Issuing authority and Boards of Examiners
- Thirty days after approval of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce and Communications must appoint a Board of Examiners for each profession listed in Section 3, with three members each (Section 3).
- Each Board of Examiners elects its chairman and secretary-treasurer from among its members (Section 3).
- Board members must meet the qualifications set out in Section 3 before appointment (including moral conduct, age, education, practice experience, and conflict-of-interest limits) (Section 3).
- Boards of Examiners organize immediately after appointment, operate under the Secretary of Commerce and Communications, and—subject to the Secretary’s approval—issue rules and regulations consistent with the Act (Section 6).
Board member qualifications and oath
- A Board member must be of good moral conduct (Section 3).
- A Board member must be at least twenty-five years of age (Section 3).
- A Board member must have graduated in architecture or in the engineering branch for which he is to be an examiner, from a reputable and legally constituted college, school, or university (Section 3).
- A Board member must have practiced the relevant profession for not less than five years prior to appointment (Section 3).
- A Board member must not be a member of the faculty teaching any branch of engineering or architecture that is his profession (Section 3).
- A Board member must not have any pecuniary interest in any of the institutions (Section 3).
- Before performing duties, each Board member must take and subscribe an oath (affirmation) in the form required by Section 4, including faithful performance, allegiance, and no mental reservation (Section 4).
- The oath is recorded and filed in the office of the Secretary of Commerce and Communications (Section 4).
Appointment terms and board operations
- Board members are appointed for a term of one year, beginning on the appointment date, or until successors are duly qualified (Section 5).
- Vacancies occurring before term expiration are filled by appointment for the unexpired portion of the term only (Section 5).
- Boards of Examiners must meet in the city of Manila for sessions and examinations (Section 8).
- Sessions and examinations occur on the second Monday of January and July of each year, provided it is not a holiday (Section 8).
- The Boards must give at least thirty days notice of sessions and examinations, published in two widely read newspapers in the locality—one in English and one in Spanish (Section 8).
- Each Board member receives ten pesos for each day of session of the Board (Section 8).
- All sums collected under the Act are paid into the Insular Treasury as part of general funds, and Board expenses are paid out of funds appropriated in general appropriation acts (Section 8).
- The Board must have a seal to authenticate official documents (Section 8).
- The secretary-treasurer must keep: (1) a record of proceedings, (2) an account book, and (3) a register of licensed persons, including specified personal and education details (Section 8).
- During the first days of January of each year, the Boards must present a detailed report of the year’s work to the Secretary of Commerce and Communications (Section 8).
Examination schedule, subjects, and qualifications
- The Act sets specific examination subjects for each branch of engineering and for architecture (Section 9).
- Examination subjects for Civil Engineer include: mathematics (including differential and integral calculus), descriptive geometry and stereotomy, surveying, geology, rational and applied mechanics, hydraulics, resistance of materials, construction materials, foundations, geodesy and astronomy, and designing and construction of specified civil and public-utility works (Section 9).
- Examination subjects for Mechanical Engineer include: mathematics (differential and integral calculus), rational and applied mechanics, hydraulics, resistance of materials, construction materials, foundations, and designing, construction, and installation of engines and related motive power works (Section 9).
- Examination subjects for Electrical Engineer include: mathematics, surveying, geology, rational and applied mechanics, hydraulics, resistance of materials, construction materials, foundations, and designing, construction, and installation of electrical machinery and apparatus and work for development and transmission of electric current (Section 9).
- Examination subjects for Mining Engineer include: mathematics, descriptive geometry and stereotomy, surveying, geology, rational and applied mechanics, hydraulics, resistance of materials, construction materials, foundations, geology and astronomy, general chemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry, qualitative and quantitative chemistry, microscopy, metallurgy, and mining operations apparatus and work (Section 9).
- Examination subjects for Chemical Engineer include: mathematics, geology, rational and applied mechanics, hydraulics, resistance of materials, construction materials, general chemistry, organic and inorganic chemistry, qualitative and quantitative chemistry, analytical chemistry and electro-analysis, static chemistry, dynamics and electro-chemistry, and industrial chemistry applied to engineering and manufacture (Section 9).
- Examination subjects for Architect include: mathematics, descriptive geometry and stereotomy, surveying, perspective and shades, rational and applied mechanics, construction materials, geology, resistance of materials, architecture and architectural design and construction, hygiene and sanitation, and designing and beautification of cities and towns (Section 9).
- Applicants for examination in any branch of engineering or architecture must meet these qualifications: twenty years of age, good moral character, a diploma/certificate proving study of architecture or the desired engineering branch in a university/academy/college/school/institute duly constituted and recognized by the Government of the State where established, or must have practiced one of the professions for not less than five years (Section 10).
Licensing, fees, and no-exam routes
- The Act requires each application for examination to be charged thirty pesos and each certificate of registration to be charged ten pesos (Section 7).
- The Boards of Examiners issue licenses without prior examination to persons who, on the date of approval of this Act, meet all requisites in Section 11: (1) passed the civil-service examination for engineer or architect, (2) meet the first three qualifications in Section 10, and (3) previously exercised any professions under the Act for not less than five years with a good record (Section 11).
- Licenses are also issued to persons who have passed the examinations held under Sections 8 and 9 (Section 11).
Advertising restrictions and enforcement
- It is unlawful for any person to advertise as engineer or architect without holding the proper license required under the Act (Section 12).
- Violations of the advertising restriction are punished by a fine of not more than one thousand pesos or subsidiary imprisonment in case of non-payment (Section 12).
- Persons who, prior to the approval of this Act, engaged in making plans and directions of work without an academic title as engineer or architect may continue as maestros de obras, but must not sign such plans or advertise as engineers or architects (Section 12).
- The Act allows any person to make constructions of buildings of any kind, notwithstanding the licensing and advertising rules (Section 12).
Appropriations, repeals, and effectivity
- Two thousand pesos is appropriated for expenses of the Boards of Examiners for the year nineteen hundred and twenty-one, drawn from funds in the Insular Treasury not otherwise appropriated (Section 13).
- All acts or parts of acts inconsistent with the Act are repealed (Section 14).
- The Act takes effect on its approval (Section 15).