ACTIVITIES OF THE BOARD - DECEMBER 1998     Back to Activities Contents

 3.0        Board Standing Committees

             In accordance with the requirements of the Act, the following Standing Committees of the Board were appointed:- 

            *  Accreditation Committee  - Eng. Prof. Winston A. Mellowes - Chairman

            *  Assessment Committee   - Eng. Lauriston Lewis - Chairman

4.0             Special Committees

4.1             Codes and Standards

            In addition to the function of registration, the Board is charged with the responsibility for the regulation of the practice of Engineering in our Society.  

Regulation requires Codes and Standards and it is in this area that the Board does its greatest volume of work.  This work is done through the several Special Committees of the Board.  The first among these are the Committees on Codes and Standards.  There are other Special Committees but the Codes and Standards Committees are the “engine rooms” of the Board.  For example, the Committees of the Board to determine the Codes and Standards to be used in the design of buildings and structures have been meeting since 1993 and are in various stages of progress.

            More recently, an Interim National Physical Planning Commission (INPPC) has been established. Among other things, the Commission is managing the revision of the Town and Country Planning Act and in this context it is expected that a revised approval process and an enhanced role for the registered engineer would be included in a proposed Planning and Development of Land Act.  Eng. Fenrick De Four is a member nominated by the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry.

            In an effort to ensure that design professionals and the regulatory agencies agree on the standards that would guide the registered professional in the preparation of plans and the regulators in the approval of these plans, the Committees of the Board now work under the auspices of the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards and the INPPC and the final codes would be declared for approval purposes under the new law expected to be operative in early 1999.  The Codes are as follows:-

            -             Electrical Code

-             General Conditions of Contract for Building Works

            -             Drainage Code

            -             National Building Code

            -             Planning Standards

            -             Structural

-                      Fire Systems  

4.2      Carnival Assistance Working Group

            The Board has also gotten involved in issues affecting the Society on which engineering can make an input.  In an attempt to alleviate the perennial problem of congestion of the Queen's Park Savannah venue during Carnival, the Board has been working with the Carnival Bandleaders Association and the National Carnival Commission to devise solutions.  It may be premature to divulge the new proposals since consultations with the main stakeholders are in progress.  However, while the proposals will probably be too late for 1999, it does seem that 2000 and the new millennium may see some radical changes in the way Carnival is managed in Port of Spain.

4.3       Work Permits

            The Board continues to assist the Work Permits Committee of the Ministry of National Security by reviewing when requested by the Committee, the applications of persons requesting work permits to practice as Engineers in Trinidad and Tobago.   When registration to practice becomes mandatory in Trinidad and Tobago, this relationship with the Ministry can be expected to grow and the attendant work load on the Board's secretariat will have to be reviewed.

4.4      Board’s Appreciation

            The Board wishes to pay a special tribute to the members of these Committees.  The really substantive contributions of the Board are made through the work of these Committees.  The members give of their expertise and time freely, unstintingly and largely without recognition.  That the Board is the vehicle through which their efforts are manifest gives additional purpose to the Board's contributions, but the real development of the profession of engineering in Trinidad and Tobago is taking place in the work of these Committees and through the efforts of the Committee members.  These members include not only registered engineers, but staff of the Bureau of Standards and others who are co-opted for their special expertise.  

The Board hereby publicly recognizes that work and those members for their long-standing and exemplary contributions to our profession and to the development of Trinidad and Tobago. 

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