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[ REPUBLIC ACT NO. 544, June 17, 1950 ]

AN ACT TO REGULATE THE PRACTICE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING IN THE PHILIPPINES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

ARTICLE I. - Title of the Act and Definition of Terms

Section 1. Title of Act. - This act shall be known as the "Civil Engineering Law."

Section 2. Definition of terms. -

a. The practice of civil engineering within the meaning and intent of this Act shall embrace services in the form
of consultation, design, preparation of plans, specifications, estimates, erection , installation and supervision
of the construction of streets, bridges, highways, railroads, airports and hangars, port-works, canals, river and
shore improvements, lighthouses, and dry docks; buildings, fixed structures for irrigation, flood protection,
drainage, water supply and sewerage works; demolition of permanent structures; and tunnels. The
enumeration of any work in this section shall not be construed as excluding any other work requiring civil
engineering knowledge and application.

b. The term "civil engineering" as used in this Act shall mean a person duly registered with the Board of
Examiners for Civil Engineers in the manner as hereinafter provided.

ARTICLE II. - Board of Examiners for Civil Engineers

Section 3. Composition of Board. -Within thirty days after the approval of this Act there shall be created a Board of
Examiners for Civil Engineers, hereinafter referred to as the Board, to be composed of a chairman and two
members who shall be appointed by the Secretary of Public Works and Communications. The members of the
Board shall hold office for a term of three years after appointment or until their successors shall have been
appointed and shall have duly qualified. The first members of the Board appointed under this Act shall hold office for
the following terms: One member for one year; one member for two years; and one member for three years. Each
member of the Board shall qualify by taking the proper oath of office before entering upon the performance of his
duties. Any member of the Board may be removed by the Secretary of Public Works and Communication for neglect
of duty, incompetency, malpractice, unprofessional, unethical, immoral, or dishonorable conduct, after having been
given opportunity to defend himself in a proper administrative investigation: Provided, That during the process of
investigation and shall appoint a temporary member in his place. Vacancies in the Board shall be filled for the
unexpired term only.

Section 4. Powers and duties of the Board. - The Board of Examiners for Civil Engineering for Civil Engineers is
vested with authority, conformable with the provisions of this Act, to administer oaths, issue, suspend and revoke
certificates of registration for the practice of civil engineering, issue certificates of recognition to civil engineers
already registered under this Act for advance studies, research, and/or highly specialized training in any branch of
civil engineering, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, to investigate such
violations of this Act and regulations, thereunder as may come to the knowledge of the Board and, for this purpose,
issue subpoena and subpoena duces tecum to secure appearance of witnesses in connection with the charges
presented to the Board, to inspect at least once a year educational institutions offering courses in civil engineering,
civil engineering works, projects or corporations, established in the Philippines and for safe-guarding of life, health
and property, to discharge such other powers and duties as may affect ethical an technological standards of the civil
engineering profession in the Philippines. For the purpose of this Act, the Director of Public Works and/or his
authorized representative in the provinces and chartered cities shall be ex-officio agents of the Board and as such it
shall be their duty to help in the enforcement of the provisions of this Act.
The Board may, with the approval of the Secretary of Public Works and Communications, issue such rules and
regulations as may be deemed necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. The Board shall also adopt a code
of ethics in the practice of civil engineering and have an official seal to authenticate its official documents.

Section 5. Qualifications of Board members. - Each member of the Board shall, at the time of his appointment:

a. Be a citizen and resident of the Philippines;

b. Be at least thirty years of age and of good moral character;

c. Be a graduate of civil engineering from a recognized and legally constituted school, institute, college or
university;

d. Be a registered civil engineer duly qualified to practice civil engineering in the Philippines;

e. Have practiced civil engineering, with a certificate as such, for a period of not less than ten years prior to
his appointment;

f. Not a member of the faculty of any school, institute, college or university where civil engineering course is
taught, nor have a pecuniary interest in such institutions;

g. No former members of the faculty of any school, institute or university where civil engineering is taught can
become a member of the Board unless he had stopped teaching for at least three consecutive years.

Section 6. Fees and compensation of Board. - The Board of Examiners for Civil Engineers shall charge for each
application for examination the sum of forty pesos payable to the collecting and disturbing officer of the Bureau of
Civil Service upon filing of said application for examination, and for each certificate of registration, twenty pesos.
Each member of the Board shall receive a compensation of five pesos for each applicant examined. A civil engineer
in the service of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines appointed as member of the Board shall receive
the compensation as herein provided, in addition to his salary in the Government. All authorized expenses of the
Board, including the compensation provided for herein, shall be paid by the collecting and disbursing officer of the
Bureau of Civil Service out of such appropriation as may be made for the purpose.

Section 7. Annual report. - The Board shall, at the end of each fiscal year, submit to the Secretary of Public Works
and Communications a detailed report of its activities and proceedings during the period covered by the fiscal year
ended.

ARTICLE III. - Examination and Registration

Section 8. Examination requirement. - All applicants for registration for the practice of civil engineering shall be
required to pass a technical examination as hereinafter provided.

