Revisions to Quality Management Bylaws Intended to Address Practice Issues
In April 1991, the APEGBC Special Review Committee recommended “that members and engineering firms shall establish a quality assurance program for their engineering practice.” Key elements of the quality assurance program were that professional engineers should maintain a complete design file, obtain a thorough review of designs and, in particular, a review of structural designs by a professional engineer not involved in the design, and that construction of an engineered project be field reviewed by a professional engineer. Bylaw 14(b), Quality Management, was subsequently prepared and approved by membership ballot in the summer of 1992 and came into force on November 16, 1992.
Over time, a number of issues have been brought to the Association’s attention by members regarding the various quality management bylaws. In general, these comments relate to making the quality management bylaws relevant to all types of engineering and geoscience work. To address these concerns, APEGBC will be proposing a number of revisions to the Quality Management Bylaws as a part of the bylaw amendment vote this fall. The issues in question are described below.
Retention of Project Documentation - Under Bylaw 14(b)(1), members must retain complete design and review files for their projects for a minimum of 10 years. The concern is that the bylaw is too specific to the retention of design and review files only; instead, it should recognize the importance of retaining in a file all the appropriate documentation that is relevant to a particular engineering or geoscience project.
In-house Checking - Bylaw 14(b)(2) specifies that members must include in-house checks of their designs as a standard procedure. The concern is that the wording of the bylaw refers to in-house checks as being only specific to designs. The Practice Review Committee recommended that this particular bylaw should be broader in scope by reinforcing the importance of carrying out regular and documented checks of various products prepared or delivered by professional engineers and geoscientists in their professional capacity (e.g. reports, technical recommendations, professional opinions and assessments).
Concept Reviews of Structural Designs - Bylaw 14(b)(3) stipulates that concept reviews of structural designs must be performed by members or licensees not originally involved in the designs. Members of the Structural Engineers Association of BC (SEABC) raised concerns about this bylaw while attempting to clarify some matters regarding the requirement for concept reviews and how they are completed on structural designs. They recommended that the current concept review bylaw be revised to clarify its intent, and that its general authority be made broader in scope so that a wide range of practice issues related to how independent structural reviews are completed can be more appropriately dealt with and clarified in a guideline document.
Field Reviews - Bylaw 14(b)(4) requires that field reviews of a project be performed by members or licensees. The main concern raised regarding this bylaw is that
where BC engineers or geoscientists are involved in projects located internationally the reality is that in most instances there is no APEGBC member or licensee involved in the field review and little ability to engage in dialogue on issues relevant to the design/planning/implementation stage that should be addressed in field reviews. This situation is not as much of an issue for engineering or geoscience projects located outside of BC but within Canada. As such, it is recommended that the bylaw wording specifically refer to field reviews of domestic projects. For those members or licensees working on domestic engineering or geoscience projects and not engaged in field review activities, a letter to the file confirming this, as well as the provision of any documentation related to design/planning/implementation issues to be considered in the field reviews, should be included. On this basis, various APEGBC practice committees and legal counsel support revising the bylaw so it includes the word “domestic” as it relates to field reviews, with a reference provided in the bylaw so that the matter can be further clarified in a guideline.
Revisions to the existing quality management bylaws to address the issues identified above were drafted and reviewed by APEGBC practice committees: the Geoscience Committee, the Practice Review Committee, the Consulting Practice Committee, the Building Codes Committee, and the Building Envelope Committee. After incorporating input received from these committees, the proposed new quality management bylaws will be brought to Council for approval at its August 2010 meeting. Pending Council approval, the bylaws will be presented to the membership for ratification as a part of the bylaw vote that will occur alongside the Council election this fall.