Graduate Engineers in Kenya are required by law to register through the Engineers Board of Kenya (EBK) which is constituted under Section 3(1) of the Engineers Act 2011 Laws of Kenya.
The Institution of Engineers of Kenya (IEK) is a learned society for engineers and its responsible welfare and development of engineers Kenya. It, however, has professional roles, the IEK chairman gets an automatic seat in the EBK board, IEK organizes training to prepare graduates for professional registration, these are not mandatory, anybody who wishes to attend them pays for himself.
EBK was created by Engineers Act 2011 and is a statutory body for regulation of the engineering profession in Kenya. Through the same act, they now got powers to accredit engineering degree programs offered in both private and public universities in Kenya.
Application Procedure for registration as a graduate engineer
To register as a graduate engineer one needs to have undertaken and passed an engineering degree program accredited by EBK, then proceed to apply as follows:
• Fill in the Application Form available on the EBK website.
• Attach the required documents certified by the Commissioner of Oaths. These documents include Copy of Degree Certificate and other relevant academic certificates, Copy of KCSE Certificate, Copy of National Identity Card (ID), and; two colored passport photos.
• Applicant should deposit Kshs. 1,000.00 for application fee at EBK’s Bank Account with details as provided.
• Drop your application together with the Bank Slip at the Customer Information Desk.
• After the Bank Slip has been receipted, you will be given an acknowledgment letter showing that you have applied as a Graduate Engineer and your application is waiting for processing by the Board.
• The Board will approve/reject the application; the applicant will be sent a letter indicating that his/her application has been approved/rejected.
• The applicants whose applications are approved will thereafter be issued with Registration Certificates.
From EBK, then proceed to register with IEK as a graduate member one will be required to download and fill the forms from the IEK website and submit them to the Institution. For graduate members, the process requires an EBK certificate for graduate engineer registration and submission of other required documents as listed on the website. No interview is required for those applying to be graduate members.
To apply as a professional engineer
1. Ensure that you meet the following qualifications:• Registered with EBK as a Graduate Engineer;
• Have at least 3 years working experience from the date of graduation;
• Have worked under the supervision of a Professional Engineer.
• Be a member of IEK
2. Fill in the Application Form; available on the EBK website
3. Attach the documents listed below:
• Certified copy of Degree Certificate and other relevant academic certificates;
• Certified copy of National Identity Card (ID)/ Passport;
• EBK Graduate Engineer Certificate;
• IEK Membership Certificate or Receipt of application;
• Curriculum Vitae (CV) certified by one of the referees;
• Two colored passport photos.
4. The applicant should deposit KShs. 1,500/= application fee at EBK’s Bank Account.
5. Drop your application together with the Bank Slip at the Customer Information Desk.
6. After all the documents are received, the Board will do an administrative review of the documents and if there are any deficiencies the Secretariat will advise the applicant accordingly.
7. The Board will contact the nominated referees. Upon receiving at least two responses, the application will be forwarded to the chairman of the panel of the respective discipline for technical evaluation.
8. The Panel will do a technical evaluation and present their recommendations to the Board for approval of the submission of professional interview documents.
9. The Board will notify the applicant in writing the approval to sit for the professional interview and forward to them the notes and rules on the conduct of the professional interview.
10. The applicant should prepare, submit, and sit for his / her professional interview within (1) one year from the date of notification.
11. After the applicant has sat for the professional interview, the recommendations will be forwarded to the Board for deliberations and ratifications.
12. The applicant will be notified in writing of the Board’s recommendations and thereafter a certificate of registration will be issued to successful applicants.
Referees and supervisors
o Needs three referees who must be very explicit on the recommendations supporting the candidate’s readiness for registration
o Two must be from the profession of the applicant’s profession
o Need to have a registered engineer as a supervisor
o It is possible to look for a supervisor among registered engineers.
Professional Interview (PI) Documents
The applicant will be given guidelines on how to prepare PI documents but you may note the following:-
These are two documents to be submitted in 3 copies are:-
i) Training and experience report and
ii) Project Report
1) TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE REPORT
In the preliminary, take care of the following:-
i) Take note of the cover page,
ii) A declaration must be made by the candidate that the report correctly describes his/her training and experience gained in the course of his duties.
iii) Certification by the supervisor that the report submitted correctly describes training and experience gained by the candidate under his supervision
This training and experience report is done in two parts as follows
i) Summary of Training and Experience to be prepared in matrix form as below and suitably in portrait format.
| PERIOD | INSTITUTION | WORK DONE | SUPERVISOR | DURATION in Months |
|---|
➧ The matrix data will start from time at the University and will include any attachments and training received during the period. Change of employer, position or station will require a separate row. Supervisors must be indicated by name. There should be no gaps in time and the entire period from entry to University to date must be accounted for.
➧ At the end of the matrix, show the total duration
➧ The matrix must show appropriately the training received which should be at least 24 months.
A table showing Summary of time spent is required following the matrix:
• Engineering Education- months
• Training months
• Design months
• Construction months
• Customer service months
• Project Management months
TOTAL months
Total Duration (months) should be the same as on the matrix.
The second part is
2.0 Detailed Training and Experience Report
The candidate will expand on each item covered in the summary of the training and experience report giving a paragraph or so on each row covered. This is presented in paragraph form to explain the training and experience gained.
PROJECT REPORT
• Project reported should not be more than 5 years old
• A purely academic project is not acceptable
• Attention to cover page, the title of the project
• Declaration by the applicant is required declaring that the project is his work carried out in the course of his /her duties
• Certification is also required from the supervisor certifying that the project was done by the candidate under his supervision.
• The application can be made to both IEK and EBK
• It is possible to get a supervisor from other professional engineers
Specific on the project
a. Show Problem statement necessitating the project
b. Discuss possible solutions and come up with a preferred solution
c. Analyze the current situation
d. Design the preferred solution
e. Show design calculations,
e. Drawings,
f. Bill of quantities
g. Implementation
h. Cost-benefit analysis
Interviews
At the interview, the candidate will be required to explain his training and experience, present his/her project and answer questions from the panelists. The candidate is expected to bring along a copy of his/her reports and some writing material to take notes during the interview. Candidates below 45 years of age will be required to write a 2 hour (hr) essay on a topic to be advised by the panel.
Discussions
a. Applicants whose documents have shortcomings are invited for discussions where these shortcomings are brought to their attention and are advised to improve on their reports.
b. For those who have not achieved adequate training and experience, they are advised to seek attachment with suitable firms to get relevant experience.
Scoring
Based on how well the candidate prepares and presents his/her reports, the candidate will be marked out of the following in the respective areas of submission.
• Training and experience report- (10 marks)
• Calculations (15 marks)
• Drawings (10 marks)
• Bills of Quantities (5 marks)
• Interview presentation (50 marks)
• Essay for young candidates –those below 45 years ( 10 marks)
Professional Interview Preparation (PIP) Seminars
Professional Interview Preparation Seminars are organized by IEK to assist those wishing to become Corporate Members of IEK and to register as Professional Engineers. The seminars are one day and are held twice a year. Those wishing to attend can look out for announcements around February/March for the seminar in April, June, July, or August.
Collaborations
Through MoU’s with the Engineering Boards and Institutions in Eastern Africa, It is possible to have registration in any East African countries and have it recognized in Kenya.