ENGINEERS (REGISTRATION, ETC.) ACT
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Establishment of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in
Nigeria, etc.
1.
Establishment of the Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria.
2.
Financial provisions.
3.
Control of Council by Minister.
The register
4.
Preparation and maintenance of the register.
5.
Publication of register and lists of corrections.
Registration
6.
Registration
as engineers
7.
Titles to be used by registered persons.
8.
Transfer from one register to the other.
9.
Approval of courses, qualifications and institutions.
10. Power to
compile list of establishments, etc.
11.
Registration of consultants.
12.
Supervision of instructions and examinations leading to approved
qualifications.
13.
Certificate of experience.
Professional discipline
14. The
Directorate of the National Youth Service Corps to communicate location of
engineers.
15.
Establishment of Disciplinary Tribunal and Investigating Panel.
16.
Penalties for unprofessional conduct.
17. Provisional
registration of persons not citizens of Nigeria.
18. Offences.
19. Miscellaneous
and general
20. Recovery of
fees, etc.
21. Regulations,
rules and orders
22.
Interpretation, etc.
23. Short title.
SCHEDULE
First Schedule
Supplementary provisions relating to the Council
SECOND SCHEDULE
Supplementary provisions relating to the Disciplinary Tribunal and
Investigating Panel
ENGINEERS (REGISTRATION, ETC.) ACT
An Act to establish the Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria
and to make provisions for other matters connected therewith.
[1970 No. 55.]
[5th December,1970] [Commencement. ]
Establishment of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in
Nigeria, etc.
1.
Establishment of the Council for the Registration of Engineering in Nigeria
(1) There shall be established on the coming into force of this Act, a
body to be known as the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria
(hereafter in this Act referred to as "the Council") which shall be a
body corporate by the name aforesaid and be charged with the general duty of-
[1992 No. 27.]
(a) determining who are engineers for the purposes of this Act;
(b) determining what standards of knowledge and skill are to be
attained by persons seeking to become registered as engineers and
raising those standards from time to time as circumstances may permit;
(c) securing, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the
establishment and maintenance of a register of persons entitled to
practise as registered engineers and the publication from time to time of lists
of those persons;
(d) regulating and controlling the practice of the engineering
profession in all its aspects and ramifications;
(e) performing the other functions conferred on the Council by this
Act.
(2) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Council shall consist
of the following members from the register of engineers, that is-
(a) one
person who shall be elected by the Council as the President;
(b) six persons elected to represent the Nigerian Society of Engineers
in the manner provided by the constitution of the Society;
(c) four persons appointed to represent the universities with
faculties of engineering in rotation;
(d) one
person appointed to represent the polytechnics in rotation;
(e) one
person appointed to represent technical colleges in rotation;
(f)
six persons appointed to represent the States of the Federation in rotation;
(g) four
persons to be nominated by the Minister; and
(h) one person to represent each of the following cadres to be
appointed from their respective registers, that is-
(i) registered engineering
technologists; (ii) registered engineering technicians; (iii) registered
engineering craftsmen.
[1992 No. 27.]
(3) The provisions of the First
Schedule to this Act shall have effect with respect to the qualification and
tenure of office of members of the Council, powers and procedure of the Council
and the other matters there mentioned.
(4) Regulations may provide for
increasing or reducing the membership of the Council, and may make such
consequential amendments of paragraph 1 of the First Schedule to this Act as
the Minister considers expedient in consequence of the increase or reduction.
[First Schedule.]
2.
Financial provisions
(1) The Council shall prepare
and submit to the Minister not later than the 31st day of December of the year
in which this subsection comes into force (so however that for that year the
Minister may, if he considers it necessary, extend the period) and of each
subsequent year, an estimate of its expenditure and income during the next
succeeding financial year.
(2) The Council shall keep
proper records in respect of each financial year and proper records in relation
to those accounts and shall cause its accounts to be audited as soon as may be
after the end of the financial year to which the accounts relate, by a firm of
auditors approved as respects that year by the Minister.
3.
Control of Council by Minister
(1) The Minister may give to
the Council directions of a general character or relating generally to
particular matters (but not to any individual person or case) with regard to
the exercise by the Council of its functions and it shall be the duty of the
Council to comply with the directions.
(2) Before giving a direction under
subsection (1) of this section, the Minister shall serve a copy of the proposed
direction on the Council and shall afford the Council an opportunity of making
representations to him with respect to the direction; and after considering any
representations made to him in pursuance of this subsection, the Minister may
give the direction either without modification, or with such modifications as
appears to him to be appropriate, having regard to the representations.
(3) In pursuance of the
provisions of subsections (1) and (2) of this section, the Minister shall,
subject to the approval of the President, give necessary inducement to private
industries providing adequate training facilities to engineers, engineering
technologists, technicians and craftsmen in training.
[1992 No. 27.]
The register
4.
