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PRESENTATION TOPORTFOLIO COMMITTEE

ON PUBLIC WORKSBUILT ENVIRONMENT

PROFESSIONS BILL,200813 August 2008

by

The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE)

supported and accompanied by

The South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering (SAIMechE)

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SAIEE MISSION STATEMENT

The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) strives to be a leading and respected learned society of Electrical Engineers through:

Promoting electrical science and its applications for the benefit of its members and the Southern African community

Close contact with appropriate national and international organisations

Recognising achievement by advancement of individual members to higher grades of membership within the Institute and thereby enhancing the status of the profession

Being apolitical and non-discriminatory

Engineer, technologist, technician and associate members

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SAIEE• "Dedicated to the interest of professional Electrical and Electronic

Engineering in South Africa“

• The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE), formed in 1909, has grown to the extent that there are approximately 5000 members on its membership roll.

• Members are professionally engaged in the full range of engineering activities, including academic research, manufacturing, electronics, telecommunications, measurement and control, mining, and power infrastructural services.

• They make meaningful contributions to the quality of life of the community and to the steady advancement of technology. Their efforts are acknowledged in many countries of the world.

• The Institute contributes to the common interests and welfare of the whole engineering fraternity through close co-operation with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA).

• The Institute has two official publications, WATTnow and the SAIEE Africa Research Journal.

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SAIEE OBJECTIVES• Outward looking

– Technology leadership role– Industry issues– Government interaction (legislation, inputs etc)– Skills development & resource building (including bursary scheme

R1/4M in 2008))– Input to ECSA operations– Outreach projects– Making a tangible difference to industry and society

• Inward looking– Member career enhancement (mentoring etc)– CPD and professional registration facilitation– Networking– Peer recognition– Facilitate interaction on engineering issues and access to information

(publications, symposia, conferences, presentations, etc)– Making a tangible difference to our members

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SAIEE AGE PROFILEAge Profile

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

17 22 26 30 34 38 42 46 50 54 58 62 66 70 74 78 82 86 90 94 99

Member Age

Me

mb

er

To

tals

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SAIEE RACE/AGE PROFILE

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

17-27 28-37 38-47 48-57 58-67 68-77 78-87 88-97 98-111

Age Groups

Me

mb

er

To

tals

Black/Indian/Asian

White

BLACK/ASIAN/COLOURED

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SAIEE & ECSAThe Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA):

• Regulates profession and registers practitioners (professional engineers, technologists, technicians + specialised categories (eg lift inspectors) and develops standards and accredits education programmes

• Protects the public from unscrupulous/incompetent practitioners

• Advises the Minister of Public Works via CBE

• Engineering Profession Act 46, 2000

The South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE):

• Independent organisation since 1909 – centenary next year

• Supports and advises the electrical engineering community

• Represents the electrical engineering community through members

• Promotes electrical engineering

• Addresses technical and industry issues

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SAIEE & ECSA• Provides expertise for the development of standards for accreditation

and registration

• Members conduct interviews before registration (peer review)

• Provides mentors for trainees

• Provides input for Continuous Professional Development (CPD)

• Provides input for Identification of Engineering Work

• Advises new graduates

• Assists with accreditation of academic institutions

• Assists with relevant committee work

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ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

• The phrase Built Environment typically refers to the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging from the large-scale civic surroundings to personal places.

• Generally refers to human-made buildings and structures, as opposed to natural features

• EPA 2000 definition: “”built environment” means the field within which registered persons practice

• BE Bill 2008 definition:– “built environment” means the physical world that has been

intentionally created through science and technology for the benefit of mankind.

– Inappropriately and unrealistically broad in scope

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ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

• Engineering is a limited part of the Built Environment, but not exclusively so.

