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Board Publications ACTIVITIES OF THE BOARD - DECEMBER 1999
* Accreditation
Committee - Eng. Prof. Winston
A. Mellowes - Chairman
* Assessment Committee -
Eng. Lauriston Lewis - Chairman 4.1
Codes and Standards
The Board’s Committees on Codes and Standards
in co-operation with the Trinidad and Tobago Bureau of Standards and the
Interim National Physical Planning Commission continued in 1999 to be the
focus of activity related to the practice of engineering. In
November, the draft code to be used in the design of residential buildings
and structures were completed after six years of work.
Public consultation in both Trinidad and Tobago on these draft codes
will begin in January 2000. The
drafting of these codes was a major exercise carried out entirely by
volunteers. Had such a task been commissioned from a consulting firm, the
likely price tag would exceed TT $1 million! In
the New Year, the Board will begin with WASA a review of two existing
Codes, the National Plumbing Code and the Guidelines for Distribution of
Water and Wastewater. During
the year the Board, together with the other involved national bodies
prepared and submitted comments to the Joint Parliamentary Committee which
was reviewing the new Planning and Development of Land Bill.
That Bill is now before Parliament and if passed will introduce a
form of certification of skill, in a revised approval process for building
and infrastructure works. The proposed legislation creates an enhanced
role for registered engineers in the approval process. At
the same time, an Australian Consulting Group has been advising the INPPC
on options for further refining the approval process with the intention of
making the administration of certification and approvals entirely
self-financing. Also during 1999, the Board prepared and submitted to the Electrical Inspectorate a Report on the ‘Enhancement of the Existing Inspection Systems’. The Board was also involved in advising the Ministry of Public Utilities and T&TEC on resolving the problems arising from ‘supply of electricity to multi-tenanted buildings’. The Board’s advice was eventually accepted by T&TEC. The Board continued to participate in the Council
of Caribbean Engineering Organizations (CCEO) Committee on the Caribbean
Uniform Building Code (CUBiC) and a proposal has been prepared and
submitted to the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for funding the next
revision of CUBiC. It is to
be expected that the T&T Building Codes will heavily influence the
revised CUBiC.
4.2 Carnival
Assistance Committee
The Board has been working with the Carnival
Bandleaders Association and the National Carnival Commission on solutions to
alleviate the problem of congestion in the Queen’s Park Savannah at
Carnival. A solution which
defines an optional route has been proposed and an attempt to partially
implement the solution was made in 1999.
The proposal still has to be discussed among the major stakeholders
and the complete solution will probably not be implemented before 2001. 4.3 Committee
on Technical
and Vocational Training
This Committee was established in 1999 to
co-ordinate the Board’s efforts and interactions with the many national
interests in this important area. The
Board is concerned about the lack of co-ordination and compatibility in the
levels of training being offered in the technical and vocational areas in
T&T. At the professional
level the Board has been and continues to work with NIHERST and the UWI to
create a compatible framework for the accreditation and recognition of
degrees. At the
technical/vocational level however the multiplicity of training services and
systems being offered demands that the Board gets involved in assisting to
create a framework in technical and vocational training which can produce
graduates capable of interfacing with the professional engineering systems
of the Country. In this regard the Board has met with the National Training
Agency (NTA) and has agreed to nominate registered engineers to serve on the
Advisory Committees of the NTA. Coincidentally
the Board’s Registrar has been appointed to the Board of the NTA. 4.4 Assistance
to the Defence Force
The Committee on Technical/Vocational Training
has also been assisting the Defence Force in the area of training for the
establishment of an Engineering Battalion in the Force. |
