INNOVATION May-June 2013

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Task Force Explores Geotechnical Engineering as a Registration Discipline In Canada, there is currently no discipline for registration in geotechnical engineering in any professional engineering regulatory

these requirements could form the basis of an APEGBC evaluation process for a more formal geotechnical engineering designation, and a geotechnical engineering discipline if the need is warranted and should the APEGBC Registration Committee so decide. For more information on the work of the GETF, please contact Ray Filipiak, P.Eng., at rfilipiak@apeg.bc.ca. v

association. APEGBC’s Registration Committee created the Geotechnical Engineering Task Force (GETF) in 2010 to explore the potential of geotechnical engineering as a new and separate engineering discipline for APEGBC registration. The following is a report on the task force’s progress to date. Professional Registration of Geotechnical Engineers - In BC,

professionals who practice geotechnical engineering are most often registered with APEGBC in the disciplines of civil engineering, geological engineering, or mining engineering. This is because there are no geotechnical engineering undergraduate degree programs in any Canadian universities. Since registration in APEGBC, as in other Canadian professional engineering associations, is based largely on one’s undergraduate degree, there are no established minimum academic and/or experiential requirements that a geotechnical engineer must meet. Resultantly, this can put both APEGBC members and the public in jeopardy. Some engineers who practice geotechnical engineering may not appreciate that they are working outside their area of expertise, contrary to APEGBC’s Code of Ethics; and the public who retain geotechnical engineers have no way of knowing if these professionals are appropriately qualified to do the work required. Defining “Geotechnical Engineering” - The term “geotechnical engineering” is used in some BC legislation and other official documents, and many APEGBC members have referred to themselves as geotechnical engineers; however, there is no commonly agreed upon official definition in this province, or in Canada. Following consultation with APEGBC members in 2011, and at the beginning of this year, the task force reworked APEGBC’s definition as follows: “Geotechnical Engineering is the application of the principles of soil mechanics and/or rock mechanics, and associated applied geological sciences.” Next Steps - Over the next few months, the task force is planning to draft minimum academic and/or experiential requirements for registration as a geotechnical engineer in BC. The task force’s thinking is that these requirements can initially be used by members for self-evaluation to determine if indeed they should refer to themselves as geotechnical engineers, and by APEGBC in the case of an investigation. In the future,

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