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Dear All,

As a background note,
A Blue Ribbon Panel was formed at the WSSI- Gujarat Ambuja International Workshop on 'Professional Issues for Earthquake Safety of the Built Environment' in Dec. 2002. The workshop, had attempted to chart a schedule and a path for the next step towards building a robust professional infrastructure in India. The Blue Ribbon Panel is to develop a position paper as well as a road map and possible framework for such an infrastructure by June 30, 2003.
Mr Shankar Hoskere, Chair of this Panel has prepared a first draft of this of document.
Document 1: Base Document - addressing fundamental issues relating to the definition of aspects and processes involved in the Registration of Engineers.
We thank Mr V S Hoskere for sharing this document with the fraternity and invite all of you to send your comments on this which will help the Panel refine it further. .
Thanks and Regards,
Alpa Sheth & Sudhir K Jain
Moderators






Introduction of

Registration of Engineers

In India



Document 1: Base Document



This document covers basic definition aspects and answers the following basic questions about the fundamental aspects of Registration of Engineers:


A)What is registration of Engineers?


B) What is the overarching objective of the drive to introduce registration by WSSI?



C) How does one achieve registration?



D) What meaningful objective can the Registration of Engineers achieve?



E) What are the appropriate titles for Registered Engineers - should apprentices be called 'Engineer-in-Training' and registered engineers be called 'Professional Engineers'?



F) What system of Registration is right for the Indian condition?



G) What does the process of Registration involve?



H) Who will carry out the process of registration?



I) What is the constitution of the Engineering Council or Senate?



J) What is the constitution of the Board of Registration of Professional Engineers and how would it operate?



K)Which would be the Legislating Authority for this process of Registration - State Govt. or Central Govt.?



L) Would it be advantageous to have registration at even lower levels than State Levels - such as at City/Municipality levels?

















A) What is registration of Engineers?



Registration of Engineers at a minimum - is a listing of Engineers by a certain Authority based on certain criteria. Upon meeting of these criteria the Engineer is 'Registered' and can use an officially approved 'Seal of Registration'. This 'Seal' may be affixed on the Engineering product [ drawings/calculations ] accompanied by his signature which fixes the liability of the service offered on the signatory. The Seal will carry the Registration Number and the Expiration Date of the Registration.





B) What is the overarching objective of the drive to introduce registration by WSSI?



The overarching objective of the drive to introduce registration is to ensure the safety, health and welfare of the public. This drive has been formulated after the Gujarat earthquake. From analysis of data from similar seismic event in Japan, it was found that about 85% of the deaths during an earthquake result directly from structural failure. This increases the necessity of regulating the Practice of Civil Engineering especially in States and Regions which are earthquake prone. Even in areas which are not prone to earthquakes, there are numerous examples of building and structure collapses due to deficient design even when such structures are subject only to predictable dead and live loads.



This indicates that the engineering community has to take responsibility of regulating its own practice in the interest of the safety and welfare of the public. It also may be viewed from a consumer protection point of view and a demand may be made by the public that the state ensure that public buildings are designed by competent engineers and that engineers who are offering services on their own be properly evaluated and certified in the public interest.





C) How does one achieve registration?

Broadly registration can be achieved by the following three self expalanatory methods:

1) By Self Regulation

2) By Co-regulation - a combination of self regulation and regulation imposed by Government authority.

3) By Government Regulation alone.









D) What meaningful objective can the Registration of Engineers achieve?



Registration of Engineers can be viewed as a tool to achieve one or both of the following objectives:



1. A regulation of the Practice of Engineering:

This type of registration means that responsible 'practice of engineering' can only be carried out by Registered Engineers. Engineers who are not registered cannot independently offer Engineering Services. Unregistered engineers can still work for companies and corporations without signing the documents themselves or affixing their Seal of Registration. On behalf of the company, a specific Registered Engineer will take the responsibility for the services offered by the company.



