Bill to change Quebec’s Professional Engineers Act has problem areas

The Association of Consulting Engineers of Quebec (AICQ) has submitted its comments to a committee holding hearings on Bill 49 and its proposed changes to the province’s Professional Engineers Act.

AICQ submitted its brief to the Commission on Institutions of the National Assembly on November 12.

Bill 49 is An Act to amend legal requirements for various professionals in the field of applied sciences, including not just the Professional Engineers Act, but also the Architects Act and legislation related to the professional legislation for chemists, geologists and agronomists. The bill provides a redefinition of the scope of practice and activities reserved for these professionals.

In its brief, AICQ said that overall the association is “satisfied” with the bill and its long-awaited revisions to the legislative framework for engineers. For example, the bill proposes changes to the Civil Code to require an engineer to conduct a general conformity review of engineering work in accordance with the Engineering Act.

But AICQ also has some concerns about some specific elements in Bill 49 which it believes are cumbersome and subject to interpretation. For example, the proposals seem to exclude engineers from doing work related to the building envelope. AICQ, therefore, wants the Architects Act to include a provision to underline that engineers can continue to exercise their expertise in that area.

AICQ would also like the law to specify that engineers have a role in the field of sustainable development and supervision.

Finally, whereas Bill 49 recommends that engineers should keep documents related to a structure for its entire life cycle, AICQ recommends that the engineer should only need to keep them on file for 10 years.