Year 2003. The UAP and PICE signed a joint resolution supporting the passage of Architecture and Civil Engineering bills delineating their respective scope of practice and strengthening their collaborative efforts in common goals.
The two professional groups through their leaders stressed the need for the immediate passage of their respective bills, which would benefit their hundreds of thousand members nationwide.
In Year 2004, the Architecture Act was passed and signed into law.
In Year 2005, a petition for declaratory relief filed on 3 May 2005 by the PICE and civil engineer Leo Cleto Gamolo to declare null and void Sections 302[3] and [4] of the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (“Revised IRR”) of Presidential Decree No. 1096 (the “National Building Code”). The said provisions require that architectural documents submitted in applications for building permits must be prepared, signed and sealed by architects. PICE, et al. claim that the said sections of the Revised IRR, by effectively prohibiting civil engineers from also preparing, signing and sealing architectural documents, are contrary to the National Building Code and the Republic Act No. 544 (the “Civil Engineering Law”), which purportedly gave civil engineers the said right.
UAP and PICE Collaboration
The following is a copy of proposed MOA for the UAP and PICE sent by an anonymous sender
ARCHITECTURE AND CIVIL ENGINEERING – COMPLEMENTARY PROFESSIONS
DRAFT MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN UAP AND PICE
Whereas each recognizes the other as an honoured and learned profession of equal merit whose close cooperation is essential for the benefit of the public, and in order to ensure that the special knowledge, skill and training of each profession are properly available to the public, the following points have been duly agreed upon by the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE) and the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) concerning the scope and practice of architecture and civil engineering for buildings
1. Principles Governing the Practice of Civil Engineering and Architecture
(a) Except as provided herein, Civil Engineers shall confine their professional activity to the practice of civil engineering and Architects to the practice of architecture.
(b) Civil Engineers and Architects are obligated to practise with professional integrity in their areas of competence in all types and sizes of buildings to the prevailing professional standards.
2. Definitions
In this Memorandum of Agreement
(a) Architect means an individual registered as an Architect under the Architecture Act of 2004.
(b) Architectural and Engineering Firm means a proprietorship, partnership or corporation that is entitled to engage in the practice of architecture or the practice of engineering under the
Architecture Act of 2004 or the Civil Engineering Act of 2012, as the case may be, and whose practice, if not so confined, involves the design of buildings and is satisfactory to the Joint Practice Board.
(c) Architectural Firm means a proprietorship, partnership or corporation that is entitled to engage in the practice of architecture under the Architecture Act of 2004 and whose practice is the provision of architectural consulting services.
(d) Assembly Occupancy means the occupancy or the use of a building, or part thereof, by a gathering of persons for civic, political, travel, religious, social, educational, recreational or like purposes, or for the consumption of food or drink.
(e) Building means any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy.
(f) Certificate of Joint Practice means a document issued either by UAP or PICE, respectively, to individuals, proprietorships, partnerships and corporations to authorize practice in the design of buildings and, providing the conditions imposed on granting of the certificate remain unchanged, shall remain valid for (1) year from the date of issuance.
(g) Coordinating Registered Professional means the Architect or Civil Engineer retained to coordinate all the design and field reviews of the Architects and Civil Engineers retained on a building.
(h) Civil Engineer means an individual registered as a Civil Engineer under the Civil Engineers Act of 2012.
(i) Civil Engineering Firm means a proprietorship, partnership or corporation entitled to engage in the practice of civil engineering under the Civil Engineers Act of 2012 and whose practice is the provision of civil engineering consulting services.
(j) Industrial Occupancy means the occupancy or use of a building, or part thereof, for the assembling, fabricating, manufacturing, processing, repairing or storing of goods and materials.
(k) Joint Practice Board means a body established jointly by UAP and PICE under Article 14.
(l) Major Occupancy means the principal occupancy for which a building, or part thereof, is used or intended to be used, and is deemed to include the subsidiary occupancies, which are an integral part of the principal occupancy.
(m) Occupancy means the use or intended use of a building, or part thereof, for the shelter or support of persons, animals or property.
(n) Prime Consultant means the individual, proprietorship, partnership or corporation who or which is directly responsible to a client for the execution of architectural and civil engineering work performed in the design and field review of a building.
3. Principles Governing the Joint Practice of Civil Engineering and Architecture
(a) In the design of buildings, Civil Engineering Firms shall have a Certificate of Joint Practice from UAP if their professional activity includes the practice of civil engineering and architecture;
Architectural Firms shall have a Certificate of Joint Practice from PICE if their activity includes the practice of architecture and civil engineering.
(b) Civil Engineers may be employed by Architects and Architectural Firms and Architects may be employed by Civil Engineers and Civil Engineering Firms.
4. Principles Governing the Choice of Prime Consultant and Coordinating Registered Professional
(a) A client is free to select the Prime Consultant of the client’s choice.
(b) A client is free to select the Coordinating Registered Professional of the client’s choice.
5. Building Occupancies
Building Occupancies for which any architectural services provided by a Civil Engineer shall be deemed to be incidental and ancillary to the practice of civil engineering are:
(a) Major industrial occupancies, which may include up to 275m² of floor area of a subsidiary assembly occupancy or up to 600m² of floor area of any other subsidiary occupancy.
