•The Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) will bring onboard engineers and partners from other countries and the standards each country uses in their own registration.
•Once the gathering of membership among all states is complete and have an agreement in place, educational standards and registration requirements will be set.
Image: HANDOUT
Engineers across East African are pushing for the standardisation of the profession to stop outsourcing of experts from other areas.
In the plan the professionals will harmonise the regions curriculum and form a single union with all EAC member states.
The Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) will bring onboard engineers and partners from other countries and the standards each country uses in their own registration.
Once the gathering of membership among all states is complete and have an agreement in place, educational standards and registration requirements will be set.
Principal Secretary in the ministry of Roads Joseph Mbugua while speaking at the an engineers’ workshop said that the plan will provide a ready pool of engineering professionals for regional projects.
The workshop is meant to steer the strengthening of engineering competencies, capabilities and compliance and enforcement functions.
“Within the same engagement we will be able to asses at what level we are relating. You might find some require enhancement in their own curriculum others may be higher such that you need to upgrade the other,” said Mbugua.
He said believe a strong EAC collaboration will facilitate engineers’ contribution to regional development.
Globally, structural engineering standards establish common design criteria, methods and understanding regarding the design of structures.
These are expected to be agreed between owners, operators and users, designers, contractors and manufacturers of construction products.
This ensures increased structural safety and quality and removal of non-tariff trade barriers.
In Kenya, engineering standards cover a wide range of fields, including civil engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and others. These standards are developed to ensure the quality and safety of products and services in the engineering sector.
In the construction sector for instance Kenya has been pushing for a new set of European construction guidelines, commonly known as Eurocodes, which will soon provide a common reference point for all builders in Kenya – replacing the British Standards that have guided contractors for five decades.
Since the British Standards are no longer supported by the original developer - the British Standards Institution - they are no longer subjected to regular reviews to incorporate new knowledge and advancements in science.
They are, therefore, bound to be withdrawn. Normally, a standard should be reviewed constantly, approximately every five years, for it to remain current and applicable.
The standards agency KEBS says that the Eurocodes would eliminate the disparities that hinder the transfer of engineering technologies in the global construction markets and has begun the process of harmonising the codes.
This has allowed the development of a National Annex with Nationally Determined Parameters factoring in the country’s climatic conditions that vary from one region to another.
These parameters are critical in designing infrastructure projects such as roads and bridges.
One of the climatic factors put into consideration is earthquake design. Wind mapping is another.
The builders in the country have also been advocating for the states’ go ahead to utilise locally available materials and alternative construction technologies in order to reduce construction expenses.
Currently, builders face obstacles in obtaining approval for erecting permanent structures in urban zones unless they adhere to prescribed materials like brick and mortar.