• Engineering has a much broader scope– Civil Engineering discipline overlaps most with BE– Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering much lesser

overlap with BE

• This is also reflected in the names of many engineering faculties at universities in SA, such as for example:– Wits University: Engineering and the Built Environment– Univ of Johannesburg: Engineering and the Built Environment– Univ of Cape Town: Engineering and the Built Environment– Univ of Pretoria: Engineering, Built Environment & IT– Tshwane Univ of Technology: Engineering and the Built

Environment– NMMU : Engineering, Built Environment & Information Technology

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ENGINEERING & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT

BUILT ENVIRONMENT ENGINEERING

ArchitectureQuantity SurveyingConstruction PMLandscape ArchitectureProperty Valuation

Land surveyTown/regional Planning

CIVILELECTRICALMECHANICALCHEMICALINDUSTRIALMININGAERONAUTICALBIO-MEDICALAGRICULTURALMETALLURGICAL

Presently regulated (with Engineering)under auspices of DPW

Presently regulatedelsewhere Environment

Presentlyregulatedelsewhere

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ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

ELECTRICALENGINEERING

BIO-MEDICALINFORMATION ENG

& SOFTWARE

ELECTRONICS

INDUSTRY

COMMUNICATIONS POWER

MINING

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MechanicalEngineering

Transport

Energy

Defense MiningFood &

Beverage

HealthCare

Nuclear PowerFossil PowerSolar PowerHydro PowerWind PowerWave Power

Offshore Oil &GasSynthetic Fuels

Fossil FuelsBio FuelsE- Fuels

Coal Bed MethaneRefineries

Waste Disposal

AircraftRail

Sea going vesselsMotorised vehicles

Inland water vessels

SubmarinesPatrol vesselsWar Vessels

Armored vehiclesTanks

Artillery equipmentRockets Aircraft

Propellants

Shaft SinkingTunneling

RefrigerationVentilationStockpiling

SortingCrushingSmeltingRefining

EquipmentArtificial limbs

MaterialsGasses

ProstheticsAseptic Environ

Wine & SpiritConfectionary

BeveragesProcessing

CanningRefrigeration

StoringPackingLabeling

Aseptic Environ

BuiltEnvironment

RoadsBridges

Rail TrackHarboursAirfieldsBuildings

WaterStorm WaterVentilation

Services ReticulationWaste

AestheticsMaterials

OVERLAP

Pulp &Paper

ForestryLoggingBio massPulping

ProcessingCandlingCuttingRolling

VentilationRefrigeration

SteamWaste

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ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING• Electrical Engineering relevant to:

– Dept of Minerals & Energy– Dept of Communications– Dept of Transport– Dept of Labour– Dept of Public Enterprises– Dept of Water Affairs & Forestry– Dept of Public Service Administration– Dept of Trade and Industry– Dept of Public Works

• Electrical Engineering relevant to and facilitated by:– Dept of Science & Technology– Dept of Trade and Industry

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ENGINEERING PROFESSION• Regulation of the Engineering profession:

– Engineering profession broad-based and cuts across multiple government departments

– Dept of Public Works one of many departments that utilises engineering skills

– Inherent potential conflict of interest

• Dept of Science & Technology:– Facilitatory & developmental role– Minimal potential for conflict of interest– Also:

• Regulation of Natural Scientific Professions• Proposed SA Academy of Engineering enabling legislation

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PRESENT REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

Existing CBE Over – arching body consolidating professions’ activities; Transformation of the professions; Uniform implementation of Government policy; Liaise with the Competitions commission and publish regulation for

the Identification of Work Protecting the public; Advisor to Government.

PROFESSIONAL COUNCILS (such as ECSA) Autonomous Bodies – self regulating of individual

professions; Professional standards; Registration of professionals; Accreditation of institutions; Identification of Work; Code of conduct for profession specific requirements. Advise Government via CBE

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SAIEE POSITION• Creation of SACBE and reduction of ECSA to a Board is considered

counter productive to progress in engineering in SA.

• International accords and recognition agreements in jeopardy.– Current registration and accreditation processes by peer professionals

at the heart of international recognition.– Unprecedented powers of Minister– Potential threat of administrative process replacing peer review in

competency and accreditation assessments– Potential for Council to interfere with regulatory function of Boards

• New legislation threatens to nullify work done by ECSA (with VA support) to place SA on the international engineering map.

• Completely inadequate consultation with professional council (ECSA), voluntary associations (such as SAIEE and SAIMechE) and industry regarding perceived and actual problems, proposed policy and the proposed Bill.

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SAIEE POSITION• ECSA (and its predecessor SACPE) have very successfully and effectively

carried out mandate to set engineering standards, accredit tertiary education and engineering programmes, register professionals and protect the public against incompetent registered professionals

• Resulted in international recognition of the competence of SA engineering professionals, through international benchmarking.

