, including through the use of software and algorithms to assess compliance with an applicable building code, regulation, or ordinances to ensure that a plan meets all of a municipality’s required criteria for approval.” This obviously causes concern because we know there is nothing in the computing world can do this right now, but someone, somewhere reading this new law, sure shootin’ is going to ask ChatGPT to review a pdf document for conformance to the building code and believe everything that comes back. SEAU and ACEC are going to collaborate on a way to make this better and hopefully amend it next year.
House Bill 513 Utah Commission for Earthquake Preparedness was submitted to resume the activities of the Utah Seismic Safety Council that was defunded by the Legislature last year. This bill was killed in the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee.
Senate Bill 44 Professional Licensure Amendments fortunately did not include professional engineers in the list of occupations that must undergo a criminal background check and fingerprinting. Remember, they took out the requirement for good moral character a couple of years ago. Anyway, lucky for us! You know who you are…
Mike Buehner, SE
Legislative Committee Chair, Structural Engineers Association of Utah
