P.E. Review and Certification for Public Projects
Some public and grant-funded projects need more than a good network design: they need a licensed professional engineer to review it and put their name to it. Engineer Austin, based in Georgetown, Texas, provides professional engineering review, sign-off and, where a program or jurisdiction requires it, sealed certification by Gregory "Lynn" Haag II, P.E., for network, broadband, fiber, wireless and SCADA communications designs, reports and as-builts. We also give public bodies an independent engineering review of a design or proposal someone else prepared.
Engineering review your funder or your board can rely on
- P.E. review and sign-off of network designs. Broadband, fiber, fixed wireless, campus and SCADA communications designs reviewed against the program's performance requirements and sound engineering practice, then signed by the licensed engineer who reviewed them.
- Certification for grant applications. Where a program requires an engineer's certification that a proposed network can meet its performance requirements, we review the design, diagram, costs and schedule behind that statement before it is signed.
- Sealed documents where the rules require a seal. When a program, an agency or Texas engineering rules call for sealed plans, reports or as-builts, the work is prepared or reviewed under the P.E.'s direct supervision and sealed as the rules require.
- Independent review of another firm's design. A second, independent engineering opinion on a design another firm prepared, with numbered findings the designer can answer.
- Review of vendor and contractor proposals. For cities, counties, districts and schools: whether a proposal meets your requirements, whether the capacity and coverage claims hold up, and what questions to ask before you award.
- Engineering reports for grants and compliance filings. Technical narratives, network descriptions, capacity and coverage analysis, build-out schedules and opinions of probable cost, written so a reviewer can follow them.
- As-built and record documentation. As-builts checked against what was actually installed, and attested only to the extent we can confirm it in the field.
- Performance verification after construction. Speed, latency and coverage testing documented for close-out, and independent engineer statements where a program asks for one.
Typical uses: a broadband provider or electric cooperative preparing a federal or state grant application, a county or city checking a carrier's or integrator's proposal before award, a water or utility district reviewing the communications side of a SCADA project, and a public body that wants a second opinion before a large network build.
Where an engineer's certification is required
Programs such as USDA ReConnect and the BEAD program, as administered by the Texas Broadband Development Office, require a professional engineer's certification that the proposed network can meet the program's performance requirements. USDA telecommunications loans call for certain construction certifications to be signed by a licensed engineer.
TxDOT districts may require plans signed and sealed by an engineer for utilities in highway right of way, and require sealed as-built plans for utility attachments to bridges. The Texas Water Development Board requires a preliminary engineering feasibility report signed and sealed by a Texas professional engineer. The FCC's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund also required a professional engineer to certify the network diagram at its long-form application stage. Requirements change between funding rounds, so we read the current rules for your program with you before any work starts.
Bring us the document you need reviewed
You do not need to be a managed client, and we do not need to have designed the network. We take on single reviews, certifications and reports for public bodies, utilities, cooperatives and broadband providers, quoted as a fixed fee or billed time and materials, with written findings you keep. Terms are set out in a written agreement.
Grant design certification
The network design, diagram, costs and schedule reviewed against the program's performance requirements, with any gaps fixed before the engineer's certification is signed.
Independent design review
A design prepared by another firm reviewed line by line, with numbered findings, a severity for each and a short summary for decision makers.
Proposal and bid review
Vendor and contractor proposals compared against your requirements and against each other, so the award decision rests on engineering, not on the sales pitch.
Engineering reports
Technical narratives, capacity and coverage analysis and opinions of probable cost for grant applications, board packets and compliance filings.
Right-of-way plan support
Fiber and conduit plans prepared or reviewed for permits in highway and public right of way, signed and sealed where the agency requires it.
Close-out verification
As-builts checked in the field and performance testing documented, so the project can be closed out with records that match what was built.
Rules first, then the design, then the signature
Confirm what is required
We read the current program rules, notice of funding or permit requirements with you and write down exactly what must be certified, sealed or simply reviewed. If no engineer's certification is required, we say so.
Review against the criteria
The design is checked against the stated performance requirements and the physics behind them: capacity, link budgets, coverage, latency, resiliency, pathways and schedule, with every assumption recorded.
Resolve the findings
Findings go back to you or the designer in writing. Each one is answered, corrected or accepted as a stated limitation before anything is signed.
