Innovation Summer 2025

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

Professional practice inquiries

What is the purpose of authenticating documents and what methods can I use to authenticate a document?

Authenticating engineering and geoscience documents serves as a safeguard for maintaining the integrity and accountability of work prepared by, or directly supervised by, engineering and geoscience professionals. A document is appropriately authenticated when a registrant applies their professional seal, along with their signature and date, to a professional work product. Authentication is a requirement of the Engineers and Geoscientists BC Bylaws. It is important to recognize that authentication is neither a mark of warranty, nor is it a guarantee of accuracy. Instead, it should be considered a “mark of reliance” indicating that others can rely on the fact that the opinions, judgements, or designs in the authenticated documents were provided by a registrant who is held to high standards of knowledge, skill, and ethical conduct. In addition to reliance, authentication also offers a layer of accountability, enabling clients, regulatory bodies, and others to be sure of a document’s origin and confirm its legitimacy. To this end, registrants must not allow another person to apply their manual seal, handwritten signature (or likeness thereof), or personal digital certificate (including any associated passwords or PIN) under any circumstance. In many jurisdictions, laws and regulations (also known as demand-side legislation) require authentication of engineering and geoscience documents that are used for decision-making in projects for regulatory submissions. Registrants must comply with these requirements to uphold public safety and environmental protection, and to meet legal requirements. Demand side legislation is not the only factor to consider when trying to determine whether authentication is required. Registrants must determine which documents should be authenticated, even when jurisdictional laws and regulations do not explicitly require that they do so. When determining whether to authenticate a document, registrants should ask themselves the following three questions: 1. Does the document contain information resulting from the practice of professional engineering or professional geoscience? 2. Is the document complete for its intended purpose? 3. Will the document be relied upon by others (whether for bidding, permitting, construction, implementation, use, or other reliance)?

If the answer to all three questions is yes, then the document must be authenticated. Engineers and Geoscientists BC Bylaws allow authentication to be completed either manually or digitally. To manually authenticate a document, the document must be printed, the manual seal applied, and a handwritten signature and date added prior to issuance of the physical document. It is also acceptable to have an image of the seal digitally applied to a document, however the minimum requirement is a live signature applied by the registrant named on the seal. This requirement can be met by printing the document and applying a handwritten ink signature, or by a signature created using a touch screen or electronic pen in a manner that requires a unique gesture for each instance. Digital authentication requires that registrants apply a digital seal, signature, and date, in conjunction with an approved digital certificate technology. At this point in time, Notarius is the only digital certificate provider that meets the requirements outlined in Section 3.6.6 of the Guide to the Standard for the Authentication of Documents . This same guide contains detailed information about appropriate methodologies for both manual and digital authentication and should be referenced for further clarity. It is also important to note that all authenticated documents require a valid Permit to Practice number to be applied by a Responsible Registrant of the firm, or by an individual employed by or under contract with the firm who is authorized to do so. The Permit to Practice number may be applied by type, handwriting, electronic means, rubber stamp or any other method that results in a visible and legible Permit to Practice number on the document. Finally, as authentication indicates a document can be relied upon, the act of authentication allows the registrant to take a moment to pause and consider whether they have met their professional and ethical responsibility in relation to the work contained within the authenticated document. For further inquiries and questions, please contact practiceadvisor@egbc.ca . Kendra Zammit, MSc., P.Geo. Practice Advisor

Innovation Summer 2025

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