The Practice Note – What is a prescriptive standard? states:
A prescriptive standard usually applies to a repetitive engineering activity that is routine, involves manageable risk and has minimal scope for misinterpretation, or to an activity normally carried out by an engineering technologists or technician e.g. an electrician.
And:
Engineering technologists and technicians adopt and apply technologies or develop related technologies to create, operate, maintain and improve the systems, applications and equipment devised by professional engineers.
And:
It is important that registered practising professional engineers understand what is and is not a prescriptive standard so that they can leave activities undertaken only in accordance with prescriptive standards to unregistered engineers or technicians.
The International Engineering Alliance recognises three roles within the engineering profession:
- Engineer
- Engineering technologist; and
- Engineering technician.
These align with the following accords (respectively):
- Washington
- Sydney; and
- Dublin.
Engineers Australia, as the principal engineering professional body within Australia, recognises these as occupational categories (respectively):
- Professional engineer
- Engineering technologist; and
- Engineering associate.
In Australia, the graduate attributes are typically achieved by (respectively):
- 4-year engineering qualification
- Australian Qualifications Framework level 8
- Bachelor Honours Degree
- 3-year engineering qualification
- Australian Qualifications Framework level 7
- Bachelor Degree
- 2-year engineering qualification
- Australian Qualifications Framework level 6
- Advanced Diploma or Associate Degree.
Professional engineers, engineering technologists and engineering associates are part of the engineering profession, with:
- Professional engineers at the professional level; and
- Engineering technologists and engineering associates at the paraprofessional level.
An electrician, however, is a tradesperson, typically with an Australian Qualifications Framework level 4 (Certificate IV) qualification.
Recommendations
The Act uses the Engineers Australia terminology – i.e. “professional engineer”, rather than “engineer”.
Therefore, I recommend that the Engineers Australia terminology for the Dublin Accord role is adopted – i.e. “engineering associate”, rather than “technician” or “engineering technician”.
An electrician is not an engineering associate (or engineering technician).
Therefore, I recommend that “e.g. an electrician” is deleted from the Practice Note.