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H.No.15653 / 65 OG No. 24, 6107 (June 16, 1969)

[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 5336, June 15, 1968 ]

AN ACT AMENDING COMMONWEALTH ACT NUMBERED TWO HUNDRED NINETY-FOUR, AS AMENDED, ENTITLED "AN ACT TO REGULATE THE PRACTICE OF MECHANICAL ENGINEER­ING IN THE PHILIPPINES, TO PROVIDE FOR LICENSING THE OPERATING PERSONNEL IN MECHANICAL PLANTS AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES."



Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Subparagraph two of Section four of Commonwealth Act Numbered Two hundred ninety four, otherwise known  as   the   "Mechanical   Engineering   Law"   is hereby amended to read as follows:
"(2) Hold the degree of M.E. or B.S.M.E. or M.M.E. or M.S.M.E., or the equivalent thereof, conferred by an engineering  school   or  college,   legally  chartered   and   of  recognized standing."
SEC. 2. Section eight of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:
" SEC. 8. Compensation of Board.—The members of the Board  shall each receive as compensation the sum of ten pesos for each applicant examined or registered without examination for any of the first two grades provided under Section eleven hereof; and five pesos for each applicant examined or registered without examination for any of the first two grades provided under Section eleven hereof; and five pesos for each applicant registered without examination or examined for the grade of certified plant mechanic: Provided, That   the   total  amount  shall not exceed  the sum of  eighteen  thousand pesos per annum.   Any mechanical engineer in the service of the Government of the Philippines appointed as member of the Board shall receive the compensation herein provided, in addition to his salary. All fees shall be received by the officer designated by competent authority as the collecting officer for the Civil Service Commission, and such officer shall pay all authorized expenses of the Board,  including the compensation provided for the members of the Board."
SEC. 3. Section eleven of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:
"SEC. 11. Grades.—Certificates of registration for the practice of mechanical engineering shall be of three grades and in the order of rank as follows: (1) professional mechanical engineer, (2) mechanical engineer, and   (3)  certified plant mechanic."
SEC. 4. Paragraph (a) of Section thirteen of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:
"SEC.  13. Definition  of  terms.— (a)   Mechanical engineering.—A person shall be deemed to be practicing  mechanical engineering or rendering mechanical engineering service within the meaning and  intent of this Act, who shall, for a fee, salary or other reward or compensation paid to himself or to another person, or even without such reward  or compensation, render professional  mechanical engineering service in the form of consultation, investigation, valuation, planning, design, or preparation of specifications or estimates for, or take charge of management, administration    and    supervision    of the construction,  erection, installation or alteration of, or render engineering service in connection with the manufacture, sale, supply or distribution of, or to manage, operate, tend or maintain any mechanical equipment machinery or process, for any mechanical   works,   project   or   plant;   or   who  shall, by means of signs, cards, advertisement or in any other offer  to  practice  mechanical   engineering  or  to  render  professional mechanical engineering service, or who shall  in connection with his name, or otherwise, use, assume or advertise any  title or description tending to convey the impression that he is a professional mechanical engineer, or mechanical engineer, or  certified  plant  mechanic,  or  that he is engaged in the practice of  mechanical engineering as defined in this Act."
SEC. 5. Subparagraphs (c) and (d-1) of Section sixteen of the  same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:
" (c)  That he is a registered mechanical engineer under the provisions of  this  Act.

" (d)  That he has graduated from an engineering school or college   of  recognized   standing,   after   completing   an  approved course in mechanical engineering of not less than four years;  and that after he has been conferred a degree as provided   in   Section   eighteen  of  this  Act  he   has  a  specific record of a total of four years or more of active practice in mechanical   engineering  work  of  a   character  satisfactory to the Board, and in an affidavit by one or more registered professional mechanical engineers indicate that the applicant is competent to practice as professional mechanical engineer.

" In considering the  qualifications  of  applicants,  being charge of mechanical  engineering teaching  in  an engineering school of recognized standing may be regarded as being in  active practice in mechanical engineering  work."
SEC.  6. Subparagraph    (d-2)    of   Section   sixteen   and  Section seventeen of the same Act are hereby repealed.

SEC.  7. Section  eighteen  of  the  same  Act  is  hereby amended to read as  follows:
" SEC. 18. Qualifications of applicant for mechanical engineer—Any person applying for examination and for a certificate of registration as mechanical engineer shall, prior to admission to examination, establish to the satisfaction of the Board:

" (a)  That he is at least eighteen years of age: Provided, That no license shall be issued to him until he reaches the age of twenty-one.