Preparation and maintenance of the register
(1) It shall be the duty of the
Council to appoint a fit person to be Registrar for the purposes of this Act.
(2) It shall be the duty of the
Registrar to prepare and maintain, in accordance with rules made by the Council
under this section, a register of the names, addresses and approved
qualifications, and of such other particulars as may be specified, of all persons
who are entitled in accordance with the provisions of this Act, to be
registered as registered engineers and who apply in the specified manner to be
so registered.
(3) The registers of engineering personnel (in this Act referred to as
"the registers") shall consist of four registers, one each for-
(a) registered
engineers;
(b) registered
engineering technologists;
(c) registered
engineering technicians; and
(d) registered
engineering craftsmen.
[1992 No. 27.]
(4) Subject to the following
provisions of this section, the Council shall make rules with respect to the form
and keeping of the register and the making of entries therein, and in
particular-
(a) regulating the making of applications for registration and
providing for the evidence to be produced in support of applications;
(b) providing for the notification to the Registrar, by the person to
whom any registered particulars relate, of any change in those particulars;
(c) authorising a registered person to have any qualification which
is, in relation to the relevant division of the profession, whether an approved
qualification or an accepted qualification for the purpose of section 6 (2) of
this Act, registered in relation to his name in addition to or, as he may
elect, in substitution for, any other qualifications so registered;
(d) specifying the fees to be paid to the Council in respect of the
entry of names on the register and authorising the Registrar to refuse to
enter a name on the register until any fees specified for the entry has
been paid;
(e) specifying anything falling to be specified under the foregoing
provisions of this section, but rules made for the purposes of paragraph
(d) of this subsection shall not come into force until they are confirmed by
order of the Minister.
(5) It shall be the duty of the Registrar-
(a) to correct, in accordance with the Council's directions, any entry
in the register which the Council directs him to correct as being in
the Council's opinion an entry which was incorrectly made;
(b) to make from time to time any necessary alterations to the
registered particulars of registered persons;
(c) to remove from the part of the register which relates to
provisionally registered persons all particulars relating to a person
registered in the other part of that register or relating to persons ceasing
for any reason to be entitled to be so provisionally registered; and
(d) to remove from the register the name of any registered person who
has died.
(6) If the Registrar-
(a) sends by post to any registered person a registered letter
addressed to him at his address on the register, enquiring whether the
registered particulars relating to him are correct and receives no reply to the
letter within the period of six months from the date of
posting it; and
(b) upon the expiration of that period sends in like manner to the
person in question a second similar letter and receives no reply to that letter
within three months from the date of posting it, the Registrar may remove the
particulars relating to the person in question from the relevant part of the
register; and the Council may direct the Registrar to restore to the
appropriate part of the register any particulars removed therefrom under this
subsection.
5.
Publication of register and lists of corrections
(1) It shall be the duty of the Registrar-
(a) to cause the register to be printed, published, and put on sale to
members of the public, not later than two years from the beginning of the
year in which this subsection comes into force; and
(b) in each year after that in which a register is first published
under paragraph (a) of this `subsection, to cause to be printed,
published and put on sale as aforesaid, either a corrected edition of the
register or a list of alterations made to the register since it was last
printed; and
(c) to cause a print of each edition of the register and of each list
of corrections to be deposited at the principal offices of the Council,
and it shall be the duty of the Council to keep the register and lists so
deposited open at all reasonable times for inspection by members of the public.
(2) A document purporting to be
a print of an edition of a register published under this section by authority
of the Registrar in the current year, or documents purporting to be prints of
an edition of a register so published in a previous year and of a list of
corrections to that edition so published in the current year, shall (without
prejudice to any other mode of proof) be admissible in any proceedings as
evidence that any person specified in the document, or the documents read
together, as being fully or provisionally registered is so registered, and that
any person not so specified, is not so registered.
Registration
6.
Registration as engineers
(1) Subject to section 16 and
to rules made under section 4 (4) of this Act, a person shall be entitled to be
fully registered under this Act if-
(a) he has attended a course of training approved by the Council under
the next following section;
(b) the course was conducted at an institution so approved, or partly
at one such institution and partly at another or others;
(c) he holds a qualification so approved; and
(d) he holds a certificate of experience issued in pursuance of
section 9 of this Act; and
(e) he has completed a minimum of two years' approved post-graduate
training and has passed or is exempted from professional interview;
(f) in the case of a craftsman, he has completed a minimum of two
years' working experience in his trade and submits an acceptable certificate of
experience;
(g) he has completed his second year of industrial pupillage in an
approved establishment.
