Registration for pipeline engineers

By Karen Polglaze, Communications Manager, APGA

APGA pioneered the introduction of registration for oil and gas pipeline engineers in 2014 and the latest development in continuous improvement of the process should make it easier for more pipeline engineers to become registered.

The first engineers to become registered as Oil and Gas Pipeline Engineers stood on stage at the 2014 APGA Annual Convention in Melbourne to receive their certificates. That moment was the culmination of years of work that took place alongside the development of the APGA Pipeline Engineering Competency System (PECS) which, for the first time, provided a complete system for assessing competency and became the tool that enabled registration.

Hidden behind the scenes and necessary to enable registration to occur in our industry are two bodies of volunteers: the Competency Panel and the Assessment Panel. While the two panels are part of the National Engineering Registration process owned by Engineers Australia, the volunteers are all drawn from the APGA membership and the panels are supported by the APGA secretariat.

The five pipeline industry leaders who stood on stage in Melbourne became the first Assessment Panel for Oil and Gas Pipeline Engineer (O&GPE) registration. The role of the Competency Panel is to determine the criteria required to be registered, and the panel members have been constantly reviewing and revising the process and the criteria since before registration was introduced.

The first major upgrade to registration was the extension of its availability to the offshore sector which followed the development of the offshore PECS. This required an expansion of both the "No doubt further changes will be introduced in the future as the NER strives to create a system that both reflects the breadth, professionalism and integrity of engineering while minimising the complications that can arise from the different systems used in our many jurisdictions."

Competence and Assessment panels to include offshore members. The resulting two classifications for registration, onshore and offshore, have different requirements but both are based on the PECS.

The replacement of the original registering body by the National Engineering Register by Engineering Australia led to several changes in the system. Originally these were minor, but more recently they have led to increased opportunities for pipeline and other engineers to become registered.

As states and territories move to introduce registration schemes for engineering, it will increasingly become necessary for engineers to be registered to practise in some, if not all, jurisdictions. This is especially important for pipeline engineers who often work across jurisdictions even on a single project.

When registration as an O&GPE was first introduced, it was available only to engineers who were already Chartered in another discipline, such as mechanical engineering. This meant it was a process in two parts requiring duplication of application and effort.

That has now changed and, for engineers who wish to become Chartered and registered in the discipline, that is now a one-step process through becoming Chartered as an Oil and Gas Pipeline Engineer.

For engineers who do not wish to, or who are not yet ready to, become Chartered, there is a second pathway to registration and that is via NER registration in O&GPE. This level is what is required for registration in all jurisdictions that currently require registration of engineers.

For senior and very experienced engineers (15 years or more), a new pathway has been developed to make the application process much easier. This is the Chartered by interview process where a candidate supplies their CV and, in the case of Chartered in O&GPE, a competency summary, as their total documentation and this is followed by an interview as the basis of assessment.

There are two interviewers for Chartered in O&GPE: one for the technical assessment of the oil and gas pipeline engineering section and one for the other requirements. Both assessors attend the same interview.

The Chartered by interview process is very straightforward, and it is hoped than our more experienced engineers will take advantage of this easy application process so that many more engineers in the pipeline industry become Chartered.

In another step aimed at encouraging more engineers in our industry to become registered, the Competency Panel has revised the criteria for registration and simplified the application requirements.

No doubt further changes will be introduced in the future as the NER strives to create a system that both reflects the breadth, professionalism and integrity of engineering while minimising the complications that can arise from the different systems used in our many jurisdictions.