Professional Engineers who are registered with ECSA can now apply to the Council to be registered on the International Register of Professional Engineers.

INTRODUCTION

South African Professional Engineers who are involved in International Practice are urged to apply to ECSA for registration on the South African section of the International Register of Professional Engineers.

In the absence of finality on the definition of "right to practice" and the position of governments on the question of licensure, ECSA is unable, at this stage, to guarantee that these engineers would be automatically accepted in the other countries. However, it is very likely that they would be more readily accepted than someone who is not registered on the International Register of Professional Engineers.

The requirements may vary from signatory to signatory and country to country.

Even if a country has a national system of registration, and the signatory may register a professional engineer on the International Register of Professional Engineers, this may not mean that the engineer concerned will have a "license to practice", as the "license to practice" is usually government controlled, and the signatory may not be in a position to influence the granting of the "license to practice".

It is expected that countries that have regional (provincial or state in the case of Canada and the USA respectively) licensing systems not nationally controlled will have additional difficulties with granting of the "right to practice".

There will be countries however that will probably accept these professional engineers on the International Register without much difficulty.

REQUIREMENTS

In terms of the EMF Agreement, the applicant must meet the following requirements for entry to the register.

Applicants must have:

1. reached an overall level of academic achievement at the point of entry to the register in question which is substantially equivalent to that of a graduate holding an engineering degree accredited by an organisation holding full membership of, and acting in accordance with the terms of, the Washington Accord; and
2. been assessed within their own economy as eligible for independent practice; and
3. gained a minimum of seven years practical experience since graduation; and
4. spent at least two years in responsible charge of significant engineering work; and
5. maintained their continuing professional development at a satisfactory level.

To comply with 1 above, a South African Professional Engineer must have a degree accredited or recognised by ECSA, which includes those recognised under the provisions of the Washington Accord. To comply with 2 above, a person must be registered with ECSA as a Professional Engineer.

ASSESSMENT PROCESS
Applications will be considered by two reviewers appointed by ECSA’s "Monitoring Committee", which is the Registration Committee for Professional Engineers. The reviewers may require applicants to attend an interview.

COSTS
No additional fee is payable, since registration on the International Register is regarded as a "dual registration" provided one’s initial registration as a Professional Engineer remains current and paid-up.​