Members Reminded to Stamp or Seal Their Work
In the next few years, British Columbia will see many new, capital-intensive developments such as ports, bridges, pipelines, and mines. As APEGBC members are aware, these developments go through environmental review before the provincial and federal governments will issue approvals and permits. However, what members may not know is that the provincial government routinely reviews application documents that are not stamped by professional engineers or professional geoscientists.
The BC Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) reviews complex multi-volume applications for large developments. These contain technical information that clearly falls within the practice of professional engineering or professional geoscience. In some recent applications filed with the EAO, the technical information has not been signed or stamped by the authors.
Following correspondence between APEGBC’s Environment Committee and the EAO, Association representatives met with the EAO to discuss the issue. At this meeting, APEGBC pointed out that no one is permitted to practice engineering or geoscience in BC unless they are licensed by the Association and noted that Section 20 (9) of the Engineers and Geoscientists Act explicitly requires members to seal or stamp work that they have undertaken in a professional capacity. APEGBC recommended that EAO consider any application as incomplete unless its authors are properly identified. The EAO representatives declined to assist, stating they could not be placed in a role of enforcing the Engineers and Geoscientists Act.
The Association is considering its next steps on this important issue. In the meantime, members who are responsible for producing estimates, specifications, designs or interpretations that are intended for review by government agencies and the public are reminded to ensure that their work is stamped or sealed. This also applies to multi-discipline reports, which can include a table that identifies the portion of the report that the author is responsible for, and which contains the seals or stamps of the members involved.