Requirements to register for Engineers Registration Board in Botswana
The applicant must have proven that they have the right competencies for the category of registration that they are applying for being; Engineer, Technologist or Technician.
The registration can be as a: i. Professional i.e. Professional Engineer, Professional Tech-nologist, Professional Technician; or ii. Registered i.e. Registered Engineer, Registered Technolo-gist, Registered Technician; oriii. Graduate i.e. Graduate Engineer, Graduate Technologist or Graduate Technician.
The last two (2) categories have to work under the guidance of a registered Professional.OBLIGATIONS FOR GETTING A PRACTICING CERTIFICATEPracticing certificates for any of the three (3) categories is given when you indicate that you are doing engineering work.
This is a requirement regardless of whether you work under the guidance of a Professional or not. The renewal of the Practicing Certificate requires the payment of the Practicing Fee and proof of having earned a specified number of Continuous Professional Development (CPD) credits.
However, the requirement for CPD only applies to Professional cadres.b) The mandate of the Engineers Registration Board is not only to regulate but also to advocate for engineering professionals possessing the correct qualifications to be engaged in engineering works..
c) It is expected that engineers should deliver projects or any other relevant engineering service appropriately and cost effectively to the satisfaction of all stakeholders (financiers, clients, users, etc.) with consideration of safety and security being paramount.
d) However, as the engineering fraternity is not immune from challenges including abandoned projects; delivery of substandard engineering work; bulging project cost overruns on public works and increasing engineering related litigation, these failures give credence to the perception that there is a lot of corruption in the execution of development projects.
e) Government and stakeholders need to work round the clock to reverse these challenges by ensuring that engineers (both in the public sector and those in the private sector) who continue to practice without having registered with the Engineers Registration Board are not given the opportunity to participate in the delivery of projects.
f) Furthermore, because the ERB is also empowered to conduct or authorise inquiries regarding any allegations of professional misconduct of any engineer, when this is effective, the removal from the register of those who have been found wanting, should act as a deterrent and should ultimately remove the culture of unethical conduct.
g) With respect to engineers in my ministry and across the public sector as a whole, it is evident that a lot of project failures are as a result of poor supervision, resulting in delivery of an end product which is of poor quality and is often not fit-for-purpose.
h) My Ministry will spend more time on work-shopping officers in areas which are directly impacting project delivery; these areas include contract administration, decision making, monitoring and evaluation of projects and of course, ethics.
i) The reasons for not complying with the requirement for registration and renewing their current practice certificates is still being investigated as it is not only in my Ministry, but is prevalent across other Government ministries too. Some of the engineers were employed before ERB came into effect.
j) The issues relating to engineers are applicable to Architects and Quantity Surveyors as per the tables 2 and 3 (attached):Out of the 7 PrQSs, 5 have renewed their Practicing Certificates for 2023. Out of the 14 registered CanQSs, only 2 are in good standing, 12 did not renew their membership.
original article for Ministry of Transport Facebook
