INNOVATION May-June 2016

p ract i ce

Trends in Practice: Uncertainty Exists Regarding Quality Management Requirements Lindsay Steele, P.Geo.

APEGBC and its members are governed by the Engineers and Geoscientists Act , the APEGBC Bylaws, and the Code of Ethics. The bylaws contain seven quality management requirements: • Use of the APEGBC Seal • Retention of project documentation • Documented checks of engineering and geoscience work • Direct supervision • Documented field reviews during implementation or construction • Documented independent review of structural designs • Application of relevant professional practice guidelines For each requirement except the last, APEGBC provides a quality management guideline that explains the requirements and establishes standard of care. APEGBC has also developed a certification program for organizations that is based on the quality management requirements and aims to improve quality management of professional engineering and geoscience practices at the individual and organizational levels. The Organizational Quality Management (OQM) Program is voluntary and available to organizations that employ APEGBC professionals. Through the program and the practice-related questions that APEGBC receives, it has become clear not all members are familiar with the quality management requirements and the professional duty to meet the requirements’ intent. We outline here the two most misunderstood issues relating to quality management requirements: Practice Guidelines Many members are unaware of APEGBC's practice guidelines. An APEGBC objective stated in the Act is

“to establish, maintain, and enforce standards for the qualifications and practice of its members and licencees.” Practice guidelines are one way in which APEGBC fulfills this obligation. Practice guidelines describe standards of practice and may establish the standard of care to be met in a given area by an APEGBC professional exercising due diligence in carrying out engineering or geoscience work in that area. APEGBC has created dozens of practice guidelines. Examples include Legislated Dam Safety Reviews in BC; Designing Guards for Buildings; Seismic Retrofit Guidelines, and Sustainability Guidelines . (See apeg.bc.ca for a complete list.) Practice guidelines are developed in collaboration with the appropriate regulatory and technical bodies. They are prepared by teams of authors who are APEGBC Professionals with expertise in the subject area. Throughout development, each guideline is reviewed by a team of stakeholders with interest in the subject matter, and before publication, they receive legal review. APEGBC typically creates two new guidelines each year and updates them regularly to keep them relevant. Use of the APEGBC Seal Engineers and geoscientists create many types of documents and drawings, and it can be unclear as to which ones need to be sealed. The questions to ask are: Does the document contain engineering or geoscience content? And, is it going to be delivered to someone who will make a decision or take action based on the information contained within the document? Examples of documents that require a seal are technical reports, Issued for Tender drawings, Issued for Permit drawings, Issued for Construction drawings, revision documents, and so on. By applying your seal

to a document, you commit to the standards of the professions and signify to the public that you accept professional responsibility for the document and its contents. You add no extra liability to yourself when you seal your documents: If you created it, you are responsible for it— seal or no seal. Failure to seal documents breaches Section 20(9) of the Act , and may result in disciplinary action. For more information on the quality management requirements, visit www.apeg.bc.ca/Quality- Management-Guidelines. v

OQM Organizational Quality Management Program The following organizations have recently received OQM Certification. To find out more, visit apeg.bc.ca/oqm. Allnorth Americas LLC AVH Engineering Geo Construction Consulting Inc. GeoNorth Engineering Ltd. ICI Electrical Engineering Ltd. International Quest Engineering Ltd. Maven Consulting Ltd. On Point Project Engineers Ltd. ROV Consulting Inc. Telford Geotechnical Ltd. UBC Energy & Water Services WhiteWater West Industries Ltd.

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