Credit for Registrants from Other Jurisdictions

Engineers coming to New Zealand who are registered on either (or both) the International Professional Engineers Register (IntPE) or APEC Engineer Register will receive benefit when applying for Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) registration.   The degree of benefit will depend on the field of engineering practice - engineers practising in, say, structural or geotechnical engineering (areas where there is a higher level of New Zealand-specific engineering practice) will receive a lower level of benefit compared to those practising in information engineering (where there is a lower level of New Zealand-specific practice).

Overseas Professional Memberships/Registrations
Evidence of professional memberships or professional engineering registrations (such as IntPE or APEC Engineer) from other recognised jurisdictions is good evidence to present for CPEng assessment.  Assessment panels in considering this evidence may waive the use of some of the available assessment tools – such as the interactive assessment and/or controlled written assignment. The weighting given to this form of evidence will depend on (i) how recently the assessment was performed and (ii) the competence standard used by the organisation that conducted the original assessment.  A recent assessment will have more weight than an earlier assessment; and assessment by an IntPE or APEC Engineer co-signatory organisation will generally have more weight than that of a non-signatory organisation.

Professional memberships of the following organisations will provide good evidence to submit for CPEng assessment:

  • Professional member of Engineers Australia (MIEAust) plus CPEng OR MIEAust only if assessed before 2002
  • Professional member of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (MHKIE)
  • Professional member and Chartered Engineer (CEng) with any of the professional engineering organisations that are licensed members of the Engineering Council (United Kingdom) except Institute of Highway Incorporated Engineers, Institute of Plumbing, Institution of Railway Signal Engineers
  • Registered Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa
  • Professional member and Chartered Engineer (CEng) with the Institution of Engineers Ireland.

Registered Professional Engineer Queensland via Trans Tasman Mutual Recognition Act (TTMRA)

Registered Professional Engineers of Queensland (RPEQ) who wish to be registered as CPEng in New Zealand can apply for CPEng registration under the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Agreement (TTMRA)  The underpinning philosophy of the TTMRA is ‘occupational equivalence’ – if a registered occupation in Australia has occupational equivalence in New Zealand,  then registration of that occupation in Australia is deemed sufficient to enable automatic registration in New Zealand (and vice versa).  To date, the Queensland RPEQ register is the only statutory register for professional engineers in Australia, hence only RPEQs are able to use the TTMRA agreement to gain CPEng in New Zealand.

For RPEQs to achieve CPEng registration in New Zealand – they must demonstrate occupational equivalence by demonstrating (i) competence in Element 2 of the CPEng competence standard in their practice area, and (ii) they must have been assessed (for RPEQ) within the last five years.  Thus RPEQs must demonstrate their ability to comprehend and apply the underpinning principles of good practice for professional engineering that is specific to New Zealand.  Further, if assessment undertaken for a RPEQ was more than 5 years ago, the RPEQ will be required to undertake an immediate assessment of current competence – in the same way that a New Zealand CPEng must undertake assessment at intervals not exceeding 5 years to remain on the CPEng register.

The test for meeting Element 2 of the CPEng competence standard will depend on the RPEQ’s practice area and the extent to which there is New Zealand-specific knowledge of critical importance to competent practice within that area.  The assessment will be less onerous for those practising in areas where there is a high level of internationalisation in codes and engineering practice than for those practising in areas where there is a high level of NZ-specific codes etc.  Thus someone from a Civil/structural/geotechnical background will find the assessment more demanding than someone from say an information/software engineering background.

IPENZ will respond to notifications from RPEQs in one of three ways:
(i)         Register the RPEQ as CPEng where sufficient evidence has been provided to demonstrate that Element 2 has been met and the current competence requirement has been met; or
(ii)        Register as CPEng with conditions placed on registration with a requirement that the RPEQ provides additional evidence to achieve occupational equivalence; or
(iii)       Postponement of registration for 6 months with a requirement that the RPEQ provides additional evidence to achieve occupational equivalence.

Application for registration as CPEng under the TTMRA must be made using the normal application form and include evidence of occupational equivalence.  Applications must be accompanied by the appropriate fee.



  
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