Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand

IPENZ
IPENZ logo
Formation	1914 (New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers), Wellington, New Zealand
Type	Professional body
Location	Wellington, New Zealand
Membership	about 12,000
Official language	en
Chief Executive	Andrew Cleland
Key people	Steve Reindler (President)
Staff	60
Website	www.ipenz.org.nz

The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) is a not-for-profit professional body representing the engineering profession in New Zealand. It has around 12,000 members who are either engineers or have a special interest in engineering, usually practising in New Zealand.^[1]

As engineering is a self-regulating profession in New Zealand, IPENZ attempts to promote the interests of the New Zealand engineering profession via support services to members. Primary IPENZ services include career development for members, the implementation of competence and ethical practice standards and community recognition of engineering.^[2] Most members pay annual fees, often covered by their employer. As a member they must abide by the IPENZ Code of Ethics that aims to ensure ethical engineering practice. IPENZ also promotes public debate on engineering issues and stewards national engineering awards.^[3]^[4]

Organisation structure

IPENZ is governed by an elected board, chaired by the president and including 11 other members. This board sets strategy and employs the chief executive, who manages the expenditure of the budget to provide services to members and to fund activities defined by its strategy. The national office is based in Wellington, and there are regional branches to which members belong. Members can also be part of a technical group or special interest group that focuses on a niche area of engineering.

History

The first professional engineering body in New Zealand, the Institute of Local Government Engineers of New Zealand, was formed in 1912. The following year the New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers was formed. It was thought to be more representative of the engineering profession, and the two bodies merged in 1914.

With the growth of the Society and an increasing number of non-civil engineers, a name change to The New Zealand Institution of Engineers was necessary in 1937. In 1959 the Association of Consulting Engineers New Zealand (ACENZ) was created as a consultancy division, and it became a separate entity in 1970. The name IPENZ was adopted in 1982 to reflect the importance of the 'professional' engineering ethos in the organisation.

Membership classes and registers

In the interest of the New Zealand public, IPENZ administers several competence-based membership classes and registers that act as signifiers of competence to users of engineering services.

Qualification (or Equivalent)	IPENZ Competence-based Membership Class	IPENZ-administrated NZ Current-competence Register*	IPENZ-administered International Register*
Four-year Bachelor of Engineering (BE)	Professional Member (MIPENZ)	Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng)	International Professional Engineer (IntPE)
Three-year Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BEngTech)	Technical Member (TIPENZ)	Engineering Technology Practitioner (ETPract)	International Engineering Technologist (IntET)
Two-year Diploma of Engineering (DipEng or NZCE)	Associate Member (AIPENZ)	Certified Engineering Technician (CertETn)

* Current-competence registrants must be reassessed at intervals not exceeding five years to maintain registration.

Competence-based Membership Classes

IPENZ has a range of competence-based membership classes that aim to signify an engineer's level of competence. Once members of a class, individuals are not required to re-demonstrate current competence -- the system relies on their ethical obligation to not practice beyond their competence.

Professional Member (uses post-nominal MIPENZ)
Members have typically done a four-year engineering degree, and then developed their skills in mentored employment for four or five years, after which they have undergone a formal competence assessment to reach the class of Professional Member. IPENZ states that "users of engineering services can expect a Professional Member to be capable of handling most design and consultancy tasks, including regulatory sign off within their area of expertise. They should be able to synthesise innovative engineering solutions from first principles if necessary."^[5]

Fellow (uses post-nominal FIPENZ), Distinguished Fellow (Dist FIPENZ)
These membership registers include Professional Members that IPENZ recognises as having made a substantive contribution to the development of the engineering profession, its practices or IPENZ itself. IPENZ states that "Fellows therefore represent the most experienced part of the Membership; so users of engineering services can expect the same fully professional service that they obtain from Members, but with the knowledge that a Fellow is sometimes more experienced and/or knowledgeable than a Professional Member."^[6]

Honorary Fellow (Hon FIPENZ)
Honorary Fellows are often people with backgrounds outside engineering that IPENZ has recognised for worthwhile contributions that impact on professional engineering, or IPENZ itself. Honorary Fellows have not passed an assessment by their peers of engineering practice competence: they are usually respected people in the community whose activities impact on professional engineering. They are generally not engineering practitioners.

Technical Member (TIPENZ)
A Technical Member is a person that IPENZ assesses as having met a sufficient standard of engineering practice to work independently in a narrower range of engineering situations than a Professional Member. They normally hold a three-year degree and will have developed their skills over four or five years' mentored work experience. IPENZ states that "they are experienced engineering practitioners, but normally in applying well-developed practice techniques rather than in working from first principles."^[7]

Associate Member (AIPENZ)
An Associate Member is a person that IPENZ assesses to be a competent engineering practitioner, on the basis of their strongly developed technical knowledge and practical experience. Associate Members can perform many standard engineering functions themselves, but often their work involves filling out the detail of engineering work created by Professional Members. Most Associate Members are not in practice on their own account; they are often employees and are normally not allowed to sign regulatory documents. IPENZ states that "users of engineering services can expect many basic engineering activities to be undertaken reliably by Associate Members."^[8]

Current-competence Registers

IPENZ is the New Zealand Registration Authority for other engineering related registers:

Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng)
Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng)is a current-competence quality mark for engineers at the professional level (engineers who usually have a four-year Bachelor of Engineering or equivalent qualification). The Chartered Professional Engineers of New Zealand Act (CPEng Act) was enacted on 1 July 2002 and established IPENZ as the Registration Authority to assess and then register Chartered Professional Engineers (CPEng). Those engineers who meet the relevant standards of competence can become CPEng certified but to retain registration must demonstrate regularly to IPENZ (five-yearly or more frequently) that they are still able to practise competently. This is considered a higher quality mark than MIPENZ as it is regularly assessed.

International Professional Engineers Register (IntPE)
The New Zealand section of the International Professional Engineers Register IntPE(NZ) established under the APEC Engineer agreement (13 APEC Economies) and Engineering Technologist Mobility Forum agreement (15 countries) lists engineers meeting an international standard with slightly more specific eligibility requirements than CPEng.

Engineering Technology Practitioner (ETPract)
Engineering Technology Practitioner (ETPract) is a current-competence quality mark for engineers at the technologist level (engineers who usually have a three-year Bachelor of Engineering Technology or equivalent qualification). It is set to be implemented on 1 July 2007.

International Engineering Technologist (IntET)
International Engineering Technologist (IntET) is similar to the ETPract register but facilitates international mobility at the technologist level between signatories of the Sydney Accord. It was implemented by IPENZ on 1 July 2007.

Certified Engineering Technician (CertETn)
Certified Engineering Technician (CertETn) is a current-competence quality mark for engineers at the technician level (engineers who usually hold a 2-year Diploma of Engineering (DipEng or NZCE) or equivalent qualification). It was implemented on 1 July 2007.

International recognition

New Zealand is a signatory to the Washington Accord, the Sydney Accord, and the Dublin Accord, which recognise (respectively) four-year, three-year and two-year engineering qualifications between signatories. IPENZ provides accreditation that allows for international mobility between signatory countries.^[9]