Professional Engineers Registration Scheme

Stakeholder Forum

Wednesday 26 August 2020

• Welcome • Engagement for today’s meeting• Aim of the Stakeholder Forum• Materials for consultation at

engage.vic.gov.au/engineers-registration

• Structure of the Forum

About today’s meeting

Our approach to developing the materials

• Consultation undertaken to develop materials• Aiming for consistency with Queensland• Materials underpinned by legal advice• Aligning with other states and territories• National agenda

General milestones

Oct – Dec 2019

Aug –December

2020

Feb – Aug 2020

Targeted key stakeholder engagement commenced and preliminary information regarding scope of the regulations shared

PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON GUIDANCE MATERIAL, GENERAL REGULATIONS, CODE OF CONDUCT & FEE OPTIONS

Guidance material , proposed regulations and proposed Code of Conduct drafted, key stakeholders consulted and initial feedback

considered

Communication channels – Engage Victoria, e-newsletter, Industry channels

Commence public consultation 26 August – communication via Engage Victoria, e-newsletter, media and industry

FEES REGULATIONS & RIS – timelines to be confirmedJan – July

2021

Assessment schemes guidelines finalized & schemes submitted & considered for approval

Implementation of online Registration Scheme Go live 1 July 2021 - Scheme to be rolled out in a phased approach

Ongoing communication and engagement with targeted stakeholders & Comms Campaign more broadly

Materials for consultation

• Guidelines on key terms and provisions of the Act • Proposed Professional Engineers Registration

(General, Exemption and Assessment Scheme Fees) Regulations 2020

• Proposed Code of Conduct for Professional Engineers • Cost recovery options paper - optional approaches to

setting registration and endorsement fees under the Act

What the Act requires

The Act will require a person to be registered:• if they provide professional engineering services• are not exempt because the services are provided under:

o the direct supervision of a registered practising professional engineer, or

o only in accordance with a prescriptive standard• if they provide those services from a location in Victoria, or a

location outside Victoria if the services are for Victoria, and• if they provide those services in the five prescribed areas of

engineering of structural, civil, electrical, mechanical and fire safety engineering.

Guidance material

Guidelines on:• professional engineering services• direct supervision• extraterritorial application of the Act, and• the prescribed areas of engineering

Practice Note on: • prescriptive standards

Professional engineering service

The Act• Section 3(1) defines a professional engineering service.

GuidelinesDescribe four elements:• it is an engineering service• it requires or is based on the application of engineering

principles and data• it is an engineering related design, construction,

production, operation or maintenance activity, and• it is not provided only in accordance with a prescriptive

standard.

Direct supervision

The Act• Section 67(1) requires the person supervising to be a

registered practising professional engineer.• Section 67(2) defines direct supervision.

Direct supervision

GuidelinesThe supervising registered practising engineer must:• provide supervision that is direct to the unregistered person• be competent and have sufficient knowledge to perform the

service• direct the unregistered person in the carrying out of the

service• oversee the carrying out of the service by the unregistered

person• evaluate the carrying out of the service by the unregistered

person, and• take full responsibility for the carrying out of the service.

Prescriptive standard

The Act• Section 3(1) defines prescriptive standard.• Section 3(2) provides authority for a Practice Note.

Prescriptive standard

Practice NoteDescribes the four criteria that a standard must meet to be a prescriptive standard:• be a document• state procedures or criteria for carrying out the design, or

the construction or production activity to which it relates• require no engineering judgement to apply to the stated

procedures or criteria, and• not require advanced scientifically based calculations to

apply the stated procedures or criteria.

Extraterritorial application of the Act

The Act• Section 5 sets out the extraterritorial application of the Act.• A person must be registered if they are located:

o in Victoria and provide professional engineering services for Victoria

o in Victoria and provide professional engineering services for outside Victoria, and

o located outside Victoria and provide professional engineering services for Victoria.

Guidelines• Describe the situations where the extraterritorial provisions

apply to professional engineering services.

Areas of engineering

The Act• Section 4 of the Act lists the five areas of engineering where

a person must be registered to provide professional engineering services.

• These are – structural, civil, electrical, mechanical and fire safety.

• Other areas may be prescribed by regulations.

Guidelines• Describe each of the five prescribed areas of engineering

and the common sub-disciplines that fall under each area.

General Regulations

The Act• Section 103 provides for regulations to be made under the

Act on a range of matters.

The Proposed Regulations• Examples of the matters included in the regulations are:

o information to accompany an application for registrationo continuation of registration at renewalo the form of the Register of Professional Engineerso infringement offences and penalties, ando exemptions and the phasing-in of registration.

General Regulations

Exemptions and phasing-in of registration (Regulation 7)• On 1 July 2021 all professional engineers will be exempt

from the requirement to be registered.• Except those engineers who are engaged in the building

industry or intend to engage in the building industry.• It is proposed that the exemption will be lifted making

registration mandatory for:o fire safety engineers on 1 October 2021o structural and civil engineers on 1 October 2022o electrical engineers on 1 June 2023, ando mechanical engineers 1 December 2023.

Proposed Code of Conduct

The Act• Section 30(1) provides authority for the Director of

Consumer Affairs Victoria to approve codes of conduct.• Under section 33 a breach of the Code is a breach of the

Act and grounds for disciplinary action by Consumer Affairs Victoria and the Victorian Building Authority.

• Section 33(2) provides for a code, among other matters, to include obligations for registered professional engineers to act fairly, honestly and in the best interests of their clients.

Proposed Code of Conduct

The proposed Code of Conduct• Includes 14 obligations that will apply to all registered

professional engineers.• Examples of the obligations in the Code are to:

o know and comply with the law o be honest and fair o inform clients of the consequences of disregarded adviceo act in the best interests of a cliento act in area of professional competenceo directly supervise, ando inform and communicate with clients.

Proposed Code of Conduct

Fire safety engineers• The Code may include a separate chapter of obligations for

fire safety engineers.• These will be the obligations in any code prepared for fire

safety engineers by the Victorian Building Authority.• The Victorian Building Authority is currently considering a

code for fire safety engineers and will separately consult on such as code.

Options for setting fees for registration and endorsement

• Government policy is to fully recover the costs of the scheme, unless departure from the full cost principle is justified.

• Fees will be tested through a Regulatory Impact Statement, which will assess the costs and benefits of different options for setting the fees.

• Options: 1. Full cost recovery – Activity-based 2. Partial cost recovery – Subsidised 3. Short-term partial, medium/long-term full cost recovery 4. Full cost recovery – Simple distribution 5. Full cost recovery – Risk-based

Public Consultation timelines

Public consultation on:• the guidance materials• the proposed Regulations• the proposed Code, and• the options for setting registration and endorsement

fees.

Key dates:• 26 August – Public consultation opens for a six-week

period.• 7 October – Public consultation closes.

Next steps – key dates

• 14 August – written feedback on the guidance material, proposed Regulations, proposed Code and options for setting fees for registration and endorsement

• 26 August – Public consultation opens for a six week period• 31 August – written feedback on the assessment scheme

guidelines• 7 September – invitation to submit assessment schemes for

approval opens for a six week period• 7 October – Public consultation closes• 19 October – invitation period for assessment schemes

closes

Response to Public Consultation

Public Consultation materials available at engage.vic.gov.au/engineers-registration

Written feedback due by 7 October 2020 onEngage Victoria platform

Stay updatedTo stay updated on the reforms’ progress, information is available at Engage Victoria. You can also subscribe to receive Professional Engineers Registration Scheme updates.

Thank you