• Inconceivable that the effectiveness of ECSA should be subverted.

• Obviously there are some problems and shortcomings within the current legislative framework. SAIEE is of the firm opinion that these can and should be addressed within the current overall framework.

• May require some amendments to the legislation within this framework.

• Need to openly and constructively debate alternative and acceptable solutions with all stakeholders, including ECSA, voluntary associations, other councils, industry and government.

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PERCEIVED SHORT COMINGS OF EXISTING LEGISLATION

(DPW)• Fragmented planning and implementation of policy;

• Autonomy in activities and funding;

• Low level of registration;

• Lack of accountability and governance failures; and

• Transformation and barriers to access to the professions (particularly by PDI’s).

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Fragmented planning and implementation of policy

• Professions are different in scope and nature, as was recognised, hence the different Professions Acts.

• Integrated planning is clearly necessary on cross-disciplinary and professional issues that affect the built environment.

• This is a responsibility of the CBE under current legislation, which they have not effectively implemented. Not clear how the proposed SACBE will have this capacity.

• Should also be noted that Engineering is practised in many areas outside the built environment, and is not appropriate for planning and implementation of policy in Engineering to be solely driven by CBE.

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Autonomy in activities and funding

• ECSA has successfully met its mandate by fee income alone without Government subsidy, inter alia by making use of a small administrative staff and the use of some 340 volunteers from the Voluntary Associations.

• Smaller councils with low numbers of registered persons may indeed lack capacity. This could be addressed by, for example,

– Making effective use of volunteer organisations under the present Act.– Facilitating the identification of reserved work under current legislation

(eg through assistance from CBE) would increase registrations although this should not be motivation for registration

– Possible amalgamation of smaller councils (or their administration facilities) may assist in enhanced viability.

• As noted, shared infrastructure is a potential solution to problems of small councils. However we do not believe that one Council (SACBE) and one Registrar as proposed will be able to handle the combined load of all the Boards

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Low level of registration• Existing legislative framework requires compulsory registration, but first requires

the identification of the categories and/or fields of work that must be reserved for registered professionals.

• Proposed compulsory registration under new SACBE is therefore nothing new, and will require the same scoping exercise in order to determine who should be registered.

• ECSA submitted draft Regulations for the Identification of Engineering Work (IDoEW) to the CBE in Aug 2006 after an extensive consultative exercise over many years. This is still awaiting CBE action in terms of the current mandate of the existing CBE legislation.

• ECSA has >29 000 registered persons who have registered on what is therefore presently effectively a voluntary basis (56% new registrations in past 3 yrs are PDIs)

• We agree and believe that this figure would have been far higher if the IDoEW had been processed and gazetted by CBE.

• Compulsory registration for ECSA and other and smaller councils, and the scoping of the profession, is a similar challenge under either the new or proposed framework, and is therefore not a justification for change.

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Lack of accountability and governance failures

• We are unable to comment on these issues because the types of governance and accountability failures have not been identified.

• As far as we are aware ECSA and its predecessors have always had unqualified independent Audited Financial Statements which have been submitted to the CBE.

• ECSA has always published Annual Reports with the Audited Financial Statements.

• ECSA funds are from registered persons and applicants and not the government.

• The amalgamation of ECSA assets with those of the CBE and other councils raises legal and constitutional issues.

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Barriers to access to the professions by PDI’s

• Gatekeeping– Professional registration is inherently a control mechanism – the key

is to ensure that it is fairly and transparently applied based on sound competency criteria, and that there is an appeal or review process.

– ECSA academic and competency criteria internationally benchmarked.

– Peer review process is international practice and appropriate to a diverse profession such as engineering.

– Training periods necessary to build professional competency off the base of academic qualification

– Existing CBE legislation (sect 21) empowers an appeal process for any person aggrieved by a professional council decision

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Barriers to access to the professions by PDI’s

• Efficiency and speed of the registration process can be an issue that requires constant evaluation – can be done within the existing framework.

– Process enhancements– Extend peer review group– Foreign qualifications remain a challenge, being addressed by ECSA– Inadequate competency reports can be a challenge – enhance

process to deal with these. Requires co-operation and effective communication.

