Professional engineer work - qualifications and experience
Professional engineers must meet eligibility requirements to register to work on regulated buildings under the NSW Design and Building Practitioners (DBP) scheme.
Key information
- You must meet eligibility requirements to register for the Design and Building Practitioners (DBP) scheme (‘the scheme’) in NSW.
- A professional engineer who is not registered under the scheme can still work under the direct supervision of a professional engineer who is registered under the scheme.
- You must also register as a design practitioner if you need to:
- prepare regulated designs
- make a design compliance declaration for the regulated design.
- If you are a qualified engineer from interstate, you still need to register as a design practitioner to work on regulated buildings in NSW.
When you will need to register
You need to be registered if:
- you are doing professional engineering work in one of these areas:
- civil
- electrical
- fire safety
- geotechnical
- mechanical, or
- structural engineering
and
- you are working on a regulated building. This means a class 2, 3 or 9c building or a building that includes a class 2, 3 or 9c part.
Learn more about building classifications under the National Construction Code.
Time frames for licensing and registration applications
Find out about the current application processing times for different licence and registration categories.
Eligibility
To be eligible to register you need to:
- be aged 18 or over
- have the required qualifications, skills and knowledge
- have at least 5 years recent, relevant practical experience
- have a current National Police Certificate that is no older than 4 months from when you submit your application (name and date of birth check only)
- meet insurance requirements
Only individuals can apply for professional engineer registration. Companies cannot apply.
You cannot register if you are an undischarged bankrupt.
If you are not eligible to register, you may keep working under the direct supervision of an engineer who is registered.
Qualification and experience requirements
Find the qualifications, experience, skills and knowledge needed to register as a professional engineer below.
Note: If you worked on two or more building sites at the same time, it will be counted as one period only when calculating your equivalent full time work experience.
Details about your project experience
You need to provide information for your experience gained within the last 10 years, including the:
- project address
- DA/CC/CDC number
- building class
- licensed builder or principal contractor responsible for the project
- employer or contractor who engaged you for the project
- dates you started and finished the work
- name and contact details of a referee who can confirm these details.
Civil engineer
Civil engineering involves the research, design, construction and maintenance of the built environment.
You must hold one of these qualifications in either civil engineering or engineering with a major in civil engineering:
- an accredited 4 year full-time or equivalent part time undergraduate bachelor’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- an accredited postgraduate master’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from an Australian university or tertiary institution assessed as equivalent by an Australian signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from a foreign university assessed as equivalent by an assessing authority in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List for the skilled occupation of civil engineer (currently Engineers Australia).
Electrical engineer
Electrical engineering involves equipment, devices, plant and systems that use electricity, electronics and electromagnetism.
You must hold one of these qualifications in either electrical engineering or engineering with a major in electrical engineering:
- an accredited 4 year full-time or equivalent part time undergraduate bachelor’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- an accredited postgraduate master’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from an Australian university or tertiary institution assessed as equivalent by an Australian signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from a foreign university assessed as equivalent by an assessing authority in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills list for the skilled occupation of electrical engineer (currently Engineers Australia).
Fire safety engineer
Fire safety engineering involves work on building materials, structure or building, fire systems, human behaviour and safety, and the prevention, detection and suppression of fire.
There are 3 options to meet qualification requirements.
Option 1
You must hold one of these qualifications in either fire safety engineering or engineering with a major in fire safety engineering:
- an accredited 4 year full-time or equivalent part time undergraduate bachelor’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- an accredited postgraduate master’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from an Australian university or tertiary institution assessed as equivalent by an Australian signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from a foreign university assessed as equivalent by an assessing authority in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills list for the skilled occupation of fire safety engineer (not currently available).
Option 2
You must hold both of the following qualifications:
- an accredited 4 year full-time equivalent undergraduate bachelor degree in:
- civil engineering; or
- mechanical engineering; or
- chemical engineering; or
- electrical engineering; or
- engineering (with a major in civil engineering); or
- engineering (with a major in mechanical engineering); or
- engineering (with a major in chemical engineering); or
- engineering (with a major in electrical engineering).
