The Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) has successfully hosted its first industry consultation on the Identification of Engineering Work (IDoEW).

The session was attended by government representatives and members from voluntary associations.

It sought to gather views, concerns and practical recommendations on the implementation of, and compliance with, IDoEW.

IDoEW entails the engineering activities performed by persons registered in the ECSA categories of registration and demarcates the type of work to be performed by different categories of registration.

It further requires a registered person to possess the core competencies within the competency areas to perform engineering work in the appropriate category of registration and it includes the core services performed by a registered person in any of the categories of registration in a particular engineering discipline.

Moreover, it involves the practise areas of a particular engineering discipline within which a registered person performs engineering work; and includes performing core services in any of the practise areas of an engineering discipline in accordance with the scope.

This type of work is prescribed in the Engineering Professions Act, which calls for the identification of the type of engineering work that must be performed by engineering practitioners.

Public Works acting director-general Imitiaz Fazel in his keynote address emphasised that the Act states that “a person who is not registered in terms of the Act may not perform any kind of work identified for any category of registered persons.” 

He added that such a person “may not pretend to be, or in any manner hold or allow himself or herself to be held out as a person registered in terms of this Act".

Additionally, a person who is not registered may not use the name of any registered person or any name or title referred to in the Act; lastly perform any act indicating, or calculated to lead persons to believe, that he or she is registered in terms of the Act.

The IDoEW plays a major role in expanding ECSA’s legislative mandate of regulating the profession and, through the IDoEW, ECSA will be able to protect the public, the profession and any registered persons.

Therefore, the implementation of the IDoEW will afford not only ECSA the opportunity to govern the engineering profession more effectively but also allow the registered persons to benefit from a well and effectively regulated environment.

The regulatory body will continue with its industry-wide stakeholder consultations for the remainder of this financial year and conclude the sessions in the 2021/22 financial year.