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Preamble of the Act, defines it as “An act to provide for the establishment of the engineering council, Sri Lanka which shall be responsible for the maintenance of professional standards and conduct of engineering practitioners; registration of different categories of engineering practitioners; and to provide for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”
The Engineering Council (ECSL) is empowered with the function of registering engineering practitioners defined under six categories viz, as Chartered Engineers, Associate Engineers, Affiliate Engineers, Incorporated Engineers, Engineering Diplomats’ and Engineering Technicians. The qualifications of the Engineering Practitioners are defined in ‘Annex A’ of the Act as follows: Chartered Engineer: Chartered Engineer of the IESL; Associate Engineer: Four year Full-time degree holder in Engineering recognized by the IESL or an Associate Member of the IESL; Affiliate Engineer: Three year full time degree holder in Engineering recognized by the IESL; Incorporated Engineer: Incorporated Engineer of the IIESL; Engineering Diplomate: Diploma holder in Engineering from a recognized University or Technical or Technological Institute recognized by the IIESL respectively for the first five categories of practitioners. For the other category of Engineering Technician, the qualifications are: either a National Vocational Qualification Level IV of Engineering Technology or equivalent qualification recognized by the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC), or a person who has followed one year full-time academic course in Engineering Technology and has gained one year industrial experience in the relevant field or a holder of a Diploma or Certificate in Technology by a University or a Technical or Technological Institute of the Government of Sri Lanka is accepted.
The ECSL, when established, will consist of seventeen members, out of which four are ex-officio members (three Deans of Faculties of Engineering not below the rank of Professor and the Director - General of Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission, and the other thirteen members will be appointed by the Minister in charge, who is at present the President, as the Minister of Mahaweli Development and Environment. The “appointed members” consist of seven Chartered Engineers representing different engineering disciplines in rotation for every two years, nominated by the IESL, four members representing different engineering disciplines in rotation for every two years, nominated by the IIESL, one Chartered Engineer nominated by the Sri Lanka Engineering Service; and one representative from the Engineering Technicians nominated by the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission. The Minister will appoint one of the Chartered Engineers from among the appointed members to be the Chairman of the ECSL.
Once established, the ECSL will be the body registering the engineering practitioners. All engineering practitioners are required to get registered with the ECSL within six months of its establishment. The ECSL will not register any person as an engineering practitioner, other than Engineering Technicians, unless the application for registration has been authorized by the relevant professional body to which such person belongs. Thus, the Chartered Engineers’, Associate Engineers’ and Affiliate Engineers’ registration will be done only after the IESL authorizes the application. For foreign practitioners, the ECSL will be giving a temporary registration for a maximum period of four months, provided the ECSL is satisfied about his/her relevant qualifications, which may be renewed at the discretion of the ECSL. If an engineering practitioner is practicing engineering without getting registered with the ECSL as one of the above six categories, or if it is a foreigner, without obtaining a temporary registration, he/she will be committing an offence.
The main objective of pushing for this legislation over nearly three decades by the IESL was to make sure that the Engineering Profession is regulated and only those who are qualified to practice engineering through academic qualifications, training and experience are allowed to practice at the different levels of the profession.
However, we can see that there are many issues related to the functions of the IESL and ECSL that needs to be streamlined in order for the system to function smoothly, with the introduction of another layer of authority in the profession of engineering.
Up until now, the Chartered Engineers of IESL as well as foreign Engineering Bodies such as UK and Australia were practicing as Chartered Engineers in Sri Lanka. However, according to the ECSL Act, since only Chartered Engineers of the IESL will be registered, such chartered engineers of foreign Engineering bodies will need to obtain C. Eng. qualifications by becoming Corporate Members of IESL within six months of establishment of the ECSL. The Professional Standards required for the IESL Charter are monitored by the IESL Council and the membership. It is anticipated that there will be a fair number of Sri Lankan engineers who are Chartered Engineers of foreign engineering bodies who are not IESL Chartered Engineers who would be applying for the IESL Charter in the near future. The IESL Council and the Standing Committee on Professional Standards is getting ready to be equipped with standardized procedures to handle the anticipated extra applications for Charter from those with foreign qualifications.
There are many new Universities and Academic institutions offering engineering qualifications, and also more and more students are studying engineering programs outside Sri Lanka. As the body responsible for assessing the educational qualifications for Associate and Affiliate membership, IESL has to streamline its educational program evaluation procedures. This is another activity that the IESL Council and the Education Standing Committee have been spending much time on during this session.
According to the ECSL Act, it has the powers to accept, approve or reject any application submitted for registration and cancel any registration granted by the ECSL and hold inquiries on any matter relating to the professional misconduct of the engineering practitioners. The ECSL is empowered to determine the terms and conditions of registration of engineering practitioners, prepare a Code of Professional Conduct for the engineering practitioners and determine the procedure for the purpose of carrying out disciplinary inquiries in respect of professional misconduct of the engineering practitioners. As far as Chartered Engineers are concerned, up to now, these powers have been resting with the IESL. The bylaws, Code of Ethics and Disciplinary Procedures are well established at the IESL. It is important that the newly established ECSL does not take away the powers vested in the IESL Council and its general membership on matters of Professional Ethics and Disciplinary Procedures. It is very important that the seven Chartered Engineers in the ECSL looks after the interests of the IESL in these matters. Therefore ECSL and IESL must work hand in hand to the betterment of IESL members and therefore IESL Council members must play an important role in the ECSL. Having this in mind, preference was given to IESL Council members when selecting members to ECSL.
The temporary registration for four months which may be extended, which will be issued to foreign engineering practitioners will be done by the ECSL, according to the Act. The detailed procedure of such a registration scheme has to be developed by the ECSL right away, as the engineering professionals are keenly watching the situation with respect to the Foreign Trade Agreements and liberalization of the Services Sector, as external threats to the practicing engineers locally. The issue of such registrations should be done under strict scrutiny, to ensure the positive impact of knowledge transfer and local human resource development as key elements in the negotiations. It will be the duty of the members of ECSL, particularly the appointed members, to make sure that there is no unreasonable threats to the Sri Lankan engineering practitioners by an influx of foreign practitioners to our job market. The Professional Affairs committee of the IESL and the Council are very much involved in trying to make our voice heard in the government circles, so that the profession and our members are given the due recognition, and positions in the government hierarchy.
These and any other matters of importance to the membership that are discussed in the IESL Council and the other fora of the IESL needs to be conveyed to the ECSL through the seven Chartered Engineers who are representing IESL. It is very important that the right representation is made from the IESL, so that the profession is safeguarded and the engineers are empowered to make the immense contribution to the national development that they are capable of, without hindrance.
Thank you.
Eng. (Prof.) Mrs. Niranjanie Ratnayake
President, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka
2017/2018
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