Board of Engineers, Malaysia Professional Development Programme, i.e. BEM-PDP:- CODE OF ETHICS / REGULATIONS COURSE Topic:- THE ENGINEER’S CODE OF PRACTICE by:Engr. Rocky H. T. Wong P.Eng., FIEM; Hon. AFEO-ASEAN Engr; Fellow (AAET); Past Chairman – ACEM; A Past Vice-President – ENSEARCH; Chairman – IEM pro ETI Bureau; Head Commissioner – ASEAN Engineers Register (AER) of the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organisations i.e. AFEO. RWHT/COP/REV(O)081207

 The Engineer’s Code of Practice can be defined by the following five elements, viz; Code of Ethics; Accreditation Procedure; Professional Assessment Examination (PAE); Continuing Professional Development (CPD); and Design Codes & Standards.

 Code of Ethics – to be dealt with as a follow up topic.  Accreditation Procedure – the IEM/BEM, the EAC, the MQA; the purpose of accreditation of engineering programmes is to give comfort to all of the stakeholders involved.  PAE – to benchmark established by either regulator (BEM), or by peer-group (IEM- for PI).  CPD - a universal requirement, especially for mobility of professionals.  Design Codes & Standards- the topic of the day: vis-à-vis regulations.

Essential Requirements  Engineers are trained to understand and appreciate the Essential Requirements (as expected by the public and consumers) of engineered and developed facilities, systems, goods and services as follows:-

must be cost effective with the fit-for- purpose performance; must be safe to humans, animals, plants and properties; must not be harmful to the health and the well being of humans, animals and plants; all built infrastructural, industrial, commercial, residential and other forms of development must be environmental substantiable.

 Whilst Essential Requirements “must be cost effective with fit-for-purpose performance” is a contractual relationship between the demand and supply equation among informed and knowledgeable parties, which is by way of agreed terms and conditions (including technical specifications) which are transactions specific, the other forestated Essential Requirements are universal values, which are not negotiable and therefore cannot and should not be comprised.

Safety, Health and the Environment:-  The cardinal Essential Requirements deal with: Safety, Health and the Environment ~ the under- pinning principles of the science and the art of engineering which all qualified engineers, would have learnt as part of their training, including the principal subjects of their respective professional development programmes (PDP) during their pupilage enroute to the PAE mile-stone; as well as their continuing professional development (CPD) of their life long learning.

Design Codes & Standards:-  Because Safety, Health and the Environment are of paramount importance, most nations have domestic design codes and standards, which form the core of the respective overall national regulatory regimes of all engineered facilities, systems, goods and services.

 Whilst there are country differences due to historical realities, there are many similarities among the various national regulatory regimes; especially when they are distilled down to the Essential Requirements dealing with (engineering) safety, health and the environment. National Regulatory Regime:-

International Standards & COP  Being universal and driven by shared concern, there are also corresponding international standards and code-of-practice dealing with (engineering) safety, health and the environment; for example; ISO/IEC and others:-

Harmonized Regulatory Regimes:-  It is recognized that (performance based) design codes and standards for all disciplines of engineering are too wide, too varied and too complicated to have a common platform. However, when engineering is employed to address issues of Essential Requirements, it is then possible to evolve harmonized design codes and standards, and hence national regulatory regimes that will deal with Safety, Health and the Environment.

Standards Centric Technical Regulations:-  In the past, technical regulations that form the basis of the national regulatory regimes were over descriptive to the extend that “The whole standards” are captured in the regulations - and the draw backs are many.  These days, technical regulations make reference to the latest version of preferred standards which then give rise to flexibility and the option to be at par with international best practices.

Globalization in General and the ASEAN Economic Community in particular:-  With globalization, accompanied by trade liberalization the borderless commercial world is “flat” wherein the new k- economy takes places real-time and on-line; the whole dynamics being driven by standards centric rules-based framework underpinned by international agreements and accords.  Nearer home, ASEAN now with its Charter, will have more meaning to the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)

 Engineers-you have great opportunities ahead of you! The glass is half full, and not half –empty.