REPUBLIC ACT NO. 5336 - 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"
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 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 by this
Act 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 way, 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 in 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 in mechanical
engineering, 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 collegiate
course of not less than four years."
Sec. 8. Section s twenty-one, twenty-four, and
twenty-five of the same Act, as emended, are hereby amended to read 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 the programs of examinations and to
publish the same at least six months before the date of the
examinations wherein they are to be used.
"Any alteration or amendments that the Board may later wish to
introduce in said program shall also be published at least six months
before the date of the examinations.
"Sec. 24. Registration as professional mechanical
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-one, 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 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.
SECTION 10. Section s 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
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 be signed by all the
members of the Board and the Commissioner of Civil Service, and shall
be attested by the 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, mechanical engineer, certified plant mechanical,
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 reports,
specifications, or estimates, or to be in performance of other
professional mechanical engineering service 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.
"(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
mechanic.
"(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 or 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 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 plants
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."
SECTION 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."
SECTION 12. This Act shall take effect upon its
approval.
Approved: June 15, 1968.
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