(2) Subject as aforesaid, a
person shall also be entitled to be fully registered under this Act if he
satisfies the Council-
(a)
that he is of good
character;
(b) that he holds a qualification granted outside Nigeria and for the
time being accepted by the Council for the purposes of this subsection as
respects the engineering profession;
(c) that in the country in
which the qualification was granted he was under no legal disability in the
practice of engineering; and
(d) if the Council so requires, that he has had sufficient practical
engineering experience, and the Council shall from time to time publish
in the Federal Gazette particulars of the qualifications for the time
being accepted as aforesaid.
(3) Subject as aforesaid, a
person shall be entitled to be provisionally registered under this Act in the
cases specified in section 12 of this Act.
7. Titles to be used by registered persons
(1) A registered engineer shall use the abbreviation "Engr"
before his name.
(2) A registered engineering
technologist shall use the abbreviation "Engr Tech" after his name.
(3) A registered engineering technician shall use the abbreviation
"Tech" after his name.
(4) A registered engineering
craftsman shall use his full title with his trade in bracket under his name.
8.
Transfer from one register to the other
(1) An engineering craftsman may apply to transfer to the register of
engineering technicians if he obtains the Ordinary National Diploma Certificate
or an approved equivalent educational qualification and the required working
experience.
(2) An engineering technician may apply to transfer to the register of
engineering technologist if he obtains the Higher National Diploma Certificate
or he has successfully completed an equivalent course of study in a polytechnic
or college of technology or any other approved institution.
(3) An engineering technologist may apply to transfer to the register
of engineers if he-
(a) passes the examination accredited by the Council, the academic
content of which shall meet the requirement for registration as an
engineer; or
(b) attends a post-Higher National Diploma course approved by the
Council and run by a polytechnic or university and passes an examination
accredited by the Council; or
(c) passes a university degree programme or any examination conducted
by any other body authorised by the Council.
9. Approval of courses, qualifications and institutions
(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the Council may approve
for the purposes of section 6 of this Act-
(a) any course of training which is intended for persons who are
seeking to become, or are already, members of the engineering profession,
and which the Council considers is designed to confer on persons
completing it sufficient knowledge and skill for the practice of that
profession or for practice as members of a specialised branch of that
profession;
(b) any institution either in Nigeria, or elsewhere, which the Council
considers is properly organised and equipped for conducting the whole or any
part of a course of training, approved by the Council under this section;
(c) any qualification which, as a result of examination taken in
conjunction with the course of training approved by the Council under
this section, is granted to candidates reaching a standard at the examination
indicating, in the opinion of the Council, that they have sufficient
knowledge and skill to practise engineering as a profession.
(2) The Council shall from time
to time publish in the Federal Gazette a list of qualifications in the
profession of engineering approved by it, and subject thereto the Council shall
not approve for the purpose of subsection (1) of this section, a qualification
granted by an institution in Nigeria unless the qualification has been so
published by the Council.
(3) The Council may, if it
thinks fit, withdraw any approval given under this section in respect of any
course, qualification or institution; but before withdrawing such an approval
the Council shall-
(a) give notice that it proposes to do so to persons in Nigeria
appearing to the Council to be persons by whom the course is conducted or
the qualification is granted or the institution is controlled, as the
case may be;
(b) afford each such person an opportunity of making to the
Council representations with regard to the proposal; and
(c) take into consideration any representations made as respects the
proposal in pursuance of paragraph (b) of this section.
(4) As respects any period
during which the approval of the Council under this section for a course,
institution or qualification is withdrawn, the course, institution or
qualification shall not be treated as approved under this section; but the
withdrawal of such an approval shall not prejudice the registration or
eligibility for registration of any person who by virtue of the approval was
registered or eligible for registration (either unconditionally or subject to
his obtaining a certificate of experience) immediately before the approval was
withdrawn.
(5) The giving or withdrawal of
an approval under this section shall have effect from such date, either before
or after the execution of the instrument signifying the giving or withdrawal of
the approval, as the Council may specify in that instrument, and the Council
shall-
(a) as soon as may be, publish a copy of every such instrument in the
Federal Gazette; and
(b) not later than seven days before its publication as aforesaid,
send a copy of the instrument to the Minister.
(6) An educational institution
for the training of persons in the engineering profession shall submit a
syllabus of its programme, content and minimum facilities to the Council for
approval before a course approved by the National Universities Commission or
the National Board for Technical Education, or any other engineering body, is
commenced.
[1992 No. 27.]
(7) An educational institution applying for approval shall provide
necessary facilities to qualify for interim approval before the first
visitation is conducted by the Council.
(8) The National Universities
Commission, the National Board for Technical Education or any other engineering
body shall impose any necessary sanction on any institution failing to provide
facilities under subsection (7) of this section.
10. Power to compile list of establishments, etc.
(1) The Council shall have power to compile the list of establishments
which maintain adequate facilities for the training of engineering personnel.
(2) In pursuance of the
provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Council shall have the power
to inspect approved establishments to confirm, from time to time, the adequacy
of facilities within the approved establishments.