• Main barriers to access to the Profession are due toblockages in the Development Pipeline, and not due to the Professionals or ECSA and the registration process. These will not be addressed by the proposed new legislative framework.

• Powers of Minister and Council in new legislation may potentially lead to temptation of expediency and may affect standards.

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TIMELINES & PIPELINE

GRD 10-12 UNIV 1-4 (5) TRAIN 1-3

MATRIC/NSC

GRADUATE Pr.ENG

3 YRS 4 – 5 YRS 3 YRS

1998 2001 2005/6 2008/9

SIGNIFICANT CHALLENGES AT ALL PHASES IN PIPELINEMain bottlenecks in school and tertiary education

Some challenges:Number of qualified & prepared school leaversTertiary education capacityTraining opportunities

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EXTRAPOLATED TARGETS

ARTISAN

TECHNICIAN

TECHNOLOGIST

ENG1300/1400 2400

800 > 2400

2500 > 7000 [1:4]

~3000 (2006) >>> [1:16](38k +)

JIPSA report March 07 refers to a targetof 50 000 engineers/tech and artisans by 2010

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IMPLICATIONS OF THE SACBE BILL ON ENGINEERING

• International Recognition of Engineering Practitioners– The current agreements that establish mutual recognition of

educational and registration standards are between ECSA, as Juristic Person and the respective countries around the world. (Washington, Sydney and Dublin Accords and the Mobility Forums).

– ECSA is the only recognised member body on the African Continent, and many African countries and in particular the SADC countries look to ECSA for assistance

• Possible jeopardy of international accords and mobility forum membership and recognition:– Possible inappropriate changes in levels of academic

qualification (refer wide powers of Minister and Council).– Possible changes to peer-review assessment method of

competency assessment (wide powers of Minister & Council)– Transfer of juristic person to new SACBE ?

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INTERNATIONAL ACCORDS & MOBILITY FORUMS

• Ensure international benchmarking of academic standards in engineering.– In general interests of public and country.– Engineering impacts on health and safety issues as well as infrastructural, capacity

and developmental issues in country

• Facilitates evaluation of registration applications of foreign applicants in SA.

• International recognition of SA qualifications and professional registration– Facilitates engineering business activities of SA companies abroad.– Facilitates SA graduates working and gaining experience internationally– Encourages intake into profession

• Potential Impact:– Loss of international recognition of qualifications and professional registration– International benchmarking???– Disincentive to engineering career– Loss of international training and/or experience opportunities for SA graduates– More difficult assessment of international applicants (if similar standards applied)– Impact on business opportunities for SA companies using engineering professionals

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IMPLICATIONS OF THE SACBE BILL ON ENGINEERING

• Engineering Education– The proposed Bill impacts on the autonomy and authority of tertiary education

institutions (eg Clauses 4(1), 4(2), 16(1), 16(2), 16(3), 17(1), 17 (2), 17(3), 17(4), 28, 29, 46 (2), 47, 48, 49(1).

– The broad definition of the built environment creates confusion (eg Definitions, Clauses 25, 30).

– Simultaneous changes in the education sector (eg re SAQA) have not been considered.

– Insufficient consultation with the education sector and providers is clear.

• Engineering Standards and Policy– The power of the Minister to exempt juristic persons from the provisions of the Act

(Clause 44) has the potential to impact negatively on standards, and therefore the broader interests of the public and the professions.

– The Bill proposes (clause 4) inter alia that the SACBE ensure uniform application of norms and guidelines as well as decide policy and ensure consistent application of policy by the boards. The SAIEE submits that given the diversity of the various professions, the variance in size and contributions to the built environment of the current professions, the SACBE will not have the necessary capacity

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IMPLICATIONS OF THE SACBE BILL ON ENGINEERING

• Composition of Council and Professional Boards (clause 6)– The entire engineering profession with all its disciplines and diversity will

only have one seat on the council and this will impact seriously on influence of engineering practitioners on matters affecting the engineering profession.

– The Council will be poorly placed to carry out key functions in respect of various professions (finance, education, training, registration, codes of conduct, disciplinary procedures, scope of the professions), lacking the broader expertise found in professional councils.