Sign only what we can stand behind
The P.E. signs, or seals where required, only work he reviewed or that was done under his direct supervision, and only the statements the evidence supports.
Findings and a signature that mean something
- A one-page statement of what the program or agency requires, and what it does not.
- Numbered review findings with a severity and a recommendation for each.
- The signed certification, or sealed documents where the rules require a seal, in the form the program asks for.
- The calculations and assumptions behind any capacity, coverage or performance statement.
- A short summary for your council, commission or board.
- A record of what was reviewed, which revision, and when.
How AI speeds this up for you
Program rules and design packages run to hundreds of pages. We use AI assistance in our approval-gated tooling to index the documents and check them against the program's checklist, so you get findings sooner. The engineering judgment is never delegated to a tool: our team works through the documents and checks the findings, the P.E. reads every design he is asked to sign or seal and decides what he will sign, and no client document or secret is ever pasted into a public AI tool. How we use AI.
Kept current. Funding programs rewrite their rules between rounds: federal broadband programs have changed their certification and performance requirements more than once in recent years, and state offices add their own. We check the rules in force for your round rather than relying on the last application we saw.
Why an engineering firm, and who holds us accountable
Licensed, and answerable for it
In Texas, IT and managed-service providers are not licensed or overseen by any state board. That is simply how the industry is set up, and many providers do careful work. Engineer Austin is different in one specific way: it is Texas Registered Engineering Firm F‑15739, and its principal, Gregory "Lynn" Haag II, P.E., is a licensed professional engineer who answers to the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors.
That means continuing education every year, including professional ethics; a code of professional conduct that puts the health, safety and welfare of the public first, limits practice to areas of competence and requires statements to be objective and truthful; a public complaint process with real discipline, up to suspension or revocation of a license; and a public license and firm lookup on the Board's website, so you can check us yourself.
Plain about when a seal applies
Many network projects do not legally require an engineer at all. The Texas Board has said that projects such as data cabling, Wi-Fi and security cameras in public school buildings have not historically been considered the practice of engineering.
Where no seal is legally required, our work is still designed on engineering principles under a licensed engineering firm, and we say so plainly rather than overstating it. We never put a seal on work that does not call for one, and we never tell you a seal is required when it is not.
Review work pairs with our network engineering, fiber, point-to-point wireless and ISP engineering services, and with the wider practice described on our engineering page.
P.E. review, answered plainly
Does my project require a P.E.?
It depends on the program, the funding and the agency involved. Some federal and state broadband programs require a professional engineer's certification of the network design, some agencies require sealed plans only in certain cases, and many network projects require no engineer at all. We check the program rules with you at the start and tell you what applies. We never claim a seal is required when it is not.
Can you review a design another firm prepared?
Yes. Independent review is a large part of this work. We review the design as submitted, write numbered findings, and discuss them with you and, if you wish, with the designer. We are clear that a review is not a redesign, and that the designer remains responsible for their own work unless we take it over under the P.E.'s direct supervision.
What is the difference between a review, a certification and a seal?
A review is our written engineering opinion of a design or proposal. A certification is a signed statement a program asks for, such as that a proposed network can meet its performance requirements. A seal is applied to engineering documents when Texas engineering rules or an agency require one, and means the P.E. takes professional responsibility for that work. We tell you in writing which of the three you are getting.
Will you certify whatever our application needs?
We certify only what the design and the evidence support. If the network as drawn cannot reach the program's performance requirements, we tell you early and explain what would need to change, so it can be fixed before the application is due rather than discovered by the reviewer.
Can you review a proposal from a vendor you also compete with?
If we have an interest in the outcome, such as having bid on the same work, we tell you in writing before we start, and we decline the review if that would compromise it. Texas engineering rules require that kind of disclosure, and it is how we would want to be treated.
What do you need from us to start?
The program or permit you are working under, the documents to be reviewed and the deadline. We confirm what is required, give you a written quotation and a schedule, and start when you approve it. Short deadlines are common in grant rounds, so the earlier we see the design, the more room there is to fix what the review finds.
Start with a written assessment.
Tell us what you have and what is not working. Someone from our team, not a salesperson, replies within one business day by email or phone, and brings in our engineer when your request needs one. The assessment report is yours to keep whether or not you buy anything.