COMPLIANCE

Activity Report

Editor’s Note: The following statistics track this year’s APEGGA Compliance Department activity from Jan. 1 to April 30. The department’s job is to enforce the right-to-practice and right- to- title provisions of the EGGP Act Part 1. The Compliance Department’s focus, therefore, is on individuals and companies that are not members – those which may be, inadvertently or otherwise, holding themselves out as members or practicing the professions illegally.

Examples

The following is a sampling of recent compliance and enforcement activities:

• The Compliance Department regularly reviews Alberta’s Yellow Pages for listings under headings such as “Engineers – Consulting.” Frequently, companies listed do not hold a permit to practice, so they are contacted to determine what their activities are. If they are not practicing, or misusing a title, the Yellow Pages is advised, and the listing is relocated under a more appropriate heading for their business. If they are found to be practicing engineering, geology or geophysics, they are required to obtain a permit to practice and are entitled to retain their location in the Yellow Pages.

In a recent example of the above, the Compliance Department contacted a non- permit holding listed under “Engineers – Consulting.” Management there confirmed the company employs professional engineers and engages in the practice. An application for the permit was submitted soon after and approved, so Compliance did not contact the Yellow Pages to have the company’s listing relocated.

• The oil and gas industry is ever changing with corporate mergers and acquisitions. The Compliance Department contacted a non-permitted oil and gas company employing APEGGA members in all three professions. The investigation revealed that the company was formed when a company that previously held a permit had been purchased and renamed. The permit of the original company was cancelled and the new company chose not to have it reinstated. Coincidently, Compliance learned that the subject company was in the process of being purchased by an existing permit holder. The issue was resolved and the file closed with the permit requirement now being satisfied.

• The exclusive scope of the practice of engineering is stated in the EGGP Act, Section 2(1) as follows:

2(1) Except as otherwise provided in this Act, no individual, corporation, partnership or other entity, except a professional engineer, a licensee so authorized in the licensee's licence, a permit holder so authorized in its permit or a certificate holder so authorized in the certificate holder's certificate, shall engage in the practice of engineering.

The EGGP Act also includes exemptions from this exclusive scope of practice. One such exemption is Section 2(4)(a), stated as follows:
Subsection (1) does not apply to the following:

o a person engaged in the execution or supervision of the construction, maintenance, operation or inspection of any process, system, work, structure or building in the capacity of contractor, superintendent, foreman or inspector or in any similar capacity, when the process, system, work, structure or building has been designed by and the execution or supervision is being carried out under the supervision and control of a professional engineer or licensee.

The Compliance Department always considers exemptions when assessing the activities of individuals and corporations. Recently, the activities of a company employing APEGGA members was thoroughly reviewed and exempted from the requirement for a permit to practice under section 2(4)(a). Compliance advised the company that a permit to practice is not currently required – but if its activities should change in the future to include engineering, a permit would be required.

Frequently Asked Question

Q Many other non-registered individuals and companies practice engineering, geology and geophysics in Alberta. Why is my company being contacted by APEGGA while the others are not?

A The Compliance Department is a department made up of four employees who are responsible for locating non-registered individuals and companies that are practicing or holding out to practice engineering, geology and/or geophysics in Alberta. We contact companies and individuals as we become aware of them through our work in reviewing yellow page listings, newspaper advertisements, incorporations listed in the Alberta Gazette, the APEGGA database and other sources. As a department of four, we do what we are able to, but we also rely on our members and on members of the public to bring these issues to our attention.

If you are aware of any practice or title violations and you are able to supply evidence (i.e. a business card, website etc.) we encourage you to contact Louise Heron in the Compliance Department at lheron@apegga.org.