• Objects and Functions of Council (clauses 3 and 4)– The objects of Council are all promotional in nature.– The functions of the Council are not aligned within these parameters and

will also impact on the authority of the Boards within their jurisdictions.– This is underscored by Clause 16(3).– This for example allows the Councils excessive powers to potentially

interfere in Board functions & responsibilities (eg regulation, qualification)

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IMPLICATIONS OF THE SACBE BILL ON ENGINEERING

• Policy and Standards for development and professional registration– Professional development and registration standards (post qualification experience) is

currently tailored to the requirements of each profession with particular emphasis on the impacts on the public This is the one of the primary objectives of the current legislation

– The SAIEE is concerned that, because of the diversity and scope of the professions, a collective strategic public works policy and strategy determined by the Minister and enforced by the SACBE would not retain the unique status of individual professions, and would impact adversely on the general interests as well as the safety and security of the public.

– Moving South Africa away from international best practice would jeopardise membership of the Mobility Forums.

– Nature and extent of the role played by VAs is not defined. This may alienate VA’s and result in the loss of their beneficial support.

– Clauses 48 and 49 do not envisage a role for the professional boards in formulating rules and regulations.Not clear how the Minister and Council will have the capacity to perform these tasks.

– Potential liability of the Minister (and Council), due to the wide powers, needs to be considered.

– Refer clauses 4.(1)(a,d,f,n): 16.(2)(j),16.(3)(a,b): 18.(1 to 5) : 25: 48 : 49

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IMPLICATIONS OF THE SACBE BILL ON ENGINEERING

• Compulsory Registration – Provision is made in the Bill for compulsory registration for persons to practice

as a professional – The SAIEE fully supports this provision but is concerned that the professional

board will no longer have autonomy over who is registered as the principle of peer review competency assessment is not embedded in the Bill. This could lead to a lowering of the competence levels of registered practitioners

– ECSA completed proposed regulations for the Identification of Engineering work to be reserved for Registered Engineering Professionals and this was submitted to the CBE in August 2006 for processing and gazetting. To date nearly 2 years later no action has been taken by the CBE on these draft regulations. The SAIEE is thus concerned that the expanded SACBE will not perform any better than the existing CBE.

– Refer clauses 5.10 : 18. (1) to (4): 19.(1).

• Financial Implication– Will result in substantial cost to the SACBE (and by implication government)– Value of present and past contributions by VAs and their members is HUGE,

including accreditation, registration peer review, contributions to policy and standards development.

– No guarantee of continued support or involvement under proposed dispensation.– Intention?– Cross-subsidisation of boards inequitable and unfair.

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IMPLICATIONS OF THE SACBE BILL ON ENGINEERING

• Powers given to the Minister– The new powers granted to the Minister in the Bill are extensive, and,

in many cases, arbitrary. These is little point in having competent bodies to regulate an industry if much of the power is simply given to the Minister.

– The Bill gives the Minister the power to determine qualifications and the registration process for various professions, potentially overriding international accords. Boards of professionals, for obvious reasons, typically determine such matters around the world.

– Finally, the Minister is given extensive, arbitrary power to exempt people from registration, without having to provide a sound basis or consult the relevant professional board on process.

– Refer clauses 14,15,25,26, 28, 30,44,48

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SAIEE POSITION• The SAIEE believes that the Bill is fundamentally flawed and

based on misconceptions and outdated information.

• The SAIEE believes that there was not sufficient consultation with the relevant stakeholders.

• The SAIEE believes that the problems within the current system can be sorted out within the existing legislative framework through effective consultation and with some minor amendments.

• The SAIEE believes that too much (arbitrary) power has been given to the Minister and Council in this Bill

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SAIEE RECOMMENDATIONS• The Bill is not ready to be submitted to Parliament and should

be referred back to DPW for wider consultation with stakeholders within the Engineering and Built Environment professions, as well as within the broader government sphere.

• Actual identified problems can and should be addressed within the current legislative framework.

• Consideration should be given to separately regulating the Engineering Professions from the Built Environment professions, through:– Extracting ECSA from the proposed BE Bill and establishing ECSA

as a separate council reporting directly to the responsible ministry, and

– Re-consideration of the appropriate ministry to house ECSA

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THANK YOU