(3) The Council shall provide
facilities for the monitoring of the post-qualification training including the
payment of honoraria and expenses to inspectors.
[1992 No. 27.]
(4) The Council shall promote
and update practitioners of the engineering profession through continuing
education.
11. Registration of consultants
(1) The Council shall register
annually all organisations performing engineering consultancy services,
(2) No firm or partnership
shall practice as engineers in Nigeria unless it is registered by the Council.
(3) The Council may, from time
to time, make regulations controlling the practice of engineering in the
construction industry, including regulations as to the full-time or part-time
use of persons registered with the Council:
Provided that the Council shall not be involved in the
registration of contractors.
12. Supervision of instructions and examinations leading to
approved qualifications
(1) It shall be the duty of the Council to keep itself informed of the
nature of-
(a) the instructions given at
approved institutions to persons attending approved courses of
training; and
(b)
the examinations as a
result of which approved qualifications are granted,
and for the purposes of performing that duty the Council may
appoint, either from among its own members or otherwise, persons
to visit approved institutions or to attend such examinations.
(2) It shall be the duty of a
visitor appointed under subsection (1) of this section, to report to the
Council on-
(a) the sufficiency of the instructions given to persons attending
approved courses of training at institutions visited by him;
(b) the sufficiency of the examinations attended by him; and
(c) any other matter relating to the institutions or examinations on
which the Council may, either generally or in a particular case, request
him to report, but no visitor shall interfere with the giving of any
instruction or the holding of any examination.
(3) On receiving a report made
in pursuance of this section, the Council shall as soon as may be, send a copy
of the report to the person appearing to the Council to be in charge of the
institution or responsible for the examinations to which the report relates,
requesting that person to make observations on the report to the Council within
such period as may be specified in the request, not being less than one month,
beginning with the date of the request.
13. Certificate of experience
(1) A person who, after
obtaining an approved qualification, satisfies the conditions mentioned in
subsection (2) of this section, shall be entitled to receive free of charge a
certificate of experience in the prescribed form from the person in charge of
the institution mentioned in that subsection.
(2) The conditions aforesaid are-
(a) he shall have served his time for the prescribed period in Nigeria
with a view to obtaining a certificate of experience;
(b) he shall have acquired during his employment practical experience
under the personal supervision and guidance of one or more registered engineers
for such periods as may be prescribed; and
(c) the manner in which he carried out the duties of employment and
his conduct during the period of his employment shall have
been satisfactory.
(3) It shall be the duty of the
employer, being a registered engineer, supervising the work of persons employed
with a view to obtaining a certificate of experience, to secure that the
last-mentioned person is afforded proper opportunities of acquiring the
practical experience required for the purposes of paragraph (b) of subsection
(2) of this section.
(4) Where, after having served
his time as mentioned in paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of this section, a
person is refused a certificate of experience, he shall be entitled-
(a) to receive from his employer particulars in writing of the grounds
of the refusal; and
(b) to appeal from the refusal to a committee of the Council in
accordance with rules made by the Council in that behalf (including rules as to
the time within which appeals are to be brought), and on any such appeal
the committee shall either dismiss the appeal or itself issue the certificate
of experience in question or give such other directions in the matter as it
considers just.
(5) Regulations may provide for
the issue of certificates of experience in respect of employment and
institutions outside Nigeria.
Professional discipline
14. The Directorate of the
National Youth Service Corps to communicate location of engineers
The Directorate of the National Youth Service Corps shall
communicate the location of graduate engineers and engineering technologists to
the Council.
15. Establishment of Disciplinary Tribunal and Investigating Panel
(1) There shall be a tribunal,
to be known as the Registered Engineers Disciplinary Tribunal (hereafter in
this Act referred to as "the Tribunal"), which shall be charged with
the duty of considering and determining any case referred to it by the Panel
established by the following provisions of this section and any other case of
which the Tribunal has cognisance under the following provisions of this Act.
(2) The Tribunal shall consist
of the president of the Council and eleven other members of the Council
appointed by the Council, and shall include not less than four members of the
Council holding office by virtue of paragraph (d) of subsection (2) of section
1 of this Act or, where the number of those members is for the time being less
than four, all those members.
(3) There shall be a body to be
known as the Registered Engineers Investigating Panel (hereafter in this Act
referred to as "the Panel"), which shall be charged with the duty of-
(a) conducting a preliminary investigation into any case where it is
alleged that a person fully or provisionally registered has
misbehaved in his capacity as such, or should for any other reason be the
subject of proceedings before the Tribunal; and
(b) deciding whether the case should be referred to the Tribunal.
(4) The Panel shall be
appointed by the Council and shall consist of seven members of the Council.
(5) The provisions of the
Second Schedule to this Act shall, so far as applicable to the Tribunal and the
Panel respectively, have effect with respect to those bodies.
