march 2009 issue
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Professional Practice & Ethics Corner
APEGGA members with professional practice or ethics questions are welcome to mail them to Ray Chopiuk, P.Eng., Director, Professional Practice, APEGGA, 1500 Scotia One, 10060 Jasper AVE NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 4A2; fax them to 780-426-1877; or e-mail them to rchopiuk@apegga.org. |
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Q I have a question regarding practicing outside the country. I will be moving to the U.S. (Texas) for about three years to a similar job as my current position. I am currently practicing engineering in my current position. Should I register as non-practicing for the duration of my stay? Are there any options? What are the benefits/drawbacks of these choices, if they exist?
A If you were coming back to Alberta and practicing, even only briefly, you would need to maintain your APEGGA membership and your practicing status. There would be no options. But let’s assume that you will not be practicing engineering in Alberta at all for the next few years. That does present you with some choices.
Since it is not necessary for you to file a non-practicing declaration with APEGGA just because you will not be practicing in Alberta, one option is to simply do what you have been doing all along — maintain your membership in APEGGA and continue to report your professional development hours under the Continuing Professional Development program on an annual basis. When you return to Alberta, nothing further would be required of you.
The other option would be to file a non-practicing declaration to exempt you from the requirements of the CPD program. That would be the only “benefit,” if you could call it that, of declaring yourself non-practicing. You would still be required to pay full professional dues as an APEGGA member.
The drawbacks would arise when you decided to return to Alberta to practice. You would be required to submit an application to APEGGA’s Practice Review Board for permission to resume practice.
If you were registered in another jurisdiction (e.g., as a PE, professional engineer, in Texas) during the time your non-practicing declaration was in effect, the application would simply ask you if there have been any judgments against you concerning matters like the following: criminal offences, practice negligence, unprofessional conduct or unskilled practice. If you were not registered in another jurisdiction, the application would also ask for a detailed resumé of your work experience prior to and during the time your non-practicing declaration was in effect. It would also ask for the names of references who could verify any engineering experience you cited in your resumé.
You would not be able to practice in Alberta until you received the board’s permission. The board would assess the information you supplied with your application and the responses that were provided by your references. It would decide whether to grant you permission to resume practice and if it did grant permission, whether there would be any conditions restricting your practice.
You will need to determine for yourself whether the benefits of declaring yourself non-practicing outweigh the drawbacks.
PSC Requests Comments On Outsourced Engineering Guideline |
APEGGA’s Practice Standards Committee has prepared a near-final draft of a new guideline for Determining the Need for Professional Involvement in Outsourced Engineering. Before completing the final draft, the Practice Standards Committee welcomes comments that may help to improve this document. The draft is available online at www.apegga.org. Please direct your suggestions, before March 25, 2009, to: |
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