Professional engineer obligations when working on regulated buildings

Key information

• Professional engineers must be registered to do professional engineering work directly in relation to the design or construction of a building or part of a building , that is class 2, 3 & 9c.
• Professional engineers must also register as a design practitioner in the relevant class if they want to prepare regulated designs and make compliance declarations.
• There are mandatory annual requirements for maintaining your professional engineer registration.
• Mutual recognition arrangements exist for professional engineers from Queensland and Victoria.
• A person is not required to be registered as a professional engineer if the person carries out the professional engineering work under the direct supervision of a person who is a registered professional engineer and the supervisor's registration as a professional engineer authorises the supervisor to carry out the professional engineering work.

Professional engineer obligations when working on regulated buildings

Registration

Professional engineers must be registered under the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (DBP Act) to do professional engineering work (which can include providing advice), on a regulated building class in NSW (currently 2, 3 & 9c buildings including mixed-use buildings).

Professional registration classes include:

• civil
• electrical
• geotechnical
• mechanical
• structural
• fire safety.

If eligible, you can also apply for other design practitioner registration classes in the same digital application:

• design practitioner – register as a design practitioner to make design compliance declarations and/or lodge documents on the NSW Planning Portal
• principal design practitioner – register as a principal design practitioner to coordinate and lodge designs by other design practitioners for the building practitioner.

Find out how to register on the professional engineer registration page. 

Guidance on activities considered professional engineering work

Download the Guidance on professional engineering work for detailed information about the definition of professional engineering work.

Section 31 of the Design and Building Practitioners Act 2020 (DBP Act) defines professional engineering work as work that requires, or is based on, the application of engineering principles and data to a design, or a construction, production, operation or maintenance activity, relating to engineering.

Section 31 of the DBP Act excludes engineering work from the definition of professional engineering work if the work is only provided in accordance with a document that states the procedure or criteria for carrying out the work, and it does not require the application of advanced scientifically based calculations, or the engineering work is prescribed by the regulations as not being professional engineering work

Clause 14 of the Design and Building Practitioners Regulation 2021 (DBP Regulation) further narrows the scope by limiting professional engineering work to such work directly in relation to designing or constructing a class 2, 3 or 9c building, or a mixed-use building that contains a class 2, 3 or 9c component. 

Mutual recognition arrangements

Mutual recognition applies to the Professional Engineers Registration Scheme. This means Professional Engineers registered in Queensland and Victoria, will be entitled to register in New South Wales without needing to demonstrate qualifications and experience again.

However, under mutual recognition arrangements, professional engineers will still need to register under the DBP Act to continue working on regulated buildings in NSW.

Find out more about mutual recognition. 

Practice Standard for Professional Engineers

A standalone Practice Standard for Professional Engineers is not being introduced at this time following industry consultation and feedback. 

We will instead be implementing a more targeted approach to supporting engineering practice. This will include guidance material (such as technical notes) on specific issues to assist engineers to meet their professional obligations under the DBP Act. 

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Can engineers without the required qualifications or experience continue to work in the industry?

The DBP Act requires all engineers who are doing professional engineering work to register in the relevant class of engineering, unless your work is directly supervised by a registered Professional Engineer.

However, we are aware that in some instances the qualification requirements could prevent highly experienced and skilled practitioners from continuing to undertake the work they have done for many years. 

Engineers who lack the experience to become registered as a Professional Engineer can gain experience if they are working under the direct supervision of a registered Professional Engineer.

Schedule 4, clause 19 of the Regulation, under Code of Practice for Professional Engineers sets out the duties of a practitioner who is directly supervising a person to do professional engineering work. The supervising engineer must ensure:

• the work is within the professional engineer’s competence and expertise, and
• the work is carried out competently, and
• the work is carried out in accordance with the requirements in the Act, Regulation, including the code of practice, and any other Act or law. 

Maintaining your registration

Code of practice

Professional Engineers must comply with a Code of practice that sets out required professional and ethical standards.

• act in a professional manner and abide by standards expected by the community
• act within their level of competence and expertise
• maintain satisfactory level of competence
• act in the best interests of their client
• deal and communicate with clients in professional manner
• provide information to clients
• avoid conflicts of interest
• maintain confidentiality
• not misinform or mislead
• manage and resolve dispute.
• supervise appropriately, if relevant.

The Code of practice is in Schedule 4 of the Design and Building Practitioners Regulation 2021.

Mandatory continuing professional development

Professional Engineers must complete 50 hours of relevant education and training per CPD year. Written records, such as certificates of completion or records of attendance, should be kept as evidence.

Download the CPD Guidelines for Professional Engineers for more information to help you meet your requirements.

Your existing CPD obligations as a member of professional bodies or through registration in other jurisdictions count towards your CPD obligations under this scheme, as long as the CPD activities you undertake also meet the requirements outlined in the CPD guidelines.

Insurance

Mandatory insurance became a requirement for all professional engineers undertaking professional engineering work on regulated buildings from 1 July 2022. Professional engineers must have professional indemnity insurance that provides them an adequate level of coverage to indemnify them for work they carry out as a registered professional engineer. This can be either an individual policy, a partnership policy or corporate policy.

You have an ongoing obligation to assess your insurance cover to ensure it is adequate. Different practitioners will have different business risks, which will affect what cover is right for you, so you must assess the adequacy of your cover based on your own circumstances.

When selecting an insurance policy, you must consider factors including:

• your financial resources
• any risks associated with your work
• any limits of the policy and other factors outlined in the Regulation

You may need to show us that you have assessed the adequacy of your cover. You should seek independent advice on the amount and type of cover you need. 

Resources

Training for professional engineers

TAFE NSW offers training for professional engineers: Site inspections for engineers.