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Professional Engineers (Amendment) Bill 2005 Passed
Posted on Monday, August 15, 2005 - 12:00 AM

The Professional Engineers (Amendment) Bill 2005 and Architects (Amendment) Bill 2005 were read a second time and passed by Parliament today. The Bills aim to enable the Professional Engineers Board (PEB) and Board of Architects (BOA) to more effectively regulate and uphold professionalism and safety standards in the construction industry.

2 The amendments revise the compositions of the PEB and BOA, streamline the registration system of PEB, provide for the licensing of limited liability partnerships (LLPs) in engineering and architectural services, lower entry barriers for start-up corporations, fine-tune the disciplinary proceedings of the Boards, and require the names of newly licensed architectural corporations and partnerships to be approved by BOA. The amendments also take in the recommendations of the Joint MND-MOM Review Committee (JRC) on Construction Safety to register Professional Engineers (PEs) specialised in geotechnical engineering and raise penalties against errant PEs and Architects.

AMENDMENTS TO THE TWO ACTS

Revise Composition of Boards
3 To enable the Boards to perform its roles more effectively and undertake additional responsibilities such as the management of an examination system for registration and registration system of specialist PEs, the Boards will be expanded from the current maximum of 10 members to 15.

4 An election system will be introduced to give professionals greater say in selecting their representatives. Registered professionals will elect up to 6 Board members. The Minister will appoint another 6 members, and a representative from BOA or PEB. The Commissioner of Building Control, and the President of the Singapore Institute of Architects (SIA) or Institution of Engineers Singapore (IES) will be ex-officio members1. Each Board?s President is to be elected from among the members, excluding the PEB or BOA representative and the ex-officio members.

Streamline Registration System for PEs
5 To align the PE registration system to that of advanced countries, work experience requirements will be streamlined to a single level of at least 4 years of engineering work experience2 and a pass in an examination.

Amend Scope of PE Registration
6 To help PEB focus its efforts on the development of the 3 key engineering disciplines, PEB will only register new PEs in the 3 construction-related disciplines (i.e. civil, mechanical and electrical) instead of the current 12 disciplines. Only PEs from these 3 disciplines are required by statutes to submit plans.

Register PEs with Geotechnical Specialisation
7 To ensure safety in specialized work, and the deployment of suitably qualified professionals, the PE (Amendment) Bill incorporates provisions to enable the Minister to prescribe registration requirements for specialist PEs3. This amendment takes into account the JRC?s recommendation that deep excavation works should be carried out by professional engineers who specialise in geotechnical engineering.

Allow Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs)
8 Following the enactment of the LLP Act, provisions are incorporated in both Bills to avail PEs and Architects to this new form of corporate practice by licensing LLPs to supply professional engineering and architectural services. To uphold professional standards, at least one partner must be a PE or registered Architect. Other partners can be allied professionals, licensed corporations, or other licensed LLPs. A supervising partner, who must be a PE or registered Architect, shall manage the licensed LLP.

Facilitate Start-Ups
9 To facilitate start-ups in the industry, the paid-up capital requirement for licensed limited corporations will be reduced from $1 million to $500,000.

Fine-tune Disciplinary Proceedings
10 To ensure greater transparency and efficiency in disciplinary proceedings, a complaint against a PE or Architect will be heard and decided by a Disciplinary Committee, following the findings of an Investigation Committee. Each Disciplinary Committee will comprise of no fewer than 3 PEs of at least 10 years? standing (at least 2 shall be Board members), and a lay person. To expedite disciplinary proceedings, the Disciplinary Committee will be given the right to accept court convictions related to the complaint case as final.

Tighten Penalties against Errant Professionals
11 To step up deterrence against unprofessional conduct, the maximum period of suspension will be raised from one to two years, while reinstatement following de-registration is allowed only after three instead of two years. The Boards can also impose a combination of disciplinary actions (i.e. de-registration, suspension, fine and censure) and recover legal costs incurred during the disciplinary proceedings.

Approve Names of New Licensed Architectural Corporations
12 The Architects (Amendment) Bill introduces a provision that will allow the BOA to reject the application for a licensed architectural practice if the name proposed is similar to any established ones. In a profession that places high value on design ownership, prevention of similar names is important to prevent confusion.

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