16. Penalties for
unprofessional conduct
(1) Where-
(a) a person fully registered under this Act is convicted, by any
court in Nigeria or elsewhere having power to award imprisonment, of an
offence (whether or not an offence punishable with imprisonment) which in the
opinion of the Tribunal is incompatible with the status of a registered
engineer; or
(b) a person provisionally registered under this Act is likewise so
convicted in circumstances such that the Council is satisfied that his
name ought to be removed from the register; or
(c) the Tribunal is satisfied that the name of any person has been
fraudulently registered; or
(d) the Tribunal is satisfied that the partnership, firm or
organisation has been practising as engineers or engineering consultants
without the annual registration,
the Tribunal may, if it thinks fit, give a direction reprimanding
that person if fully registered or whether or not fully registered, ordering
the Registrar to strike his name off the relevant part of the register.
(2) The Tribunal may, if it thinks fit, defer or further defer its
decision as to the giving of a direction under subsection (1) of this section
until a subsequent meeting of the Tribunal; but-
(a) no decision shall be deferred under this subsection for periods
exceeding two years in the aggregate; and
(b) no person shall be a member of the Tribunal for the purposes of
reaching a decision which has been deferred or further deferred unless he
was present as a member of the Tribunal when the decision was deferred.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (1) of this section, a person shall
not be treated as convicted as mentioned in paragraph (a) of that subsection
unless the conviction stands at a time when no appeal or further appeal is
pending or may (without extension of time) be brought in connection with the
conviction.
(4) When the Tribunal gives a direction under subsection (1) of this
section, the Tribunal shall cause notice of the direction to be served on the
person to whom it relates.
(5) The person to whom such a direction relates may, at any time
within 28 days from the date of service on him of the notice of the direction,
appeal against the direction to the Court of Appeal, and the Tribunal may
appear as respondent to the appeal and, for the purpose of enabling directions
to be given as to the costs of the appeal and of proceedings before the
Tribunal, shall be deemed to be a party thereto, whether or not it appears on
the hearing of the appeal.
(6) A direction of the Tribunal under subsection (1) of this section
shall take effect-
(a) where no appeal under this section is brought against the
direction within the time limited for the appeal, on the expiration of
that time;
(b) where such an appeal is brought and is withdrawn or struck out for
want of prosecution, on the withdrawal or striking out of the appeal;
(c) where such an appeal is brought and is not withdrawn or struck out
as aforesaid, if and when the appeal is dismissed, and shall not take
effect except in accordance with the foregoing provisions of this subsection.
(7) A person whose name is removed from the register in pursuance of a
direction of the Tribunal under this section shall not be entitled to be
registered again except in pursuance of a direction in that behalf given by the
Tribunal on the application of that person; and a direction under this section
for the removal of a person's name from the register may prohibit an
application under this subsection by that person until the expiration of such period
from the date of the direction (and where he has duly made such an application,
from the date of his last application) as may be specified in the direction.
Miscellaneous and general
17. Provisional registration of persons not citizens of
Nigeria
(1) Where a person satisfies the Council-
(a) that he has been selected for employment for a specified period in
a capacity in which a `person fully registered as an engineer under this
Act would normally be employed and that he is or intends to be in Nigeria
temporarily for the purposes of serving for that period in the employment
in question;
(b) that he holds, or has passed examinations necessary for obtaining
some qualification granted outside Nigeria, which is for the time being
accepted by the Council for the purposes of this section as respects the
capacity in which, if employed, he is to serve, the Council may, if it thinks
fit, give a direction that he shall be temporarily registered as an engineer.
(2) The temporary registration
of a person shall continue only while he is in such employment as is mentioned
in subsection (1) (a) of this section and shall cease-
(a) on the termination of the period of employment specified to the
Council under that subsection; or
(b) on the termination of the said employment before the end of that
period, whichever occurs first:
Provided that nothing in this subsection shall preclude the
Council from giving a further direction under subsection (1) of this section in
respect of a specified period whose commencement coincides with the termination
of another such period.
(3) A person who is temporarily
registered shall, in relation to his employment as mentioned in subsection (1)
(a) of this section, and to things done or omitted in the course of that
employment, be deemed to be fully registered, but in relation to all other
matters he shall be treated as not so registered.
(4) In case of doubt as to
whether a person's employment has been terminated, the decision of the Council shall
be conclusive for the purposes of subsection (2) of this section.
(5) Nothing in this section
shall have effect to exempt any person provisionally registered as an engineer
pursuant to this section from payment of an annual practising fee.
(6) The Registrar, as directed from time to time by the Council, shall
remove from the register the name of any person ceasing to be entitled to the
benefit of this section.
18. Offences
(1) Any person not a registered engineer who-
(a) for or in expectation of reward practises or holds himself out to
practise as such; or
(b) without reasonable excuse takes or uses any name, title, addition
or description implying that he is authorised by law to practise as a
registered engineer, shall be guilty of an offence.
