Guidelines for Design Verifiers

Practice Field Guidelines Design Verifiers (Note these guidelines are not yet complete)

Purpose of guidelines
The purpose of these guidelines is to provide applicants with suggestions on the type of evidence that is considered to demonstrate that they meet the competence standard. These suggestions are not exhaustive nor are they definitive the assessment panel, which is the only entity with access to all the applicants evidence, is required to make a judgement on the applicants competence. All competence assessments are made in the applicants practice area (definition below). The applicant is asked to provide a brief description of his or her practice area which is effectively the professional engineering activities they perform. This description will guide the assessment panel when it assesses the evidence submitted. Assessment panels are instructed to amend the applicant's practice area description if the panel find a mismatch. Hence applicants are asked to consider very carefully their practice area when describing what they do.

Practice area definition

The practice area of an engineer is defined as: practice area means an engineers area of practice, as determined by (a) the area within which he or she has engineering knowledge and skills; and (b) the nature of his or her professional engineering activities. For the purposes of Design Verifier, the practice area description should be specific in identifying the following areas of engineering activity: 1. Pressure equipment, which can be further broken down into the following categories: a. Fired pressure vessels b. Unfired pressure vessels c. Pressure piping 2. Cranes 3. Passenger ropeways

Engineering problems
Complex engineering problems means engineering problems which cannot be resolved without in-depth engineering knowledge and having some or all of the following characteristics:

Version 1 (12 September 2008)

Guidelines for Design Verifiers Involve wide-ranging or conflicting technical, engineering and other issues Have no obvious solution and require originality in analysis Involve infrequently encountered issues Are outside problems encompassed by standards and codes of practice for professional engineering Involve diverse groups of stakeholders with widely varying needs Have significant consequences in a range of contexts

Engineering activities
Complex engineering activities means engineering activities or projects that have some or all of the following characteristics: Involve the use of diverse resources (and for this purpose resources includes people, money, equipment, materials and technologies) Require resolution of significant problems arising from interactions between wide-ranging or conflicting technical, engineering or other issues, Involve the use of new materials, techniques or processes, or the use of existing materials techniques or processes in innovative ways

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
1. The regulatory framework under which Design Verifiers operate is established in the Health and Safety in Employment (Pressure Equipment, Cranes, and Passenger Ropeways) Regulations 1999. These regulations apply to certain equipment (Pressure Equipment, Cranes, and Passenger Ropeways, including attachments, fittings, foundations, mountings, and supports Reg 4) and require Controllers (the owner, lessee, sub-lessee, or bailee) to ensure that equipment is kept safe and operated safely. (Regs 8 and 10). The controller must also keep specific information on the equipment provided by designers, manufacturers and suppliers to ensure that the equipment complies with the regulations; one of the documents a controller must retain is a certificate of design verification. (Reg 8). A certificate of design verification is issued by an Inspection Body (Reg 24) - an organisation or person that must be recognised as such by the Secretary of Labour (Reg 23). The Secretary of Labour will only recognise an Inspection Body when satisfied it is accredited with IANZ and has in place a procedure that ensures it only employs or engages a Design Verifier who holds a certificate of competence (Reg 25 and 36). Certificates of competence for Design Verifiers are issued by a qualifications issuing agency. IPENZ is the only qualification issuing

2.

3.

4.

5.

Version 1 (12 September 2008)

Guidelines for Design Verifiers agency recognised by the Department of Labour to certify Design Verifiers as defined by Regulation 29. 6. As a qualification issuing agency for Design Verifiers, IPENZ must ensure that it issues certificates of competence only after a determination (by way of examination, assessment or otherwise) to engineers who have demonstrated that they have the knowledge, training, skills and experience to perform competently every activity that a holder of the certificate would be expected to perform competently (Reg 29). Certificates of competence are required to identify (Reg 35): a. The specified activity being undertaken by the holder of the certificate namely, Design Verification; and b. The equipment for which the holder is able to conduct the specified activity. There are three types of equipment: i. Pressure equipment ii. Cranes; and iii. Passenger ropeways.

7.

Version 1 (12 September 2008)