Current through Register Vol. 24-24, December 15, 2024
All public records of the board are available for public
inspection and copying pursuant to these rules and applicable state law
(chapter 42.56 RCW), as follows:
(1)
Inspection of records. Public records are available for inspection and copying
during normal business hours of the office of the Washington state board of
registration for professional engineers and land surveyors. Records may be
inspected at the board's office when the requestor has been notified of the
availability of the requested documents and an appointment is made with the
public records officer.
(2) Records
index. An index of public records, consisting of the retention schedules
applicable to those records, is available to members of the public at the
board's office.
(3) Organization of
records. The board maintains its records in a reasonably organized manner. The
board will take reasonable actions to protect records from damage and
disorganization. A requestor shall not take original records from the board's
office. A variety of records are also available on the board's website at
https://brpels.wa.gov/. Requestors
are encouraged to view the documents available on the website prior to
submitting a public records request.
(4) Making a request for public records.
(a) Any person wishing to inspect or obtain
copies of public records should make the request using the board's public
records request form available on the board's website or in writing by letter
or email addressed to the public records officer. Written request must include
the following information:
(ii) Name of the
requestor.
(iii) Address of the
requestor and other contact information, including telephone number and any
email addresses.
(iv) Clear
identification of the public records requested to permit the public records
officer or designee to identify and locate the records.
(b) The public records officer may also
accept requests for public records by telephone or in person. If the public
records officer or designee accepts an oral or telephone request, he or she
will confirm receipt of the request and the details of the records requested,
in writing, to the requestor.
(c)
If the requests received in (a) or (b) of this subsection are not sufficiently
clear to permit the public records officer to identify the specific records
requested, the public records officer will request clarification from the
requestor in writing.
(d) If the
requestor wishes to have copies of the records made instead of simply
inspecting them, he or she should make that preference clear in the request.
Copies will be made by the board's public records officer or
designee.
(e) When fulfilling
public records requests, the board will perform its public records
responsibilities in the most expeditious manner consistent with the board's
need to fulfill its other essential functions.
(f) By law, certain records and/or specific
content of any specific record or document may not be subject to public
disclosure. Accordingly, a reasonable time period may occur between the date of
the request and the ability of the public records officer to identify, locate,
retrieve, remove content not subject to disclosure, prepare a redaction log
that includes the specific exemption, a brief explanation of how the exemption
applies to the records or portion of the records being withheld, and produce
the records for inspection and/or copying. The requestor will be kept informed
of the expected delivery timetable.
(g) If the request includes a large number of
records, the production of the records for the requestor may occur in
installments. The requestor will be informed, in writing, of the board's
anticipated installment delivery timetable.
(h) In certain instances, the board may
notify affected third parties to whom the record relates. This notice allows
the affected third party to seek an injunction within fifteen days from the
date of the written notice. The notice further provides that release of the
records to the requestor will be honored unless timely injunctive relief is
obtained by the affected third party on or before the end of the fifteen-day
period.
(i) Requests for lists of
credentialed individuals by educational organizations and professional
associations: In order to obtain a list of individuals under the provisions of
RCW
42.56.070(8), educational
organizations and professional associations must provide sufficient information
to satisfy the board that the requested list of individuals is primarily for
educational and professionally related uses.
Board forms are available on the board's website or upon
request.