(2) Any person on the provisional register who, otherwise than in
accordance with section 12 of this Act-
(a) for or in expectation of reward, practises or holds himself out to
practise as a registered engineer; or
(b) without reasonable excuse takes or uses any name, title, addition
or description implying that he is authorised by law to practise as a
registered engineer, shall be guilty of an offence.
(3) If any person, for the
purpose of procuring the registration of any name, qualification or other
matter-
(a) makes a statement which he believes to be false in a material
particular; or
(b) recklessly makes a statement which is false in a material
particular, he shall be guilty of an offence.
(4) If the Registrar or any other person employed by the Council
wilfully makes any falsification in any matter relating to the register, he
shall be guilty of an offence.
(5) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable-
(a) on conviction in any court of inferior jurisdiction, to a fine not
exceeding N100;
(b) on conviction in a High Court, to a fine not exceeding N1, 000 or
imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or to both such fine and
imprisonment.
(6) Where an offence under this section which has been committed by a
body corporate is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance
of, or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of, any director, manager,
secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate, or any person
purporting to act in any such capacity, he, as well as the body corporate,
shall be deemed to be guilty of that offence and shall be liable to be
proceeded against and punished accordingly.
19. Miscellaneous supplementary provisions
(1) Subject to the following provisions of this section, a person
shall not hold an appointment requiring status as a registered engineer under
this Act in the public service of the Federation or State or in the armed
forces of the Federation, unless he is an engineer registered under this Act or
is otherwise exempted.
(2) A registered engineer under this Act shall, but to the extent only
of his particular qualifications, be entitled to practise as a registered
engineer throughout the Federation.
(3) It shall be the duty of any person in charge of any university in
the Federation, having attached thereto a faculty of engineering, at which
there is held a course of training intended for persons who are seeking to
become registered engineers under this Act, to furnish to the Registrar, not
later than the thirty-first day of March in every year, a list of the names,
and of such other particulars as the Council may by order specify, of all
persons who attended any such course at the institution in question at any time
during the preceding year.
(4) In this section "public service" includes service as a
registered engineer in or with any institution or corporation (Federal or
State) or State-owned company.
20. Recovery of fees, etc.
Without prejudice to any rule of law whereby a contract may be
avoided for inconsistency with an enactment, a person other than a fully
registered engineer shall not be entitled to recover by process of law, fees or
other valuable consideration whatsoever in respect of any act, matter or thing
done or omitted to be done by him in intended pursuance of any contract while
purporting to act as a registered engineer.
21. Regulations, rules and orders
Any power to make regulations, rules or orders conferred by this
Act shall include power-
(a) to make provision for such incidental and supplementary matters as
the authority making the instrument considers expedient for the purposes
of this instrument;
(b) to make different provision for different circumstances; and
(c) to make provisions for the control of the practice of engineering
in the construction industry, including rules as to the registration with the
Council:
Provided that the Council shall not be involved in the registration of
contractors.
[1992 No. 27.]
22. Interpretation, etc.
(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"approved engineering qualification" means a qualification
which is approved in respect of the engineering profession;
"Approved" means for the time being approved under
section 9 of this Act;
"Certificate of experience" means a certificate
granted in pursuance of section 13 of this Act;
"Engineering personnel" includes a registered
engineer, engineering technologist, engineering technician and engineering
craftsman;
[1992 No. 27.]
"Minister" means the Minister charged with
responsibility for matters relating to the engineering profession generally;
"Polytechnic" includes colleges of technology;
[1992 No. 27.]
"Practice of engineering" includes any professional
service or creative work requiring the application of special knowledge of
mathematics, physics and engineering in form of consultation, invention,
discovery, valuation, research and teaching in recognised engineering institutions,
planning, operation, maintenance supervision of construction and installation
involving investigating, advising, operating, evaluating, measuring, planning,
designing, specifying, laying and directing, constructing, commissioning,
inspecting or testing in connection with any public or private utilities,
structures, buildings machines, equipment, processes, works or projects;
[1992 No. 27.]
"Prescribed" means prescribed by regulations made
under this Act;
"Register" means the register maintained under
this Act, and "registered" shall be construed accordingly;
"Registered engineer" means a person registered
under this Act;
"Regulations" means regulations made by the Minister;
"The Council" means the Council of Registered
Engineers of Nigeria established by section 1 (1) of this Act;
"The Panel" has the meaning assigned to it by section 15
(3) of this Act;
"The Registrar" means the Registrar appointed in
pursuance of section 4 of this Act;
"The Tribunal" has the meaning assigned to it by section
15 (1) of this Act. (2) For the purpose of this Act-
(a) a person is fully registered if his name is for the time being
entered in the part of the register maintained in respect of fully
registered persons; and
(b) a person is provisionally registered if his name is for the time
being entered in the other part of the register, and "fully
registered" and "provisionally registered" shall be construed in
accordance with paragraphs (a) and (b) of this subsection.