(b) Major industrial occupancies of an individual tenancy within a multi-tenant building, which may include up to 275m² of floor area of a subsidiary assembly occupancy or up to 600m² of floor area of any other subsidiary occupancy. Nothing in this clause shall permit a Civil Engineer to enable someone who is not an Architect or a Civil Engineer to provide architectural services.
6. Buildings for which any engineering services provided by an Architect shall be deemed to be incidental and ancillary to the practice of architecture are:
(a) Buildings of business and personal services, mercantile, medium-hazard industrial or low-hazard industrial occupancy up to a maximum of two storeys in building height and up to 600m² of floor area; and
(b) Buildings of residential occupancy up to a maximum of three storeys in building height and up to 600m² of floor area. Nothing in this clause shall permit an Architect to provide engineering services for components which require structural design, as opposed to selection from building code tables.
7.
For building occupancies other than those covered by Articles 5 and 6, whose design and field review require, by law, the services of both Architects and Civil Engineers:
(a) Architects will be required to provide architectural services other than those which are necessarily incidental and ancillary to the civil engineering work.
(b) Civil Engineers will be required to provide civil engineering services other than those which are necessarily incidental and ancillary to the architectural work. Nothing in paragraphs 7(a) and 7(b) above shall prevent an Architect or Civil Engineer from showing on drawings the civil engineering or architectural aspects necessary for coordination purposes.
8.
(a) A Civil Engineer’s entitlement to provide incidental and ancillary architectural services shall not permit a Civil Engineer to perform all architectural services in connection with a building requiring the services of both professions.
(b) An Architect’s entitlement to provide incidental and ancillary engineering services shall not permit an Architect to perform all engineering services in connection with a building requiring the services of both professions.
9. Signing and Sealing of Drawings
(a) Architectural drawings for buildings shall be signed and sealed by an Architect (except as permitted under Article 5).
(b) Civil Engineering drawings for buildings shall be signed and sealed by Civil Engineer (except as permitted under Article 6).
10. The Practice of Civil Engineering and Architecture by Architectural Firms
An Architectural Firm shall be entitled to a Certificate of Joint Practice from PICE provided that it employs on a full-time basis one or more Civil Engineers who shall take responsibility for engineering work. The Certificate of Joint Practice granted under these circumstances entitles the Architect or Architectural Firm to hold themselves out as Architect(s) and Civil Engineer(s).
11. The Practice of Civil Engineering and Architecture by Jointly Owned Firms
A proprietorship, partnership or corporation owned by Civil Engineers and Architects, who are respectively, members of PICE and UAP, is entitled to practise both engineering and architecture under the Civil Engineers Act 0f 2012 and the Architecture Act of 2004.
12. The Practice of Civil Engineering and Architecture by Civil Engineering Firms
A Civil Engineering Firm shall be entitled to a Certificate of Joint Practice from UAP provided that it employs on a full-time basis one or more Architects who shall take responsibility for architectural work. The Certificate of Joint Practice granted under these circumstances entitles the Civil Engineer or Civil Engineering Firm to hold themselves out as Civil Engineer(s) and Architects(s).
13. Disciplinary Provisions
(a) An Architectural Firm that has been issued a Certificate of Joint Practice by PICE to practise engineering shall be subject to the disciplinary provisions of the Civil Engineers Act of 2012, Bylaws and Code of Ethics.
(b) An Engineering Firm that has been issued a Certificate of Joint Practice by UAP to practise architecture shall be subject to the disciplinary provisions of the Architecture Act, Bylaws and
Code of Ethics.
(c) A Certificate of Joint Practice issued by UAP or PICE to a proprietorship, partnership or corporation may be revoked for cause by the issuing authority.
14.
The Joint Practice Board
Concurrent with the execution of this Memorandum of Agreement, there shall be instituted a Joint Practice Board authorized to deal with matters of common concern and jurisdiction and to make recommendations to UAP and PICE. The Board shall be composed of an equal number of Architects and Civil Engineers appointed by UAP and PICE, respectively. The Chair shall be appointed by mutual consent. Each member of the Joint Practice Board shall have one vote.
15.
The terms of reference of the Joint Practice Board shall include:
(a) working on matters of interprofessional relations, including, for example, the coordination and publication of guidelines, standards, criteria and performance standards in the field of building design and construction, formulated either jointly or severally by UAP and PICE;
(b) reviewing the terms of this Agreement and, from time to time as necessary, recommending changes to the points of this Agreement for consideration by the Councils of UAP and PICE; and
(c) such other matters as may be decided from time to time by UAP and PICE together.
16. Modification of this Memorandum of Agreement
It is agreed that this Memorandum of Agreement may be modified at any time by mutual consent of the Councils of UAP and PICE.
17. Terms of this Memorandum of Agreement
This Memorandum of Agreement shall remain in force by the mutual consent of the Councils of PICE and UAP.
18. Implementation of this Memorandum of Agreement
(a) It is understood by UAP and PICE that amendments to the Architecture Act of 2004 and the Civil Engineers Act of 2012 will be required in concert to facilitate enforcement of this or a subsequent Memorandum of Agreement.
(b) It is understood and agreed that the success and effectiveness of this Memorandum of Agreement will depend largely on goodwill between UAP and PICE.
(c) It is understood and agreed that (while some situations will be resolved on their own merit)
UAP and PICE generally will view contravention of the other association’s statute to constitute unprofessional conduct.
Entered into this ___ day of ____2012, at Manila Philippines.
_________________ (UAP President) _________________(PICE President)
United Architects of the Philippines and Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers
