Engineering Inc. - Winter 2020 - 38

STATEORGANIZATIONPROFILE
the early 1990s, the organization was
strictly for owners of firms-'a good ole
boys club' if you will. Only the senior
principal(s) attended meetings and our
mailing list was around 125 individuals,"
he said. "Since then, we have convinced
'owners' that ACEC OKLAHOMA is
important to employees at all levels of
their firms, and we have expanded our
mailing list to well over 500 employees,
which continues to grow almost daily."
MAJOR LEGISLATIVE
ACHIEVEMENTS

Over the decades, the 65-year-old state
organization has blazed many new and
critical trails to enhance the marketplace
for state engineers, including landmark
engineering industry legislation that
would serve as a blueprint for other states.
In 1967, ACEC OKLAHOMA
achieved passage of the state's first Statute
of Repose-which provides protection
for engineers, architects, and construction
companies from lawsuits 10 years after
"substantial completion of the project,"
marking an absolute end of any available
lawsuit. (Some states require a different
period of time.)
The statute's strength was tested in
1989 and again in 1992 when two cases
went to the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
The Statute of Repose in both cases was
upheld as constitutional.
"These were major victories," Sullins
says. "Some other states had Statutes of
Repose that were turned back by their
Supreme Courts, so that was huge for the
profession here."
In 1984, ACEC OKLAHOMA led
an industry coalition effort that made
Oklahoma the first state to approve legislation protecting architects and engineers
from third-party liability under workers'
compensation laws-the same protection
that had been extended to property own-

ACEC OKLAHOMA was one of the 10 founding state organizations that subsequently formed the national
Consulting Engineering Council of the United States in 1956, a predecessor of the ACEC national association
that exists today. The first meeting of the 10 founding state organizations was hosted in July 1956 in Tulsa.
Members of CEC's first board of directors and executive committee included: (seated left to right) William
C.E. Becker, Charles Pate, John K.M. Pryke, Bernard Dornblatt, and Edward Wolfe. Standing left to right are
Thomas Roche, Ralph Westcott, George Paulson Jr., Howard Ecklin, and Kenneth Murry. Pate, from Oklahoma,
later became president of the Consulting Engineering Council of the U.S.

years, particularly in the transportation sector, due in large part to the state
ROADS Fund (Rebuilding Oklahoma
Access and Driver Safety), legislatively
approved in 2005 to ensure a dedicated
revenue source for the maintenance and
repair of state highways and bridges.
The fund guaranteed an annual apportionment equal to the previous year
plus an additional $59.7 million until
it reached a cap of $575 million. Those
funds helped repair 1,067 functionally
obsolete or structurally deficient bridges
on the state's highway system, with
about 100 more bridges scheduled to be
repaired over the next couple years.
The ROADS Fund reached its $575
million annual cap in FY 2019. When
combined with gas and diesel fuel tax revenue, Oklahoma has a long-term, sustainMARKET REMAINS STEADY
able funding source to support the state's
Business has remained steady for ACEC
transportation needs.
OKLAHOMA Member Firms over the
As with many states, Oklahoma has
not been without its budget
challenges, especially with an
"The QBS law goes top to bottom here. We
economy that still depends
heavily on the volatile oil and
have been successful in extending it to the
gas industry. As an example,
city, state, county, municipal work, trusts,
the 2014 collapse of oil
prices led to a $1.3 billion
state schools, etc."
state budget deficit in 2015,
JAMES F. SULLINS, CAE followed by a $600 million
PRESIDENT AND CEO deficit in 2017, and a $167
ACEC OKLAHOMA million budget shortfall

ENGINEERING INC.

WINTER 2020

ers, general contractors, and contractors.
Today, about 45 states now have the same
language in their workers' compensation
statutes.
Oklahoma also was one of the first
group of states to bring QualificationsBased Selection (QBS) laws to the state
level in 1982-some 10 years after Congress adopted the officially titled Brooks
Act, which mandated that federal departments and agencies select engineering
and architecture firms based upon their
competency, qualifications, and experience rather than by lowest price.
"The QBS law goes top to bottom
here," Sullins says. "We have been successful in extending it to the city, state,
county, municipal work, trusts, state
schools, etc."

Engineering Inc. - Winter 2020

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