PART II
PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS BOARD
Establishment of Professional Engineers Board
4.—(1)  There shall be established in Singapore a body to be called the Professional Engineers Board which shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal, with power, subject to the provisions of this Act, to sue and be sued in its corporate name, to acquire and dispose of property, both movable and immovable, and to do and perform such other acts as bodies corporate may by law perform.
(2)  The Board shall consist of the following members to be appointed by the Minister:
(a)a President who shall be appointed from among the registered professional engineers;
(b)3 registered professional engineers selected from a list of not less than 4 registered professional engineers submitted by the Council of the Institution of Engineers Singapore;
(c)such other registered professional engineers, not being more than 5, as the Minister may from time to time determine; and
(d)a registered architect nominated by the Board of Architects.
(3)  Not less than 3 members of the Board shall be in private practice and not more than 3 members of the Board shall be representative of any particular branch of engineering.
(4)  The members of the Board shall be appointed for a term not exceeding 3 years but may from time to time be reappointed, and may at any time be removed from office by the Minister.
(5)  A person shall not be qualified to be a member of the Board if —
(a)he is neither a citizen nor a permanent resident of Singapore;
(b)he is an undischarged bankrupt or has made any arrangement or composition with his creditors;
(c)he is convicted of any offence involving fraud, dishonesty or moral turpitude, or of any other offence implying a defect in character which makes him unfit for the engineering profession;
(d)he is of unsound mind or incapacitated by physical illness; or
(e)he has at any time after due inquiry been found guilty by the Board or previous Board of improper conduct.
(6)  The office of a member of the Board shall become vacant if the member —
(a)dies;
(b)resigns or is removed from office; or
(c)becomes in any manner disqualified for office within the meaning of subsection (5),
and the vacancy so created shall, as soon as practicable, be filled in the manner in which the appointment to the vacant office was made; and every person so appointed shall hold office for the residue of the term for which his predecessor was appointed.
(7)  The powers of the Board shall not be affected by any vacancy in its membership.
(8)  Any question as to whether a person has ceased to be a member of the Board shall be determined by the Minister whose decision shall be final.
(9)  At any meeting of the Board, 5 members shall form a quorum and no business shall be transacted at any meeting unless a quorum is present.
(10)  At any meeting of the Board, the President shall preside and in his absence the members present shall elect from among themselves one member to preside over the meeting.
(11)  If on any question to be determined by the Board there is an equality of votes, the President or the member presiding over that meeting shall have a casting vote.
(12)  Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board may determine its own procedure.
(13)  The Board shall cause proper records of its proceedings to be kept.
Common seal of Board
5.—(1)  The common seal of the Board shall bear such device as the Board may approve and the seal may from time to time be broken, changed, altered or made anew by the Board as it may think fit.
(2)  The common seal shall be kept in the custody of the President and shall be authenticated by the President or other member acting in the absence of the President and any document purporting to be sealed and authenticated as aforesaid shall, until the contrary is proved, be deemed to be validly executed.
Functions of Board
6.  The functions of the Board shall be —
(a)to keep and maintain a register of professional engineers, a register of practitioners and a register of licensees;
(b)to hold or arrange for the holding of such examinations as the Board considers necessary for the purpose of enabling persons to qualify for registration under this Act;
(c)to approve or reject applications for registration under this Act or to approve any such applications subject to such restrictions as it may think fit to impose;
(d)to establish and maintain standards of professional conduct and ethics of the engineering profession;
(e)to promote learning and education in connection with engineering, either alone or in conjunction with any other professional body;
(f)to hear and determine disputes relating to professional conduct or ethics of professional engineers or to appoint a committee or arbitrator to hear and determine those disputes;
(g)to license corporations and partnerships which supply professional engineering services in Singapore; and
(h)generally to do all such acts, matters and things as are necessary to be carried out under the provisions of this Act.
Committees
7.—(1)  The Board may appoint such committees from among its members, registered professional engineers or allied professionals as it thinks fit to assist or advise the Board on such matters arising out of its functions under this Act as are referred to them by the Board.
(2)  Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), the Board may appoint one or more Investigation Committees, consisting of such number of members (which may include members of the Board) as the Board may determine, for the purpose of investigating into any complaint against a registered professional engineer or a licensed corporation or partnership.
(3)  An Investigation Committee shall, after investigating into any complaint, report to the Board on the matter and if, as a result of such investigation and report, the Board is of the opinion that there is a prima facie case for the cancellation of the registration of the professional engineer or the revocation of any licence, the Board may —
(a)forthwith suspend the registered professional engineer concerned from practice; or
(b)forthwith suspend the licence,
for a period not exceeding 6 months, pending the decision of the Board.
(4)  Subject to any rules, an Investigation Committee may regulate its own procedure.
(5)  Any member of the Board who is a member of an Investigation Committee investigating into any complaint against a registered professional engineer or a corporation or partnership —
(a)shall not take part in any deliberation of the Board under section 27 or 29, as the case may be, with respect to that registered professional engineer, corporation or partnership; and
(b)shall be disregarded for the purpose of constituting a quorum of the Board for such deliberation or decision.
Registers
8.—(1)  The Board shall keep and maintain —
(a)a register of professional engineers in which shall be entered the names of all persons registered under this Act, the qualifications by virtue of which they are so registered and such other particulars in relation thereto as may from time to time be determined by the Board;
(b)an annual register of practitioners in which shall be entered the particulars as contained in the declaration delivered under section 18(3)(a); and
(c)a register of licensees in which shall be entered the names of all licensed corporations and partnerships and such other particulars in relation thereto as may from time to time be determined by the Board.
(2)  There shall be indicated against each person’s name in the register of professional engineers and the register of practitioners such branch or branches of engineering as in the opinion of the Board the registered professional engineer is qualified to practise.
Appointment and duties of Registrar
9.—(1)  The Minister may appoint a Registrar of the Board.
(2)  The Registrar shall be under the general direction of the Board and shall sign all certificates of registration, practising certificates and licences, and shall record all entries of registration, cancellation and reinstatement in the register of professional engineers, register of practitioners or register of licensees, as the case may be.
(3)  The Registrar shall attend all meetings of the Board and record the proceedings thereof, and shall conduct the correspondence and deal with such matters as may be assigned to him from time to time by the President or the Board.
(4)  The Registrar shall —
(a)as soon as may be convenient after 1st January each year, prepare and publish in the Gazette a list containing the names, qualifications (including the branch or branches of engineering to which the qualifications relate) and addresses of all registered professional engineers who have in force a practising certificate; and
(b)from time to time publish in the Gazette the names, qualifications and addresses of professional engineers added to or removed from the register of practitioners.
(5)  In any proceedings, a list published under subsection (4) shall be prima facie evidence that the persons whose names appear therein are registered professional engineers who have in force practising certificates.