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:| (a) | the Commissioner of Building Control; | | (b) | the President of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore, or a registered professional engineer of at least 10 years’ standing to be nominated by him; | | (c) | not more than 6 registered professional engineers who are resident in Singapore and have in force a practising certificate —| (i) | to be elected by registered professional engineers who have in force a practising certificate; or | | (ii) | failing such election, to be appointed by the Minister under subsection (4); |
| | (d) | not more than 6 registered professional engineers to be appointed by the Minister; and | | (e) | a registered architect from the Board of Architects to be appointed by the Minister. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
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| (3) Not less than 5 members of the Board shall be in private practice. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
| (4) If elections held for the purposes of subsection (2)(c) result in less than 6 persons being elected as members of the Board thereunder, the Minister may appoint such number, as he thinks fit, of registered professional engineers who have in force a practising certificate to be members of the Board, except that the number of members so appointed and the number of members elected under subsection (2)(c) shall not exceed 6 in the aggregate. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
(5) Of the members elected under subsection (2)(c) or appointed under subsection (4), there shall be at least —| (a) | one registered professional engineer in the branch of civil engineering; | | (b) | one registered professional engineer in the branch of electrical engineering; and | | (c) | one registered professional engineer in the branch of mechanical engineering. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
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| (6) Only registered professional engineers of at least 10 years’ standing may be elected under subsection (2)(c) or appointed under subsection (4) as members of the Board. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
| (7) The members elected under subsection (2)(c) shall hold office for a term not exceeding 3 years and shall be eligible for re-election for not more than 2 consecutive terms. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
| (8) The members appointed under subsection (2)(d) or (e) or (4) shall hold office for a term not exceeding 3 years and shall be eligible for re-appointment. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
| (9) The Minister may, at any time, revoke the appointment of any member appointed under subsection (2)(d) or (4) without assigning any reason. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
| (10) [Deleted by Act 27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
| (11) [Deleted by Act 27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
| (12) [Deleted by Act 27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
| (13) [Deleted by Act 27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
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4A.—(1) Every registered professional engineer who has in force a practising certificate on the day of election of candidates as members of the Board under section 4(2)(c) shall vote for the election of such members at such time and in such manner as may be prescribed.(2) Every registered professional engineer who is required to vote for the election of the members of the Board in accordance with subsection (1) and who fails to do so shall not be entitled to apply for a practising certificate unless he —| (a) | satisfies the Registrar that he had a good and sufficient reason for not voting at the election; or | | (b) | pays to the Board a penalty prescribed by the Board. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
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4B.—(1) The Board shall have a President who shall be elected by the members of the Board from among its members —| (a) | who have been elected under section 4(2)(c) or appointed under section 4(4); or | | (b) | who have been appointed under section 4(2)(d). |
| (2) The President elected under subsection (1) shall serve for a term not extending beyond the expiration of the term for which he has been appointed or elected to be a member of the Board and shall be eligible for re-election for not more than 2 consecutive terms. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
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| Disqualifications for membership of Board |
4C. 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 has been 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 is incapacitated by physical illness; or | | (e) | he has at any time after due inquiry been found guilty by a Disciplinary Committee of improper conduct. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
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4D.—(1) 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 section 4C. |
(2) The Board may, with the approval of the Minister, remove from office any member of the Board who is absent without leave of the Board from 3 consecutive ordinary meetings of —| (a) | the Board; or | | (b) | a Disciplinary Committee of which he is a member. |
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| (3) 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. |
| (4) If any vacancy arises among the elected or appointed members, the Minister shall, as soon as practicable, appoint any registered professional engineer to fill that vacancy. |
| (5) Any person appointed to fill the vacancy shall hold office for the residue of the term for which his predecessor was elected or appointed. |
| (6) The powers of the Board shall not be affected by any vacancy in its membership. |
| (7) No act done by or under the authority of the Board shall be invalid in consequence of any defect that is afterwards discovered in the appointment, election or qualification of the members or any of them. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
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| Meetings and quorum of Board |
4E.—(1) At any meeting of the Board, 8 members shall form a quorum and no business shall be transacted at any meeting unless a quorum is present.| (2) 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. |
| (3) 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. |
| (4) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board may determine its own procedure. |
| (5) The Board shall cause proper records of its proceedings to be kept. [27/2005 wef 01/10/2005] |
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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. |
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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, partnerships and limited liability 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. |
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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) [Deleted by Act 27/2005 wef 01/12/2005] |
| (3) [Deleted by Act 27/2005 wef 01/12/2005] |
| (4) [Deleted by Act 27/2005 wef 01/12/2005] |
| (5) [Deleted by Act 27/2005 wef 01/12/2005] |
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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) | a register of specialist professional engineers in which shall be entered the names of persons who are registered under section 15A as specialist professional engineers; [27/2005 wef 01/12/2005] | | (c) | an annual register of practitioners in which shall be entered the particulars as contained in the declaration delivered under section 18(3)(a); and [27/2005 wef 01/12/2005] | | (d) | a register of licensees in which shall be entered the names of all licensed corporations, partnerships and limited liability partnerships and such other particulars in relation thereto as may from time to time be determined by the Board. [27/2005 wef 01/12/2005] |
| (2) There shall be indicated against each person’s name in the register of professional engineers, the register of specialist 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. |
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| 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. |
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| (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. |
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