Firms Now Responsible for Correct Use of Title
Bylaw amendments approved by the Engineers and Geoscientists BC Board on November 29, 2024, clarify the responsibility of registrant firms to prevent misuse of title when assigning job titles and roles. While the requirements regarding individual title use have not changed, registrant firms will now have the responsibility to ensure titles with restricted words, such as engineer or geoscientists, have not been assigned to non-registrants in breach of the Professional Governance Act (PGA).
Engineers and Geoscientists BC will work with firms to comply by January 1, 2026.
“We recognize there will likely be a variety of complexity with regard to compliance across firms, and we will be working with firms to help them achieve compliance during an extended window with a target for compliance of January 1, 2026,” said Kelly Dayman, P.L.Eng., Associate Director, Regulation of Firms at Engineers and Geoscientists BC. “Resources and consultation will be available for Responsible Officers and Responsible Registrants with frequent communications planned this year.”
Engineers and Geoscientists BC has a statutory duty under the PGA to protect the public interest by taking action to stop non-registrants from misusing reserved titles or other names, titles, descriptions or abbreviations that express or imply that they are registrants or are entitled to practice the professions of engineering or geoscience in BC.
To align, Engineers and Geoscientists BC’s Board amended Bylaw 5.12, section 22, to clarify registrant firms are now responsible to ensure titles are used correctly as outlined in that bylaw and the PGA.
Firms will be required to address this responsibility in their Professional Practice Management Plan (PPMP), which will enable proactive discussion with Engineers and Geoscientists BC assessors to prevent misuse of title.
More details on these changes can be found in this bulletin, the Firm Practice FAQs (#14), and the Legislation and Bylaws page (Bylaw 5.12 section 22).
Please contact [email protected] for answers on how this change affects you or your firm.
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