(3) Any approval, consent,
direction, notice, observation, report, representation or request authorised or
required to be given or made by or under this Act shall be in writing and may,
without prejudice to any other method of service, but subject to the provisions
of rules made under the Second Schedule to this Act, be served by post.
23. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Engineers (Registration, etc.) Act.
SCHEDULES
FIRST SCHEDULE
Supplementary provisions relating to the Council
Qualifications and tenure of office of members
1. (1) A person shall not be a member of the Council unless he is a
citizen of Nigeria, fully registered as an engineer under this Act.
(2) A person who is not a member of the Council by virtue of his
election by the Nigerian Society of Engineers or of his appointment as a member
of any of the public services of Nigeria or under section 1 (2) (c) of this Act
shall, subject to the following provisions of this paragraph, hold office for
the period of three years beginning with the date of his appointment or
election as a member.
(3) Persons elected by the Nigerian Society of Engineers shall hold
office as members of the Council for such term, not less in any event than two
years from the date of election, as may be provided by the constitution of that
Society.
(4) Any member of the Council
holding office otherwise than by virtue of his appointment as a member of the
public services as aforesaid may, by notice to the Council, resign his office.
(5) Subject to subsection (2)
of section 1 of this Act, a person who has ceased to be a member of the Council
shall be eligible again to become a member of the Council.
(6) Where a member of the
Council ceases to hold office before the date when his term of office would
have expired by the effluxion of time, the body or person by whom he was
appointed or elected shall as soon as may be, appoint or, as the case may be,
elect a person to fill the vacancy for the residue of the term aforesaid, so
however that (without prejudice to paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section 1
of this Act) the foregoing provisions of this sub-paragraph shall not apply
where a person holding office as a member of the Council in pursuance of that
paragraph ceases to hold office at a time when the residue of his term does not
exceed one year.
(7) The power of appointing a person as president of the Council
shall-
(a) during the period of three years beginning with the date when this
sub-paragraph comes into force, be exercisable by the Minister; and
(b) after the expiration of that period, be exercisable by the
Council, and where an existing member of the Council is appointed president,
his office as an existing member shall become vacant and his term of office as president
shall begin on the date of his appointment as president.
Powers of the Council
2. (1) Subject to the following sub-paragraph and to any directions of
the Minister under this Act, the Council shall have power to do anything which
in its opinion is calculated to facilitate the carrying on of its activities.
(2) The Council shall not have
power to borrow money or to dispose of any property except with the prior
consent of the Minister and shall not have power to pay remuneration (including
pensions) allowances or expenses to any member, officer or servant of the
Council or to any other person except in accordance with scales approved by the
Minister.
Proceedings of the Council
3. Subject to the provisions
of this Act and of section 27 of the Interpretation Act (which provides for
decisions of a body to be taken by a majority of the members of the body and
for chairman to have a second or casting vote), the Council may make standing
orders regulating the proceedings of the Council or any committee thereof.
[Cap. 123.]
4. The quorum of the Council
shall be eleven and the quorum of any committee of the Council shall be
determined by the Council.
5. (1) The Council shall appoint one of its members to be the
vice-president of the Council for such period as the Council may determine, so
however that a vice-president who cease to be a member shall ceases to be
vice-president.
(2) At any time while the
office of president is vacant or the president is in the opinion of the Council
permanently or temporarily unable to perform the functions of his office, the
vice-president shall perform those functions and references in this schedule to
the president shall be construed accordingly.
6. (1) Subject to the provisions of any standing order of the Council,
the Council shall meet whenever it is summoned by the president; and if the
president is required so to do by notice given to him by not less than six
other members, he shall summon a meeting of the Council to be held within seven
days from the date on which the notice is given.
(2) At any meeting of the
Council the president or in his absence the vice-president shall preside, but
if both are absent the members present at the meeting shall appoint one of
their members to preside at that meeting.
(3) Where the Council desires
to obtain the advice of any person on a particular matter, the Council may
co-opt him as a member for such period as it thinks fit; but a person who is a
member by virtue of this sub-paragraph shall not be entitled to vote at any
meeting of the Council and shall not count towards a quorum.
(4) Notwithstanding anything in
the foregoing provision of this paragraph, the first meeting of the Council
shall be summoned by the Minister, who may give such directions as he thinks
fit to the member who shall preside and the procedure which shall be followed
at that meeting.
Committees
7. (1) The Council may appoint one or more committees to carry out, on
behalf of the Council, such of its functions as the Council may determine.
(2) A committee appointed under
this paragraph shall consist of the number of persons determined by the
Council, and not more than one third of those persons may be persons who are
not members of the Council; and a person other than a member of the Council
shall hold office on the committee in accordance with the terms of the
instrument by which he is appointed.
