The Council in Full-Fledged Drive to Combat Engineering Professions Non-Compliance

Date: 10 October 2016
The Council for Regulating the Practice of Engineering Professions (CRPEP) in June issued a circular to public and private sectors including individuals (engineers) to apply for a license by September end.
Latest statistics show the Council has so far registered 1,763 engineers in the private sector of which 71 per cent were non-Bahrainis and 1,100 in the public sector. The Council is targeting to resolve the issue of all unlicensed engineers who work for major companies in the kingdom by the end of 2016.
Council chairman Abdul Majeed Al Qassab said the biggest problem they were facing is several engineering firms and hundreds of professionals were still “reluctant to register.”
“ We would like to see every engineer practising the profession in Bahrain to be licensed by the Council.
\" This will regulate the profession and enhance the economy by preventing malpractices.
“however, there is a big number of engineers out there who are unlicensed and working on big projects.
Mr Al Qassab said the Council is mandated to implement Law no – 51 for 2014 to regulate the practice of engineering professions and since then have conducted several awareness programmes and meeting with major stakeholders.
“ For years there has been lack of understanding on the mandates of the “Engineer” title which was assigned without proper careful qualifications and experience scrutinizing .
“ There are set of conditions for Bahraini and Non- Bahrainis engineers to receive their licenses to carry out their work or else they can face fine, imprisonment or have their licenses revoked.”
The requirements for Bahraini engineers include holding a Bachelor’s or an equivalent degree in Engineering, not be convicted of crime or offence affecting honour or integrity and not cannot indulge in other professions among other conditions.
The rules remain same for foreign engineers in addition to a mandatory five-year experience post obtaining the engineering degree.
Engineers working in the public sector need to be licensed once only, while engineers working in the private sector are requireeded to renew their licenses annually.
Individuals who hold Engineering degree but working in other professions do not require a license.
“ We have a team of inspectors who visit different sites to check project details, evaluate engineering offices and visit different construction sites.
“ This has helped application of project methodology, quality, cost and protect shareholders and avoided any engineering offices malfunctions.”
The official said they face a mammoth task with limited resources to convince private and public sector including engineering firms to have their staff registered with the Council.
“ We find ourselves dealing with “freelancers” without licenses who are practicing the profession illegally by engaging in engineering practice without a valid license.
“ Some of them are advertising their services as “ consultants” in newspapers which has now stopped after we stepped in to control the situation.”
The official said another rampant violation they deal is with “freelancers” taking help of licensed engineering firms to approve their designs and get the documents stamped.
“ It’s difficult to give numbers of such engineering professionals working out their without a license, but I can guarantee you that there is a good portion out in the market, and we are in the process of bringing those onboard to meet the law”
The Council has partnered with the Labour Market Regulatory Authority and Civil Service Bureau to help regulate the profession.
Mr Al Qassab said in order for non-Bahraini engineers to renew their work permits through LMRA, they are required to have a valid licenses
“ We will know whether the expatriate engineer is licensed or not.”
“ In case of the CSB, we had asked them to provide a list of engineers working in different ministries and government authorities.
“ For the first time, engineers working in the public ssector need to be licensed and accordingly we arranged to licensed over 1,100 engineers. However, we have also coordinate with CSBto license the rest of the engineers working in the public sector.
“ We are yet to hear from them.”
“ The Council is also monitoring engineering firms who employed individuals from abroad who were not engineers and now facing tough time to obtain licenses.
“ Our team does background check of applicants who apply for the license and have tied up with Engineering bodies in different countries to assist us ensure the legitimacy of submitted documents.
The official explained that there were several noted expatriate engineers who worked in different projects in Bahrain without obtaining a license.
“ Some of them joined companies in Bahrain fifteen to twenty years back fresh out of university without the mandatory five years’ experience required by the law( 2014).”
“If they apply for a license now then all their years of service in Bahrain will not be counted and as they are already unlicensed.”
However, Mr Al Qassab said they wanted to streamline the process for all and working to look at some provisions in the law that required revision.
“ We continue to encourage engineering firms and practising engineers to visit the Council and complete the licensing process.
“ At the end of the day, we want the economy to flourish and projects professionally delivered on time safely.
“ There are several mega projects coming up in Bahrain and only competent licensed engineers should work on them.”
He said they have urged active engineers to visit the Council’s office in Seef District to complete the licensing formalities, and he assured full support and cooperation will be extended to those individuals and companies in line with the laws and regulations.
For more information contact- 17534747 or visit www.crpep.bh.