── THE NEPAL ENGINEERING COUNCIL ACT 2055 (1998) ─────────── THE PARENT LEGISLATION. Its structure follows the standard pattern of a professional regulation statute, and the substance groups into six parts: 1. PRELIMINARY — short title, commencement, and DEFINITIONS. The definitions matter more than they appear to: what counts as "engineering", who is an "engineer", and what constitutes "practice" determine the Act's entire reach. 2. ESTABLISHMENT AND CONSTITUTION OF THE COUNCIL · the Council as an AUTONOMOUS BODY CORPORATE with perpetual succession, able to hold property and to sue and be sued in its own name · its composition: chairperson and members from government, universities and engineering institutions, the Nepal Engineers' Association, and practising engineers · terms of office, meetings, quorum and procedure · the REGISTRAR and the secretariat · power to form COMMITTEES and delegate functions 3. FUNCTIONS, DUTIES AND POWERS · to REGISTER engineers and maintain the register · to RECOGNISE qualifications and institutions · to prescribe standards for engineering EDUCATION and to accredit programmes · to conduct the REGISTRATION EXAMINATION · to issue the CODE OF ETHICS · to take DISCIPLINARY ACTION · to advise the Government · to determine the CLASSIFICATION and scope of engineering work 4. REGISTRATION · eligibility, categories and the application procedure · grounds for REFUSING registration · the certificate and registration number · renewal · TEMPORARY REGISTRATION for foreign engineers · THE CENTRAL PROHIBITION: NO PERSON SHALL PRACTISE AS AN ENGINEER, USE THE TITLE, OR SIGN ENGINEERING DOCUMENTS WITHOUT BEING REGISTERED. 5. DISCIPLINE AND OFFENCES · professional misconduct and its consequences · investigation procedure, including the right to be heard · penalties: reprimand, SUSPENSION or CANCELLATION of registration · offences and punishment for unregistered practice and for obtaining registration fraudulently · APPEAL against the Council's decision 6. MISCELLANEOUS · the Council FUND, accounts and audit · annual report to the Government · POWER TO FRAME REGULATIONS — the provision that produces the second instrument below · removal of difficulties and saving provisions ── THE NEPAL ENGINEERING COUNCIL REGULATIONS ─────────────── Made by the Council under the Act's rule-making power, and amended from time to time. THE DIVISION OF LABOUR BETWEEN THE TWO INSTRUMENTS IS THE POINT WORTH UNDERSTANDING: THE ACT ESTABLISHES POWERS AND PRINCIPLES AND IS AMENDED ONLY BY PARLIAMENT. THE REGULATIONS SUPPLY OPERATIONAL DETAIL AND CAN BE AMENDED BY THE COUNCIL AS CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE. This is deliberate: fee levels, examination arrangements and documentary requirements should not require an Act of Parliament to adjust, while the power to end someone's career should not be alterable by an administrative decision. THE REGULATIONS COVER: · detailed registration procedure, forms and documents · CATEGORIES and their specific requirements · FEES for registration, renewal and examination · the conduct, syllabus and standard of the REGISTRATION EXAMINATION · criteria and procedure for RECOGNITION of institutions and degrees · accreditation standards for programmes · the CODE OF ETHICS (issued under the Act) · disciplinary procedure in detail · committee constitution and functioning · the register's form and maintenance

── THE CODE OF ETHICS ────────────────────────────────────── ISSUED UNDER THE ACT AND BINDING ON EVERY REGISTERED ENGINEER. Breach is professional misconduct and is disciplinable — which is what distinguishes it from a voluntary statement of aspiration. ITS SUBSTANCE, grouped by the relationship it governs: A. DUTY TO THE PUBLIC AND THE STATE · HOLD PARAMOUNT the safety, health and welfare of the public · comply with the law and with prevailing standards and codes · protect the ENVIRONMENT and promote sustainable practice · work in the national interest and contribute to development · do not engage in work that would harm the public B. DUTY TO THE PROFESSION · uphold the dignity and reputation of engineering · practise ONLY WITHIN COMPETENCE and within the registered category · SIGN ONLY WORK PERSONALLY DONE, SUPERVISED OR CHECKED · maintain and update professional knowledge · do not misrepresent qualifications or experience · do not obtain work by improper means · assist the development of junior engineers C. DUTY TO THE CLIENT AND THE EMPLOYER · act as a FAITHFUL AGENT, honestly and diligently · maintain CONFIDENTIALITY of the client's information · DISCLOSE any conflict of interest · do not accept payment from more than one party for the same service without the knowledge and consent of all · give impartial and truthful advice, including advice the client does not want to hear D. DUTY TO COLLEAGUES · do not injure another engineer's reputation maliciously · GIVE CREDIT for work to those who performed it · do not seek to displace another engineer improperly · compete on merit · cooperate in the profession's collective interest E. GENERAL CONDUCT · NEITHER OFFER NOR ACCEPT BRIBES or improper inducements · avoid conduct that would bring the profession into disrepute · cooperate with the Council in any inquiry THE INTERNAL HIERARCHY OF THE CODE, which is the point most worth stating in an answer: THE DUTIES ARE NOT OF EQUAL WEIGHT. Duty to the public is PARAMOUNT and OVERRIDES duty to the client, the employer and the profession. WHERE A CLIENT'S INSTRUCTION WOULD ENDANGER THE PUBLIC, THE CODE REQUIRES THE ENGINEER TO REFUSE — and the confidentiality owed to that client does not extend to concealing a danger to life. ── THE COMPLETE LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN ONE VIEW ──────────────── Bringing this section together, the instruments an engineer in Nepal works within: PROFESSIONAL STATUS · Nepal Engineering Council Act 2055 and Regulations — registration, ethics, discipline TECHNICAL STANDARDS · Building Act 2055 and the National Building Code · Nepal Standards; IS codes adopted by reference ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIETY · Environment Protection Act 2076 and Rules — BES/IEE/EIA · Land Acquisition Act 2034 COMMERCIAL · Public Procurement Act 2063 and Regulations · Contract Act 2056 · Companies Act 2063 LABOUR AND SAFETY · Labour Act 2074 and Rules; Social Security Act SECTORAL · Electricity Act, Water Resources Act, Industrial Enterprises Act, and others by field ── THE CLOSING OBSERVATION ───────────────────────────────── It is worth ending the syllabus by noticing what the whole structure is for. EVERY INSTRUMENT ABOVE EXISTS BECAUSE ENGINEERING DECISIONS ARE MADE BY PEOPLE WHOSE COMPETENCE THE AFFECTED PUBLIC CANNOT VERIFY, AND WHOSE ERRORS THE PUBLIC CANNOT ESCAPE. The Act does not exist because engineers are untrustworthy. It exists because trust at that scale cannot be personal — the people who will use a bridge will never meet the person who designed it — SO IT MUST BE INSTITUTIONAL. Registration, the code of ethics, the building code, the examination: each is a mechanism for making a stranger's competence and honesty reliable enough to build a society on. THE PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCE FOR AN INDIVIDUAL ENGINEER IS MODEST AND DEMANDING AT ONCE: comply with the law, practise within competence, sign only what you have checked, put public safety first when it costs you something, and keep learning. NONE OF THAT IS COMPLICATED. THE DIFFICULTY IS THAT IT MUST BE DONE CONSISTENTLY, INCLUDING ON THE OCCASIONS WHEN NOBODY WOULD KNOW IF IT WERE NOT.