" (b) That he is of good reputation and moral character.

" (c) That he holds the degree of bachelor of  science in mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer, master of science in mechanical engineering,   or  the   equivalent   thereof,   conferred by a  university, school, college, academy or institute duly constituted and recognized as such by the government or the state in which it is established after completing a college course of not less than four years."
SEC. 8. Sections twenty-one, twenty-four, and twenty-five of the same Act, as amended, are hereby amended to as follows:
"SEC. 21. Scope of examinations.—The examination for professional mechanical engineer shall be testimonial which shall consist of a submission of an  enumeration of the  applicant's  experiences  including  the  presentation of  an engineering   report   pertinent   to   his   line  of  experience  attested   to   by   one   or   more   professional   mechanical engineers duly notarized to the satisfaction of the Board.

"The scope  of the examinations  and  the  methods of  procedure shall be prescribed by the Board with special reference   to   the   applicant's   ability  to   do  the  class of engineering work pertaining to the particular grade he is  to  be  registered for,  and  to  prove  that said  applicant has sufficient technological knowledge to insure safety to  life, health and property as well as economy and efficiency in the design, construction, installation, maintenance, operation, organization and management of mechanical plants  or works.    It shall be the duty of the Board to prepare programs of  the  examinations   and   to   publish  the same at  least   six   months   before  the   date   of  the  examination  wherein they are to be used.

"Any alteration  or amendments  that the Board may  later  wish  to   introduce  in   said   program  shall  published   at   least   six  months  before  the examinations.

"SEC. 24. Registration as professional engineer without   examination.—No  examination shall be required of any person  who  shall,  with  his  application for registration as professional mechanical engineer submitted to the  Board  after  the   date   this   Act  becomes effective, present evidence or other proof satisfactory to the Board,  showing that, on the date of the approval of this Act,  he was a mechanical engineer duly licensed by the Board of Examiners for Mechanical Engineers under Act Numbered   Two   thousand   nine   hundred   eighty-five of the Philippine Legislature of nineteen hundred twenty as amended. Sec. 25. Registration   as  mechanical engineer without examination.—No  examination  shall be required of any person who shall, with his application for registration as mechanical   engineer,   submitted  to   the   Board   after the   date this Act becomes effective,  present evidence or sufficient proof satisfactory to the Board, showing that, on the date of the approval of this Act, as amended, he was a junior mechanical engineer duly registered by said Board under the original provisions of this Act."
SEC. 9.  Section  twenty-six  of the same Act is hereby repealed.
SEC. 10. Sections twenty-eight, thirty, thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine and forty-one of the same Act, as amended, are hereby amended to read as follows:

" SEC. 28. Issuance   of   certificates .—The   Board   shall  issue a  certificate  of registration  upon  payment  of the registration upon payment of the registration fee as provided for in this Act, to any applicant  who, in the opinion of the Board and after  approval of his ratings by the Office of the President, has satisfactorily met all the requirements specified in this Act for the particular grade for which he is registering.

" All certificates of registration shall show the full name of the registrant,  shall have a serial number,  and shall signed by all the members of the Board and the Commissioner of  Civil  Service,  and  shall be  attested by official seal.

" The issuance of  a  certificate  of  registration by  the  Board to a  registrant shall be evidence that the person named therein is entitled to all the rights and privileges of a registered professional mechanical engineer, certified plant mechanic, as the case may be, while said certificate remains unrevoked or unsuspended.

"SEC. 30. Fees for examination and registration.— Every applicant for examination for the grade of professional mechanical engineer or mechanical engineer shall pay an examination fee of fifty pesos; and for the grade of certified plant mechanic, a fee of twenty pesos; which fee shall accompany the application.

"Every registrant for the grades of professional mechan­ical engineer and mechanical engineer shall pay a registration fee of ten pesos; and for certified plant mechanic, a fee of five pesos: Provided, That when an applicant is registered, without examination, for the grade of professional mechanical engineer or of mechanical engineer, he shall be required to pay a registration fee of thirty pesos; and for the grade of certified plant mechanic, a fee of ten pesos.

"SEC.  36. Field   of  action  authorized  for  each grade: prohibitions.—It shall be unlawful for any person, unless exempted from registration under Section fourteen of this Act:

"(a)   To be in responsible charge of the preparation of plans, designs, investigation, valuation, technical report, specifications,  or estimates, or to be in  performance of other professional mechanical engineering service for a mechanical works, project or plant, either for himself  or for others, unless he holds a valid certificate of registration as professional mechanical engineer.

