WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO BE A REFEREE?
The requirements for referees are that they :
- have successfully undertaken a competence assessment to at least the same level of competence as you are applying for, and
- are independent.
To meet requirement (i), referees should either have been assessed in the last 3 years, or be members of a recognized professional engineering body which has an ethical obligation on its members to maintain their professional competence.
Referees must also be independent. ‘Independent‘ is not defined in the Rules or Regulations, but is taken to mean they should have no vested interest in the outcome of the assessment. While it may be alright for you to have one engineer from your immediate workplace as a referee, it is preferable that the other referee is from outside your immediate workplace – especially if you work for a small organization.
Ideally referees will have sufficient first-hand experience of your recent engineering activities to be able to evaluate your competence against the quality mark(s) for which you are applying. Generally speaking your referees are likely to be a current or former manager/supervisor, engineering colleague or client – so long as they are able to confidently assess your competence as an engineer and attest to your ethical behavior. Referees do not need to be in the same field of engineering as yourself.
If you are unsure if one or both of the engineers you wish to select as referees meet the eligibility criteria – they may not be sufficiently independent or they may not have demonstrated competence to the required level, you could use them as a third (or fourth) referee after identifying 2 referees who clearly comply with the eligibility criteria.
1 REFEREES FOR CPENG APPLICANTS
Referees must be Professional registered Engineers or equivalent to it. ‘Professional Engineers equivalent‘ is not defined in the Rules, but for the purposes of being a Professional Engineer referee the Registrar applies the following interpretation.
‘Professional Engineer equivalence‘, for the purposes of being a referee, means a qualification or title requiring the same level of competence to that required of a Professional Engineer.
It requires :
- attainment of competence to the Professional Engineer standard; and
- reasonable evidence that the competence is current.
As the rule is currently interpreted, to demonstrate Professional Engineer equivalence a person must:
Have undergone a competence assessment to the same standard as Professional Engineer, as evidence by either of :
- registered on the International Professional Engineers Register in any jurisdiction.
- Professional Membership of IEPNG or an equivalent professional body; or registration which requires competence assessment meeting the standard implied by the Engineers Australia, Engineers New Zealand, Engineers Mobility Forum and APEC Engineers agreement
Provide evidence of currency in the form of proof of :
- having undergone a competence assessment as described above in the last three years.
- membership of a professional body or registration which requires compliance with a code of ethical conduct that includes active participation in CPD to maintain competence, and proscribes practicing beyond one‘s current competence; and being actively engaged in professional engineering activities.
The acceptance of Professional Engineer equivalence will be determined by the Registrar on a case-by-case basis.
19.2 REFEREES FROM OUTSIDE PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Referees need not work in the same field of engineering as the applicant, but should have a sound knowledge of good professional engineering practice in Papua New Guinea. This does not require that they currently reside or practice in Papua New Guinea, but if they are currently overseas, they should comment on the extent to which they can make an evaluation of the candidate’s competence for element 2.
If a referee with membership or registration from another jurisdiction is normally resident outside Papua New Guinea, he/she should also submit a copy of his or her CV so that the assessors can make a judgment on the referee‘s knowledge of good engineering practice specific to Papua New Guinea.