Republic Act No. 544 (As amended by R.A.

1582)

 Approved June 17, 1950 (As amended By R.A. No. 1582, approved on June 16, 1956)
 4 Articles
 1- Title of the Act and Definition of Terms
 2- Board of examiners for civil engineers
 3- Examinations and Registration
 4- Enforcement of Act and Penal Provisions
 5- Miscellaneous Provisions
 29 sections

ARTICLE I (Title of the act and definition of terms)

SECTION 1. Title of Act

 An act to regulate the practice of civil engineering in the Philippines
 “Civil Engineering Law”

SECTION 2. Definition of terms

 “Civil Engineer” – a person duly registered with the board for Civil Engineers in the manner as
hereinafter provided
 The practice of civil engineering shall embrace services in the form of:
 Consultation
 Design
 Preparation of plans
 Specifications
 Estimates
 Erection.
 Installation and
 Supervision of construction

Different Construction Work

•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;

• tunnels.

ARTICLE II (Board of examiners for civil engineers)

Section 3. Composition of Board

• Composition: A chairman and two members

• Appointment and Removal: By President of the Philippines,

• Recommendation for Appointment and Removal: By Commissioner of PRC.

• Grounds for Removal:

• neglect of duty,

• Incompetence,

• malpractice,

• unprofessional, unethical, immoral, or dishonorable conduct, After Due Process

• Terms : Three years after appointment

Section 4. Power and duties of the board

• to administer oaths,

• issue, suspend and revoke certificates of registration

• to investigate such violations of this Act

• 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 safeguarding of life,
health and property,

• To discharge such other powers and duties as may affect ethical and technological standards of the
civil engineering profession in the Philippines.

• The Board may, with the approval of the Professional Regulation Commission 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

• 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 be 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

• P100 (one hundred) per application

• P50 per Certificate of Registration.

• P15 per applicant examined.

• Reimbursement of authorized expenses of the Board

Section 7. Annual Report

• The Board shall, at the end of each fiscal year, submit to the PRC 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 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

 Mathematics
 Algebra
 Plane and spherical trigonometry
 Analytics
 Descriptive and solid geometry
 Differential and integral calculus
 Rational and applied mechanics
 Hydraulics
 Surveying
 Highway and railroad surveying
 plane, topographic, and hydrographic surveying
 advance surveying
 Design and construction of
 Highways and railroads
 Masonry structures
 Wooden and reinforced concrete buildings, bridges, towers, walls, foundations, 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 Professional Regulation Commission shall be the executive officer of the
board and shall conduct the examinations given by the said board
 He shall designate any subordinate officer of the Professional Regulation Commission to act as
Secretary and custodian of all records including examination papers and minutes of the
deliberation of the Board.

Section 12. Qualifications for Examination

 Be at least 21 years of age

 Be a citizen of the Philippines
 Be of good reputation and moral character
 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 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 registrants certificate, and it shall be unlawful for any one to stamp or seal any
documents with said seal after the certificate of registrant named thereon has expired or
has been revoked, unless said certificate shall have been renewed or re-issued.

Section 15. Exemption from Registration

 Registration shall not be required of the following persons:

 Officers or enlisted men of the United States and Philippine Armed Forces, and
civilian employees of the government of the United States stationed in the
Philippines while rendering civil engineering services for the United States
and/or Philippines
 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
 Any person residing in the Philippines may make plans on specifications for any of the
following:
 Any building in chartered cities or in towns with building ordinances, not
exceeding the space requirement specified therein, requiring the services of a civil
engineer
 Any wooden building enlargement or alteration which is to be used for farm
purposes only costing not more than 10,000 pesos
 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 the 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.
 Nor shall anything in this act prevent draftsmen, student clerk or-work, superintendents
and other employed of those lawfully engages in the practice of civil engineering under
the provisions of this act, from acting under the instruction, control, or supervision of their
employer
 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:
 Building of concrete whether reinforced or not
 Building of more than 2 storeys
 Building with frames of structural steel
 Building of structures intended for public gathering or assemblies such as
theaters, cinematographs, stadia, churches, or structures of like nature
  Nor shall anything in this act prevent professional architects and engineers to practice their
professions

Section 16. Refusal to Issue Certificate

 The board 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
 To any person guilty of immoral or dishonorable conduct
 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

 The board shall have the power, after due notice and hearings 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 of 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 Act Numbered 2985, as 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 standing shall have the same force and
effect as though the same have been issued under 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 practicing or employed in the government as such during five years are exempted from
taking the examination

Article IV (Enforcement of act and penal provisions)

Section 20. Enforcement of the act by officer 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 subdivisions 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
form the board 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 provision of this act
 Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be sentenced to a fine of not
less than 500 pesos nor more than 2000 pesos, or to suffer imprisonment for a period of not
less than 6 months not more than 1 year, or both, in the discretion of the court

Article V (Miscellaneous Provisions)

Section 23. Preparation of Plans and supervisions of construction by registered civil engineer

 It shall be unlawful for any person to order 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 2 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
 Unless the construction, reconstruction and/or alteration thereof are executed under
the responsible charge and direct supervision of a civil engineer
 Plans and designs 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.
  The practice of civil engineering is a professional service, admission to which must
be determined upon individual, personal qualifications
 Hence, no firm, partnership, corporation, or association may be registered or
licensed as such for the practice of civil engineering
 Provided however that persons properly registered and licensed as civil engineers
may, among themselves or with a person or persons properly registered and
licensed as architects form and obtain a registration of a firm, partnership, or
association using the term “Engineers” or “Engineers and Architects” but
 Nobody shall be a member or partner of such firm, partnership or association unless
he is duly licensed civil engineer or architect, and the members who are civil
engineers shall only render work and services proper for a civil engineer as defined
in this act
 And the members who are architects shall also only render work and services
proper for an architect, as defined in the law regulating the practice of architecture;
individual members of such firm, partnership or association shall be responsible for
their own respective acts

Section 25. Reciprocity requirements

• No person who is not a citizen of the Philippines at the time he applies to take the
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, and was admitted to the practice
of a profession in 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 PRC periodically but at least once a year.

• Copies of this roster shall be placed on file with the PRC 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 declarations
shall not invalidate the other provisions hereof.

Section 29. Effectivity

• This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

• Approved, June 17, 1950 (As amended by R.A. No. 1582, approved on June 16, 1956).