(3) A decision of a committee
of the Council other than the committee mentioned in section 13 (4) of this Act
shall be of no effect until it is confirmed by the Council.
Miscellaneous
8. (1) The fixing of the seal of the Council shall be authenticated by
the signature of the president or of some other member authorised generally or
specially by the Council to act for that purpose.
(2) Any contract or instrument
which, if made or executed by a person not being a body corporate, would not be
required to be under seal, may be made or executed on behalf of the Council by
any person generally or specially authorised to act for that purpose by the
Council.
SECOND SCHEDULE
Supplementary provisions relating to the Disciplinary Tribunal and
Investigating Panel
[Section 15 (5).]
The Tribunal
1.
The quorum of the Tribunal shall be four.
2. (1) The Chief Justice of Nigeria shall make rules as to the selection
of members of the Tribunal for the purposes of any proceedings and as to the
procedure to be followed and the rules of evidence to be observed in
proceedings before the Tribunal.
(2) The rules shall in particular provide-
(a) for securing that notice of the proceedings shall be given, at
such time in such manner as may be specified by the rules, to the person
who is the subject of the proceedings;
(b) for determining who, in addition to the person aforesaid shall be
a party to the proceedings;
(c) for securing that any party to the proceedings shall, if he so
requires, be entitled to be heard by the Tribunal;
(d) for enabling any party to the proceedings to be represented by a
legal practitioner;
(e) subject to the provisions
of section 16 (5) of this Act, as to the costs of proceedings before the
Tribunal;
(f) for requiring, in a case where it is alleged that the person who
is the subject of the proceedings is guilty of infamous conduct in any
professional respect, that where the Tribunal adjudges that the
allegation has not been proved it shall record a finding that the person is not
guilty of such conduct in respect of the matter to which the allegation
relates;
(g) for publishing in the Federal Gazette of notice of any direction
of the Tribunal which has taken effect providing that a person's name
shall be struck off a register.
3. For the purposes of any
proceedings before the Tribunal, any member of the Tribunal may administer
oaths and any party to the proceedings may sue out of the registry of the High
Court, as the case may require, writs of subpoena ad testificandum and duces tecum;
but no person appearing before the Tribunal shall be compelled-
(a) to make any statement before the Tribunal tending to incriminate
himself; or
(b) to produce any document under such a writ which he could not be
compelled to produce at the trial of an action.
4. (1) For the purpose of advising the Tribunal on questions of law
arising in proceedings before it, there shall in all such proceedings be an
assessor to the Tribunal who shall be appointed by the Council on the
nomination of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and shall be a legal practitioner of
not less than seven years' standing.
(2) The Chief Justice of
Nigeria shall make rules as to the functions of assessors appointed under this
paragraph, and in particular such rules shall contain provisions for securing-
(a) that where an assessor advises the Tribunal on any question of law
as to evidence, procedure or any other matter specified by the rules, he shall
do so in the presence of every party or person representing a party to the
proceedings who appears thereat or, if the advice is tendered while the
Tribunal is deliberating in private, that every such party or person as
aforesaid shall be informed as to what advice the assessor has tendered;
(b) that every such party or person as aforesaid shall be informed if
in any case the Tribunal does not accept the advice of the assessor on such a
question as aforesaid.
(3) An assessor may be
appointed under this paragraph either generally or for any particular
proceedings or class of proceedings, and shall hold and vacate office in
accordance with the terms of the instrument by which he is appointed.
The Panel
5.
The quorum of the Panel shall be three.
6. (1) The Panel may, at any meeting of the Panel attended by not less
than six members of the Panel, make standing orders with respect to the Panel.
(2) Subject to the provisions of any such standing orders, the Panel
may regulate its own procedure.
Miscellaneous
7. (1) A person ceasing to be member of the Tribunal or the Panel shall
be eligible for re-appointment as a member of that body.
(2) A person may, if otherwise
eligible, be a member of both the Tribunal and the Panel; but no person who
acted as a member of the Panel with respect to any case shall act as a member
of the Tribunal with respect to that case.
8. The Tribunal or the Panel
may act notwithstanding any vacancy in its membership; and the proceedings of
either body shall not be invalidated by any irregularity in the appointment of
a member of that body, or (subject to sub-paragraph (2) of paragraph 7 of this
Schedule) by reason of the fact that any person who was not entitled to do so
took part in the proceedings of that body.
9. The Tribunal and the Panel may each sit in two or more divisions.
10. Any document authorised or
required by virtue of this Act to be served on the Tribunal or the Panel shall
be served on the Registrar.
11. Any expenses of the Tribunal or the Panel shall be defrayed by the
Council.
12. A person shall not, by reason only of his appointment as a legal
assessor to the Tribunal or as a member of the Panel, be treated as holding an
office of emolument under the Government of the Federation or any State
thereof.
ENGINEERS (REGISTRATION, ETC.) ACT
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