18.—(1) Where a registered professional engineer desires to engage in professional engineering work in Singapore after 31st December of any year, he shall, not later than 1st December of that year, apply in the prescribed form and manner for a practising certificate authorising him in the ensuing year to engage in professional engineering work within the branch of engineering indicated in the register of professional engineers as the branch of engineering in which he is qualified to practise.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where a registered professional engineer applies for a practising certificate for the first time after registration under section 15, the application shall be in the prescribed form and may be made at any time during the year and the registered professional engineer may be issued a practising certificate for the remainder of the year in which the application is made.
(3) Any application by a registered professional engineer under this section shall be addressed to the Board and be accompanied by —
(a)
a declaration in writing stating —
(i)
his full name;
(ii)
the name under which he practises if different from his own name, or the name of the person employing him; and
(iii)
the principal and any other address or addresses at which he practises in Singapore;
(b)
such evidence as the Board may require that the applicant has complied with or is exempt from the rules relating to insurance against professional liability; and
(c)
the prescribed fee,
and the Board shall, subject to subsection (4), thereupon issue to the registered professional engineer a practising certificate authorising him to engage in such professional engineering work in Singapore during the year for which the certificate is issued, being professional engineering work within the branch of engineering in which he is qualified to practise.
(4) The Board may refuse to issue a practising certificate if —
(a)
the applicant is an undischarged bankrupt;
[Act 15/95 wef 15/07/1995 vide S 268/95]
(b)
the applicant has entered into a composition with his creditors or a deed of arrangement for the benefit of his creditors;
(c)
the applicant does not intend to practise either on his own account or in partnership, or is not or not about to be employed by any person lawfully supplying professional engineering services in Singapore;
(d)
the declaration under subsection (3) contains a statement that to its knowledge is false in a material particular;
(e)
the conduct of the applicant affords reasonable grounds for believing that he will not engage in professional engineering work in Singapore in accordance with any written law and with honesty and integrity; or
(f)
the Board is not satisfied that the applicant has complied with the prescribed requirements relating to continuing professional education.
[18/2003 wef 01/01/2004]
(5) Any registered professional engineer (not being a registered professional engineer who is applying for a practising certificate for the first time) who fails to apply for a practising certificate in the manner and within the period laid down in subsection (1) may, on the making of an application in such form and on payment of such additional fee as may be prescribed, be issued a practising certificate for —
(a)
the ensuing year if the application is made during the month of December of any year; or
(b)
the remainder of the year if the application is made on or after 1st January of any year.
(6) Subject to subsection (8), a practising certificate shall, unless earlier cancelled, be in force from the date of its issue until 31st December of the year in respect of which it is issued.
(7) A practising certificate shall specify the address of the principal place of practice and all other places of practice of the registered professional engineer to whom the practising certificate was issued, and any change in such address shall be notified by the registered professional engineer concerned to the Registrar within two weeks of such change and an endorsement of such change on the practising certificate shall be obtained from the Registrar.
(8) Where the registration of a professional engineer is cancelled under section 17B(2) or 31G(2)(a), the practising certificate, if any, of that professional engineer for the time being in force shall expire forthwith and the Registrar shall enter the date of such expiration on the register of practitioners and remove from that register the name of that professional engineer.
(9) Any person whose application for a practising certificate has been refused by the Board may, within 30 days after being notified of such refusal, appeal to the High Court whose decision shall be final.