Renamed title of the principal law
- Section 1 of Republic Act No. 4110, as amended by Republic Act No. 5788, changes the title recognition to “Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Specialization Law.”
- Republic Act No. 5788 provides that the amended principal law will be known as the “Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Specialization Law.”
Board authority and specialization certificates
- Section 2 as amended authorizes the Board of Mechanical Engineering Examiners to issue a Certificate of Specialization in Air Conditioning and Refrigeration to registered professional mechanical engineers who pass a special examination given by the Board.
- Certificates of specialization must show the full name of the specialist, have a serial number, be signed by all members of the Board, and be attested to by the official seal.
- Section 3 (as amended and renumbered) vests the Board with authority, conformably with the amendatory Act, to administer the law, including to issue, suspend, and revoke certificates of specialization and to administer oaths.
- The Board may, through its Chairman and the seal of the Board, subpoena witnesses and require the production of books, papers, documents, etc. in cases involving revocation of registration, practice or offer to practice without registration.
- Any member of the Board may administer oaths or affirmation to witnesses appearing before the Board.
Subpoenas, court enforcement, and inspections
- If any person refuses to obey a subpoena or refuses to testify or produce books, papers, documents, etc., the Board may present a petition to the Court of First Instance, and the court shall issue a subpoena requiring attendance before the court and requiring testimony and production of items deemed necessary and pertinent by the Board.
- Any person failing or refusing to obey the court subpoena or order may be proceeded against in the same manner as for refusal to obey any other court subpoena or order.
- The Board has charge of the selection, development, preparation of all codes, and recommended standards of practice in air conditioning and refrigeration specialization, including all revisions adopted for use by specialists.
- The Board must cooperate with other government agencies to promote and encourage research in the fields of air conditioning and refrigeration.
- The Board must inspect at least once a year refrigerating engineering works, projects, or plants, including those of a corporation established in the Philippines, for the purpose of safeguarding life, health, and property.
- For enforcement, the law appoints the Director of Bureau of Labor Standards and/or his duly authorized representative in the provinces and such other competent registered engineers of chartered cities as ex-officio agents of the Board, with a duty to help enforce the law’s provisions.
Examination scope, ratings, and Board compensation
- The Board prescribes the scope and procedure of the special examination with reference to the applicant’s ability and experience in air conditioning and refrigeration.
- The examination must also prove the applicant has sufficient technological knowledge to insure safety of life, health, and property and to achieve economy and efficiency in the design, construction, installation, maintenance, operation, organization, and management of air conditioning and refrigerating plants or works.
- The Board must report examination ratings within one hundred twenty days after completion of examinations to the Commissioner of Civil Service, who submits the ratings to the President of the Republic of the Philippines.
- Board compensation is set at ten pesos for each applicant examined per Board member.
- All fees must be received by the permanent collecting officer designated by the Board of Examiners, who pays all authorized expenses of the Board, including Board compensation under the law.
Seals, registration documents, and fees
- Specialists must obtain a seal of design prescribed by the Board upon registration, bearing the registrant’s name, certificate number, and the legend “Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Specialist.”
- Plans, specifications, price quotations, reports, and other professional documents prepared by or executed under the immediate supervision of, and issued by, a specialist must be stamped on every sheet with the seal when filed with government authorities or submitted or used professionally.
- It is unlawful for any person to stamp or seal documents with a specialist’s seal after the certificate of the specialist named therein has been revoked or suspended, unless the certificate has been reinstated or reissued.
- Every applicant for examination for the title of air conditioning and refrigeration specialist must pay an examination fee of fifty pesos.
Refusal, notice, suspension, revocation, and appeal
- The Board must refuse to issue a certificate to any person convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of a criminal offense involving moral turpitude, or to any person guilty of immoral or dishonorable conduct, or to any person of unsound mind.
- When the Board refuses to issue a certificate, it must give the applicant a written statement stating the reason, and that statement must be incorporated in the Board’s record.
- The Board may, upon proper notice and hearing, suspend or revoke any certificate of specialization for causes specified under the preceding refusal section, or for fraud or deceit in obtaining the certificate, or for gross negligence or incompetency, or for unethical practice or dishonorable and unprofessional conduct.
- The Board’s action is subject to appeal to the President.
- Revocation is authorized as a sufficient ground for unethical practice or dishonorable and unprofessional conduct when the specialist:
- (1) signs and affixes the seal on plans, designs, technical reports, valuations, specifications, quotations, estimates, or similar documents, or works not prepared by him;
- (2) represents himself as having taken charge of, undertaken, or supervised design, construction, erection, installation, or alteration of air conditioning or refrigeration works, projects, or plants without actually having done so;
- (3) represents himself as having performed air conditioning or refrigeration service in connection with manufacture, sale, supply, or distribution of mechanical equipment, machinery, or process without actually having done so; or
- (4) represents himself as having managed, operated, tended, or maintained air conditioning or refrigerating works, projects, or plants without actually having done so.
- Any person or persons, firm, association, or corporation may prefer charges against a specialist, and the Board may investigate and take cognizance motu proprio by proper resolution or order.
- Charges must be in writing, sworn by the person making them, and filed with the Secretary of the Board.
Reissue and replacement of certificates
- The Board may entertain an application for a new certificate of specialization after one year from the date of revocation of a certificate, and it may, at its discretion, exempt the applicant from the necessity of undergoing an examination.
- A new certificate to replace a certificate that is lost, destroyed, or mutilated may be issued under the Board’s rules.
- A charge of twenty pesos applies for issuance of a replacement certificate.
Criminal penal provision
- Any person who represents himself as an air conditioning or refrigeration specialist in the Philippines without being registered is guilty of a misdemeanor.
- Any person presenting or attempting to use the certificate or the seal of another is guilty of a misdemeanor.
- Any person who gives false or forged evidence of any kind to the Board or any member thereof in obtaining a certificate of specialization is guilty of a misdemeanor.
- Any person who falsely impersonates any specialist of like or different name is guilty of a misdemeanor.
- Any person who attempts to use a revoked or suspended certificate of specialization is guilty of a misdemeanor.
- Any person who uses, in connection with his name or otherwise assumes, uses, or advertises any title or description tending to convey the impression that he is an air conditioning and refrigeration specialist is guilty of a misdemeanor.
- Any person who violates any provision of the Act is guilty of a misdemeanor.
- Upon conviction, the penalty is a fine of not less than five hundred pesos nor more than one thousand pesos, or imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months, or both, in the discretion of the court.
Repeals, renumbering, and effective operation
- Section 3 and Section 5, Section 7, Sections 8, and Sections 9 through 16, Sections 19 through 21, and Sections 27 through 32 of Republic Act No. 4110 are repealed through specified amendments in Republic Act No. 5788.
- Republic Act No. 5788 renumbers multiple sections of Republic Act No. 4110, including renumbering Section 4 to Section 3, Section 6 to Section 4, Section 8 to Section 5, Section 17 to Section 6, Section 18 to Section 7, Section 22 to Section 8, Section 23 to Section 9, Section 24 to Section 10, Section 25 to Section 11, Section 26 to Section 12, and Section 27 to Section 13.
- Sections 33 through 36 of Republic Act No. 4110 are renumbered as Sections 14 through 17, respectively, through Republic Act No. 5788.
- Republic Act No. 5788 takes effect upon its approval, with enactment effected on June 21, 1969 without Executive approval.