This method regulates the entire 'practice' of engineering and makes it illegal for a non-registered engineer to offer engineering services independently. This also limits the choice of the consumer. However, it may have a better effect on safeguarding the safety and welfare of the public. Therefore this method seems appropriate for essential branches of engineering whose unregulated practice affects the safety of public directly.



This method would fall under the category of 'Registration by Government Authority'.



2. A regulation of the use of a certain Title:

This type of registration means that only the use of certain 'Titles' are regulated. For example, the title of 'Professional Engineer' which is conferred on an engineer who is qualified and registered as one, may not be legally used by another who is not registered.



This however does not mean that a person cannot offer engineering services - he may offer it under any other name but not as a 'Professional Engineer". This second mode of regulation serves the limited purpose of informing the public that any person who is using a specific title is registered with the Registering Authority. It also essentially makes available a database of registered engineers whom, the Registering Authority considers as competent to do the job. In this method, the consumer retains the right of choice of picking either a Registered Engineer or a Non-registered Engineer to obtain the desired services.



This method would fall under the category of 'Co-regulation' the onus being both on the practicing engineer as well as on the choosing public with the government providing a regulated choice for use by the public without enforcing it on a statutory basis.







E) What are the appropriate titles for Registered Engineers - should apprentices be called 'Engineer-in-Training' and registered engineers be called Professional?

To answer this question, it may be useful to look at what other developed countries are calling their Apprentice Engineers and Registered Engineers:



Apprenticeship engineers are certified as 'Engineer-in-Training' in the following countries:

USA, Canada, New Zealand



Registered engineers are called 'Professional Engineers' in the following countries:

USA, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Africa, China, Ireland, UK, Japan and Korea.



It would be advantageous for India to use the same Nomenclature

a) in order facilitate title recognition from International Bodies such as WTO or APEC and from other countries.

b) in order to obtain membership of International Register of Professional Engineers.



In view of the above, the following titles may be used:

a) Engineer-in-Training - for apprenticeship engineers

b) Professional Engineer - for registered engineers.





F) What system of Registration is right for the Indian condition?



In conjunction with the above two objectives a registration system may be set up which is particularly suited for India.



In branches of engineering such as civil engineering whose practice can directly relate to the safety and welfare of the public, introducing Professional Engineering Registration that will prevent unregistered engineers from offering to practice engineering can regulate the entire Practice of Civil Engineering.



目前practice of engineering in the three basic branches of engineering - civil, mechanical and electrical - may be regulated through the introduction of registration through Regulation of Practice.



Registration in other branches of engineering such as 'Chemical Engineering', as well as Specialised Registration in Advanced Areas of Practice - such as 'Structural', 'Geotechnical', 'Metallurgical' etc.,. may be regulated through the process of Title Regulation at a later stage once the administrative machinery required for the registration process is in place.





Such a pool of Engineers with Specialized Licenses may also be effectively utilized for rendering engineering services for public buildings such as schools and hospitals that carry a higher importance factor.



This two-pronged Philosophy of Registration may be used:

1.. to control the Practice of Engineering for Essential Areas and
2.. to provide a reliable database of competent engineers in
A) Other Branches of Engineering and

B) in Specialized Areas





G) What does the process of Registration involve?



The process of Registration requires the

1.. Setting up of the stepped approach to establishing 'professional registration' through two steps:
1.. a first step of certified apprenticeship - a certification of Engineer in Training
2.. a second step of certification as a 'Professional Engineer'
3.专业领域的第三步s for 'Specialty Registration' - possibly introduced at a later stage.
2.. Setting up of the criteria for qualifications for the above steps
3.Evaluation of applications for qualification,
4.. Setting up of examination formats and questions
5.. Administration and evaluation of exams,
6.. Issuance of Registration certificates
7.. Issuance of notices of expiry and renewal
8.. Handling of complaints from applicants regarding applications and evaluations
9.. Hearing and appeals apparatus to handle complaints from public about performance of registered engineers
10.. Periodic evaluation of the goals of registration
11.. Periodic evaluation of areas covered and examination of effectiveness of processes in place.
























H) Who will carry out the process of registration?

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