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BY ROSS PLECASH, P.ENG.
Corporate and Member Affairs Director
 APEGGA
regulation changes approved earlier this year have important
implications for firms holding a permit to practice, and for
the responsible members named on those permits. Starting this
fall, attendance at a Permit to Practice Seminar will be mandatory
for all responsible members, and all permit holders will be
required to have a Professional Practice Management Plan in
place.
The permit to practice program, initiated by APEGGA in the
late 1960s, was originally intended for consulting companies
offering their services directly to the public. The intent
was to ensure that the same standards of practice applied
to corporate entities as to individual practitioners. Changes
in policy in 1981 brought operating companies under the permit
regulations.
Through the mid-1990s the Permit to Practice Task Force made
a number of recommendations aimed at enhancing the value of
the permit, including changes to the permit fee structure
and permit stamping practices, and the introduction of random
practice reviews. The most important changes, however, were
the introduction of the concept of a Professional Practice
Management Plan, or PPMP, and the requirement for responsible
members named on the permit to attend a Permit to Practice
Seminar once every five years.
The seminar and plan are designed to help ensure that permit
holding companies adhere to the same Code of Ethics and standards
of quality that individual members are held to. The seminar
shows responsible members what's expected of them, and the
PPMP outlines how they'll accomplish it.
The Permit to Practice Seminar consists of a two-hour presentation
and question-and-answer session that addresses APEGGA's expectations
of the responsible member with respect to the practice of
engineering, geology, or geophysics within the permit-holding
company. How many responsible members are required for a firm,
and the legal liabilities of being named as a responsible
member are explored. The seminar introduces the Professional
Practice Management Plan, along with the new APEGGA PPMP Guideline.
Finally, an open forum for questions on the permit or on any
of APEGGA's programs is held.
Attendance at the seminar is mandatory for all responsible
members, once every five years, and chief operating officers
are encouraged, though not required, to attend as well. Current
responsible members must attend a seminar within five years,
while new responsible members will be expected to attend within
six months of being named on a permit.
A declaration regarding the PPMP will become a part of the
permit renewal form beginning in 2004, and starting in 2005
APEGGA will be able to request to see a firm's PPMP.
There are a number of options available for fulfilling the
Permit to Practice Seminar requirement. A responsible member
can attend one of the free sessions held regularly in the
Edmonton or Calgary APEGGA offices, and specially scheduled
sessions will be held in other centres in the province starting
in 2004.
A firm may elect to send only one representative, who would
then undertake to hold a seminar for the other responsible
members named on the permit. Firms with a large number of
responsible members can contact the director of corporate
and member affairs directly to arrange for an in-house seminar.
Under consideration for 2004 is a Web-based seminar, aimed
specifically at those responsible members who are unable to
attend one of the regular sessions.
Ross Plecash, P.Eng.
Corporate and Member Affairs Director
Tel. (780) 426-3990, Ext. 814
E-mail rplecash@apegga.org
Or visit
www.apegga.org
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