Professional Conduct In Professional Engineering

1. Professional conduct
The professional conduct is taken very seriously, with a code of conduct specified in the Engineering Profession Act. There are six main sections that are covered in the Code of conduct, the following is a small summery of these sections. (1)
1.1 Competency
As a Pr eng it’s important to only undertake work that you are trained or competent to do so and once on a job, the work must be done with care, skill and diligence while adhering to professional standards. As a student, I had to seek a professional advice from a qualified engineer to ensure that some of the designs regarding our electric vehicle were safe, and adhered to the professional standards.
1.2 Integrity
Pr eng receive a lot of authority, but with this

There are three main components that need to be completed before one’s professional engineering application will be accepted, these are; The degree needs to conform to specific design criteria, applicants need to meet a specific knowledge profile, and finally one must have completed all 10 exit level outcomes (ELO’s) (3)
Becoming a professional engineer has many advantages, affecting each engineering field differently. For example, a mechanical engineer it gives them more responsibilities and authority compared to a standard engineer, therefore a Pr eng will be able to sign off documents that a normal engineer wouldn’t be able to. It also gives credibility to a consulting engineer.
The South African institution of Mechanical Engineering (SAIMechE) is the senior body representing the discipline of mechanical engineering in South Africa. SAIMechE is a voluntary association of Mechanical Engineers, Technologists and Technicians that have access to various grades of membership and the associated benefits. (4) This is not just an excellent association to be involved in for gaining knowledge from the other members, but is also one of the voluntary associations that you as a Pr eng would need to be involved in to obtain credits for the continues professional development.
3. Occupational health and safety Act

Continuous Professional Development (CPD)
CPD can be defined as “the systematic maintenance, improvement and broadening of knowledge and skills, and the development of personal qualities necessary for the execution of professional and technical duties throughout an engineer’s career” (6)
ECSA’s CPD policy requires that a Pr eng needs to continuously be developing, otherwise their Pr eng status will be revoked. In order to show continually development, you are required to obtain points. “CPD credits must be obtained in at least two of the three categories listed below, with at least 5 credits per full five-year cycle from Category 1.” (6)
Category 1 is the developmental activities, this requires the Pr eng to attend conferences, lectures, seminars etc. Category 2 involves work-based activities, this is simply any engineering work that has been completed during the time period or it may even be mentoring an engineer in training. Category 3 is individual activities, this requires the Pr eng to become recognised at a voluntary association, a good example of this would be