- AND one of the following:
- a postgraduate Diploma in Fire Safety Engineering Accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord or
- Graduate Diploma in Fire Safety Engineering. This must be from a nationally recognised registered training organisation that has the qualification listed on its scope of registration on the National Register under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011.
Option 3
You must hold both of the following qualifications:
- a qualification from an Australian university or tertiary institution assessed as equivalent to the bachelor’s degrees below by an Australian signatory to the Washington Accord, or a qualification from a foreign university assessed as equivalent by an assessing authority in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills list for the skilled occupation of fire safety engineer (not currently available):
- Civil engineering; or
- Mechanical engineering; or
- Chemical engineering; or
- Electrical engineering;
- Engineering (with a major in civil engineering); or
- Engineering (with a major in mechanical engineering); or
- Engineering (with a major in chemical engineering); or
- Engineering (with a major in electrical engineering); or
- AND: a qualification from an Australian university or tertiary institution assessed as equivalent to the below qualifications by an Australian signatory to the Washington Accord or a qualification from a foreign university assessed as equivalent by an assessing authority in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills list for the skilled occupation of fire safety engineer (not currently available):
- A postgraduate Diploma or nationally recognised approved graduate diploma in Fire Safety Engineering.
Note: This qualification must be from an nationally recognised registered training organisation that has the qualification listed on its scope of registration on the National Register under the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act 2011.
Geotechnical engineer
Geotechnical engineering involves the mechanics of soil and rock as applied to the design and construction of foundations, retaining structures, shoring excavations and ground bearing structures for buildings.
You must hold a qualification in either:
- Engineering (with a major in geotechnical engineering)
- Engineering (with a major in civil engineering); or
- Civil engineering; or
- Geotechnical engineering
which is either:
- an accredited 4 year full-time or equivalent part time undergraduate bachelor’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- a postgraduate master’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from an Australian university or tertiary institution assessed as equivalent by an Australian signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from a foreign university assessed as equivalent by an assessing authority in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills list for the skilled occupation of geotechnical engineer (currently Engineers Australia).
Mechanical engineer
Mechanical engineering involves work related to devices, machines, structures, processes and systems involving mechanical elements.
You must hold one of these qualifications in either mechanical engineering; or, Engineering (with a major in mechanical engineering):
- An accredited 4 year full-time or equivalent part time undergraduate bachelor’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- a postgraduate master’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from an Australian university or tertiary institution assessed as equivalent by an Australian signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from a foreign university assessed as equivalent by an assessing authority in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills list for the skilled occupation of mechanical engineer (currently Engineers Australia).
Structural engineer
Structural engineering involves being able to predict and calculate the stability, strength and rigidity of built structures, and how structures resist and transfer natural and other forces.
You must hold a qualification in one of the following:
- civil engineering or engineering with a major in civil engineering, or
- Engineering (with a major in civil engineering); or
- Engineering (with a major in structural engineering); or
- Civil engineering; or
- Structural engineering;
which is either:
- An accredited 4 year full-time or equivalent part time undergraduate bachelor’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- a postgraduate master’s degree accredited by a body that is a signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from an Australian university or tertiary institution assessed as equivalent by an Australian signatory to the Washington Accord, or
- one of the degrees above from a foreign university assessed as equivalent by an assessing authority in the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills list for the skilled occupation of structural engineer (currently Engineers Australia).
The Washington Accord for engineering qualifications
The Washington Accord is an international agreement between engineering bodies responsible for the recognition of engineering qualifications. For Australia, these qualifications are listed in the Accredited Engineering Program Directory.
Overseas qualifications accredited under the Washington Accord are listed on the Washington Accord signatory websites.
For more information about accredited qualifications and the Washington Accord visit Engineers Australia.
Maintaining your registration
Once registered, you have ongoing obligations to maintain your registration, including:
- complying with a code of practice
- retaining records for 10 years even if you stop working as a professional engineer
- holding the appropriate level of insurance
- undertaking Continuing Professional Development (CPD) each year.
Design and building practitioner enquiries and support
If you have an enquiry about design and building practitioner registrations, please get in touch with Building Commission NSW.
From overseas, call:+612 3814 0545