Section 45. There shall be a board of registration of professional engineers and of land surveyors, in this section and in sections forty-six and forty-seven called the board, consisting of six registered professional engineers, 3 registered land surveyors and one representative of the public, subject to the provisions of section nine B, who are citizens of the United States and residents of the commonwealth, appointed by the governor. Of the professional engineer members of said board, one shall be a civil engineer, one shall be a mechanical engineer, one shall be an electrical or electronics engineer, one shall be a chemical engineer, one shall be both a civil engineer and a registered land surveyor, and the sixth member shall represent any technical branch or specialty of engineering other than those listed above. Each member of the board except the member who is both a civil engineer and a registered land surveyor, the members who are registered land surveyors, and the member who is a representative of the public shall have been actively engaged in the practice of engineering for at least twelve years, and shall have been in responsible charge of important engineering work or in engineering teaching, or both, for at least five years. The member of the board who is both a civil engineer and a registered land surveyor and the members of the board who are registered land surveyors shall have been actively and principally engaged in the practice of land surveying for at least twelve years, and shall have been in responsible charge of land surveying work for at least five years. Upon the expiration of the term of a member of the board his successor, qualified as aforesaid and representative of the same branch of engineering or the public, as the case may be, shall be appointed for a term of five years by the governor. All professional engineer members of the board shall be in active practice of their profession at the time of their appointment. In the event of a vacancy in the board caused otherwise than by expiration of the term of office of a member qualified as above and similarly representative shall in like manner be appointed for the remainder of the unexpired term and until the qualification of his successor.

The board may: (i) establish the requirements for registration of professional engineers and professional land surveyors; (ii) establish standards of professional and ethical conduct for professional engineers and professional land surveyors; (iii) authorize and conduct appropriate examinations to determine the qualifications of applicants; (iv) grant certificates of registrations to qualified applicants; (v) establish standards for continuing education; and (vi) set and administer penalties as provided in sections 61 to 65E, inclusive, and section 81P of chapter 112 for fraudulent, deceptive or professionally-incompetent and unsafe practices and for violations of rules and regulations promulgated by the board.