| After four years of consultation and analysis the Engineers
Registration Board is about to tell the Ministry of Commerce, that "yes",
engineers do believe there is merit in maintaining an official register
of engineers in New Zealand. The issue first arose when the Minister of
Commerce wrote to the ERB in 1994 asking it to consider whether the Engineers
Registration Act (1924) should be replaced or done away with altogether.
Determining a response has taken some time but chair Jenny Culliford is
now sure that the ERB can clearly say on behalf of all engineers and the
community that retaining some form of government registration is broadly
regarded as desirable.
The ERB has consulted widely, seeking views from registered engineers,
IPENZ,ACENZ, ALGENZ and the Consumers' Institute. It has looked at the
experiences of the Medical Council and the Society of Chartered Accountants.
The ERB report will be among a number of submissions, including one
from IPENZ, which are now being forwarded to the Minister of Commerce.
The Ministry of Commerce has developed guidelines which have been approved
by Cabinet on a policy framework for occupational regulation. Ministry
officials will be reporting to the Minister by the 1 December on the necessity
for a registration regime. The ERB and other reports received by
the Minister will provide input to the Ministry review which will use the
approved policy framework for analysis purposes.
"We now have a uniform voice on the substantive issues although there
is still some detail which will need to be considered later," Mrs Culliford
says.
The principal rationale for recommending a register at all is that engineering
failure impacts heavily on the health and safety of communities. While
it is possible to operate a system purely in terms of the outputs of engineering
practice this exposes communities to undue risk. By operating a system
of identifying engineers who have met a certain set of minimum standards
the community, through Government, is given an additional level of protection
at the input side of engineering.
IPENZ President Gretchen Kivell says consumers are looking to Government
to provide accountability for health, wealth and safety issues raised by
professional practices.
The general agreement is that a register will have to be a considerably
tighter arrangement than the one currently operated. The ERB believes registration
certificates should reflect a knowledge of relevant New Zealand codes and
that engineers need to demonstrate ongoing competence to maintain
their registered status. The ERB also believes that an ethical code and
discipline system should have statutory backing so that it would have more
"teeth". |
"Registration is an international
trade issue"
- Warwick Bishop, IPENZ
CEO
"We now have a uniform
voice on the substantive issues"
- Jenny Culliford ERB
Chair
"Consumers looking to
government"
- Gretchen Kivell, IPENZ
President
|
