Enforcement of Title for Firms Starts January 1
To prevent misuse of title when assigning job titles and roles to employees, registrant firms are responsible to ensure titles with restricted words, such as engineer or geoscientist, have not been assigned to non-registrants in breach of the Professional Governance Act and Engineers and Geoscientists BC Bylaws. The requirements regarding individual title use have not changed.
“Misuse of titles can mislead the public into believing someone is licensed and competent when they are not, which poses risks to public safety, health, and the environment,” said Kelly Dayman, P.L.Eng., Associate Director, Regulation of Firms, at Engineers and Geoscientists BC. “By helping firms understand and follow title restrictions, we ensure titles are used correctly, protecting the public and the integrity of the profession.”
The responsibility for addressing misuse of title was extended to registrant firms to ensure compliance by their staff following bylaw amendments approved by the Engineers and Geoscientists BC Board on November 29, 2024.
Firms are required to address this responsibility in their Professional Practice Management Plan (PPMP), which will enable proactive discussion with Engineers and Geoscientists BC assessors to prevent misuse of title. Firms that developed their PPMPs using an Engineers and Geoscientists BC template prior to October 17, 2025, or firms whose PPMPs do not include the newly established use of title requirement, are required to update their PPMP. In cases where a misuse of title is found, it may be the firm’s responsibility to address and correct the issue.
Revised PPMP templates and addendums to update existing PPMPs are currently available on the Firm Practice Overview page on the Engineers and Geoscientists BC website.
More details on these changes can be found in this bulletin, the Firm Practice FAQs (#14), and the Legislation and Bylaws page (Bylaw 5.12 section 22).
Please contact [email protected] for more information.
Photo: Wendy D Photography