Section 9. Holding of examination. - Examination of candidates desiring to practice civil engineering in the
Philippines shall be given in the City of Manila beginning the second Monday of February and August of each year,
provided that such days do not fall on official holidays, otherwise the examinations shall be held on the days next
following.

Section 10. Subjects of examination. - Applicants for certificates of registration as civil engineer shall be examined,
in the discretion of the Board, on the following subjects: mathematics, including algebra, plane and spherical
trigonometry, analytics, descriptive and solid geometry, differential and integral calculus, and rational and applied
mechanics; hydraulics; surveying, including highway and railroad surveying; plane, topographic and hydrographic
surveying, and advance surveying; design and construction of highways and railroads, masonry structures, wooden
and reinforced concrete buildings, bridges, towers, walls, foundation, piers, ports, wharves, aqueducts, sanitary
engineering works, water supply systems, dikes, dams, and irrigation and drainage canals.

Section 11. Executive officer of the Board. - The Commissioner of the Civil Service shall be executive officer of the
Board and shall conduct the examinations given by said Board. He shall designate any subordinate officer of the
Bureau of Civil Service to act as the Secretary and custodian of all records including examination papers and
minutes of the deliberation of the Board.

Section 12. Qualifications for examination. - Any person applying for admission to the civil engineering examination
as herein provided shall, prior to the date of examination, establish to the satisfaction of the Board that he has the
following qualifications:

a. Be at least twenty-one years of age;

b. Be a citizen of the Philippines;

d. Be a graduate of a four-year course in civil engineering from a school, institute, college or university
recognized by the Government or the State wherein it is established.

Section 13. Oath of civil engineers. - All successful candidates in the examination shall be required to take a
professional oath before the Board of Examiners for Civil Engineers or other Government Officials authorized to
administer oaths, prior to entering upon the practice of the civil engineering profession.

Section 14. Seal and use of seal. - All registered civil engineers shall obtain a seal of such design as the Board
shall authorize and direct: Provided, however, That the serial number of the certificate issued by the Board shall be
included in the design of the seal. Plans and specifications prepared by, or under the direct supervision of a
registered civil engineer shall be stamped with said seal during the life of the registrant's certificate, and it shall be
unlawful for any one to stamp or seal any documents with said seal after the certificate of the registrant named
thereon has expired or has been revoked, unless said certificate shall have been renewed or re-issued.

Section 15. Exemption from registration. -

(1) Registration shall not be required of the following persons:

(a) Officers or enlisted men of the United States and Philippine Armed Forces, and civilian employees of
the Government of the United Stated stationed in the Philippines while rendering civil engineering
services for the United States and/or Philippines.

(b) Civil engineers or experts called in by the Philippine Government for consultation, or specific design
and construction of fixed structures as defined under this Act, provided that their practice shall be
limited to such work.

(2) Any person residing in the Philippines may make plans or specifications for any of the following:

(a) Any building in chartered cities or in towns with building ordinances, not exceeding the space
requirements specified therein, requiring the services of a civil engineer.

(b) Any wooden building enlargement of alteration which is to be used for farm purposes only and costing
not more than ten thousand pesos.

(c) Provided, however, That there shall be nothing in this Act that will prevent any person from
constructing his own (wooden or light material) residential house, utilizing the services of a person or
persons required for that purpose, without the use of a civil engineer, as long as he does not violate
local ordinances of the place where the building is to be constructed.

(3) Nor shall anything in this Act prevent draftsmen, student clerk-of-work, superintendents, and other
employees of those lawfully engaged in the practice of civil engineering under the provisions of this Act,
from acting under the instruction, control or supervision of their employer.

(4) Nor shall anything in this Act prevent any person who prior to the approval of this Act have been lawfully
engaged in the practice of "maestro de obras" to continue as such, provided they shall not undertake the
making of plans supervision for the following classes of work:

(a) Building of concrete whether reinforced or not.

(b) Building of more than two stories.

(c) Building with frames of structural steel.

(d) Building of structures intended for public gathering or assemblies such as theaters, cinematographs,
stadia, churches or structures of like nature.

(5) Nor shall anything in this Act prevent professional architect and engineers to practice their professions.

Section 16. Refusal to issue certificate. - The Board of Examiners for Civil Engineers shall not issue a certificate to
any person convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of any criminal offense involving moral turpitude, or to any
person of unsound mind. In the event of a refusal to issue a certificate to any person, the Board shall give to the
applicant a written statement setting forth its reason for such action, which statement shall be incorporated in the
records of the Board.

Section 17. Suspension and revocation of certificates. - Subject to the approval of the Secretary of Public Works
and Communications, the Board shall have the power, after due notice and hearing, to suspend or revoke the
certificate of registration for any cause mentioned in the preceding section.

Section 18. Re-issue and replacement of certificates. - The Board may, after the expiration of one year from the
date a certificate of registration is revoked and for reasons it may deem sufficient, entertain an application for a new
certificate of registration from the registrant concerned. Such application shall be accomplished in the same form
prescribed for examination, but the Board may, in its discretion, exempt the applicant from taking the requisite
examination.