"(b)  To be in responsible charge of the construction, erection, installation or alteration or of the performance of mechanical engineering service in connection with the manufacture, sale, supply or distribution of any mechanical equipment, machinery or process for any mechanical  works, project or plant, either for himself or for others, unless he holds  a valid certificate of registration as professional mechanical engineer or mechanical engineer.

"(c)  To operate, tend, or maintain, or be in charge of the operation, tending, or maintenance of any mechanical equipment,    machinery   or   process   for   any   mechanical works, project or plant of fifty horsepower or more but of less than three hundred horsepower,  unless he holds a valid  certificate of registration as professional mechanical  engineer,   mechanical   engineer,   or   certified   plant

"(d)  To operate, tend, or maintain, or be in charge of the operation, tending or maintenance of any mechanical equipment, machinery   or   process   for   any   mechanical works,  project or plant of three hundred horsepower or more, unless he holds a valid certificate of registration as professional mechanical engineer, or mechanical engineer.

"SEC.  37. Personnel  required  in  mechanical  plants.— Every mechanical works,  project, or plant,  in operation shall have not less than the following complement of resident engineers or mechanics  duly  registered under this Act: "(a)  Fifty horsepower or over but below three hundred horsepower, one certified plant mechanic, or one mechanical engineer of any rank: Provided, That every mechanical works, project or plant of fifty horsepower or over but below three hundred horsepower operating in more than one shift every twenty-four hours, shall have, in addition to the minimum personnel herein required,  one certified plant mechanic or one mechanical engineer of any rank in charge of each and every additional shift. "(b) Three hundred horsepower or over, one mechanical engineer or one professional mechanical engineer: Provided, That every mechanical works, projects or plants of  three hundred  horsepower  or  more  shall  have  at least one resident mechanical engineer or professional mechanical  mechanical  engineer, in charge of each shift.

" SEC. 38. Preparation of plans and supervision of construction by registered engineers required.—It shall be unlawful for any person to order or otherwise cause the construction, erection, installation, or alteration of any mechanical equipment, machinery or process for any mechanical works, project or plant of fifty horsepower or more, unless designs, plans, layouts, and/or specifications have been prepared under the responsible charge of, signed and sealed by a registered professional mechanical engineer, and unless the construction, erection, installation and/or alteration thereof are executed under the responsible charge and direct supervision of a registered professional mechanical engineer, a registered mechanical engineer, or a person exempt from registration under subsection (c) or (d) of Section fourteen of this Act. " Sec. 39. Application to firms and corporations,—A firm or a co-partnership, or a corporation, or an association may engage in the practice of mechanical engineering in the Philippines, provided only that such practice is carried on by professional mechanical engineers, or mechanical engineers, or certified plant mechanics, holding valid certificates of registration issued by the Board. "In the case of a firm, co-partnership, corporation, asso­ciation, society or company, the manager, administrator, or the person who has charge of the management or administration of the business shall be held personally liable for any violation of this Act.

" SEC. 41. Roster of engineers and mechanics.—A roster showing the names and places of business of all registered professional mechanical engineers, mechanical engineers, or certified plant mechanics, shall be prepared by the Commissioner of Civil Service during the months of January and July of each year, commencing one year from the date this Act becomes effective. Copies of this roster shall be mailed to each person so registered, placed on file with the Board and copies furnished to all Department Heads, to the Mayors of all chartered cities, to the Director of Public Works, to such other bureaus, governmental agencies, and municipal and provincial authorities as  may be deemed necessary, and to the public upon request."
SEC. 11. The same Act is further amended by inserting a new section between Section forty-seven and Section forty-eight, to be known as Section forty-seven-A which shall read as follows:
"SEC. 47-A.—Transitory Provision.Subjects Mechanical plant Engineer.—Effective upon approval of this Act, the original grade of mechanical plant engineer shall retain their original certificate and shall continue to practice as such with the following field of action: "To be in responsible charge of the construction, erection, installation or alteration or of the performance of engineering service in connection with maintenance, sale, supply or distribution of any mechanical equipment, machinery or process for any mechanical works, project or plant, either for himself or for others and all the rights and privileges of mechanical engineer as provided in this Act, as amended."
SEC. 12. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, June 15, 1968.

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