Section 19. Transitory provisions. - As soon as this Act takes effect, any person desiring to practice the profession
of civil engineering shall be required to obtain a certificate of registration in the manner and under the conditions
hereinafter provided.

All civil engineers duly licensed under the provisions of amended, at the time this Act takes effect, shall be
automatically registered under the provisions hereof. Certificates of registration held by such persons in good
1a⍵⍴h!1

standing shall have the same force and effect as though the same have been issued the provisions of this Act.

All graduates in civil engineering from a school, institute, college, or university recognized by the Government who
have passed the civil service examination for senior civil engineer and have been practising or employed in the
Government as such during five years are exempted form taking examination.

ARTICLE IV. - Enforcement of Act and penal provisions

Section 20. Enforcement of the Act by officers of the law. - It shall be the duty of all duly constituted law officers of
the national, provincial, city and municipal governments, or any political subdivision thereof, to enforce the
provisions of this Act and to prosecute any person violating the same.

Section 21. Registration required. - Unless exempt from registration, no person shall practice or offer to practice
civil engineering in the Philippines without having obtained the proper certificate of registration from the Board of
Examines for Civil Engineers.

Section 22. Penal provisions. - Any person who shall practice or offer to practice civil engineering in the Philippines
without being registered in accordance with the provisions of this Act or any person presenting or attempting to use
as his own the certificate of registration of a registered civil engineer, or any person who shall give any false or
forged evidence of any kind to the Board, or any person who shall impersonate any registrant civil engineer of
different name, or any person who shall attempt to use a revoked or suspended certificate of registration, or any
person who shall use in connection with his name or otherwise assume, use or advertise any title or description
tending to convey the impression that he is a civil engineer, without holding a valid certificate of registration, or any
person who shall violate any of the provisions of this Act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon
conviction, be sentenced to a fine of not less than five hundred pesos nor more than two thousand pesos, or to
suffer imprisonment for a period of not less than six months nor more than one year, or both, in the discretion of the
court.

ARTICLE V. - Miscellaneous provisions

Section 23. Preparation of plans and supervision of construction by registered civil engineer. - It shall be unlawful
for any person to order or otherwise cause the construction, reconstruction, or alteration of any building or structure
intended for public gathering or assembly such as theaters, cinematographs, stadia, churches or structures of like
nature, and any other engineering structures mentioned in section two of this Act unless the designs, plans, and
specifications of same have been prepared under the responsible charge of, and signed and sealed by a registered
civil engineer, and unless the construction, reconstruction and/or alteration thereof are executed under the
responsible charge and direct supervision of a civil engineer. Plans and design of structures must be approved as
provided by law or ordinance of a city or province or municipality where the said structure is to be constructed.

Section 24. Firms and corporations engaged in civil engineering practice. - A firm, partnership, corporation, or
association may engage in the practice of civil engineering in the Philippines provided that such practice is carried
out under the supervision of a civil engineer or civil engineers holding valid certificates issued by the Board.

No firm, partnership, corporation or association, using the name of a person or persons as in the name of the firm,
shall advertise as civil engineers unless said person or persons are registered civil engineers.

Section 25. Reciprocity requirements. - No person who is not a citizen of the Philippines at the time he applies to
take examination shall be allowed to take it unless he can prove in the manner provided by the Rules of Court that,
by specific provision of law, the country of which he is a citizen, subject, or national either admits citizens of the
Philippines to the practice of the same profession without restriction or allows them to practice it after an
examination on terms of strict and absolute equality with citizens, subjects, or nationals of the country concerned,
including the unconditional recognition of degrees issued by institutions of learning duly recognized for the purpose
by the Government of the Philippines: Provided, That if he is not a citizen of the Philippines after December 8, 1941,
his active practice in that profession, either in the Philippines or in the state or country where he was practicing his
profession, shall not have been interrupted for a period of two years or more prior to July 4, 1946, and that the
country or state from which he comes allows the citizens of the Philippines by specific provision of law, to practice
the same profession without restriction or on terms of strict and absolute equality with citizens, subjects or nationals
of the country or state concerned.

Section 26. Roster of civil engineers. - A roster showing the names and places of business of all registered civil
engineers shall be prepared by the Commissioner of Civil Service periodically but at least once a year. Copies of
this roster shall be placed on file with the Secretary of Public Works and Communications and furnished to all
department heads, mayors of all chartered cities, to the Director of Public Works, to such other Bureaus,
government entities or agencies and municipal and provincial authorities as may be deemed necessary and to the
public upon request.

Section 27. Repeal. - All laws, parts of laws, orders, ordinances, or regulations in conflict with the provisions hereof;
including parts of Act Numbered Twenty-nine hundred and eighty-five, as amended, as pertains to the practice of
civil engineering, are hereby repealed, except the provisions of Act Numbered Thirty-one hundred and fifty-nine
amending Act Numbered Twenty-nine hundred and eighty-five, pertaining to the practice of "maestro de obras"

Section 28. Construction of Act. - if any part or section of this Act shall be declared unconstitutional, such
declaration shall not invalidate the other provisions hereof.

Section 29. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

Approved, June 17, 1950.

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