AIRAH scheme for engineer accreditation

AUSTRALIA: The Australian air conditioning, refrigeration and heating institute (AIRAH) has launched the AIRAH Registered Professional Engineer (ARPEng) accreditation programme for mechanical engineers – HVAC&R professionals. 

The new professional registration schemes for engineers is a response to last year’s Shergold-Weir Building Confidence report, the Building Ministers Forum (BMF) signalled the need for a nationally harmonised registration scheme for building practitioners, including engineers. 

The Queensland Professional Engineers Act has been in operation since 2002. Recently, the Professional Engineers Registration Bill 2019 was introduced in Victoria, and the Professional Engineers Registration Bill in New South Wales. 

Applauding these efforts, AIRAH CEO Tony Gleeson said: “It has been a considerable anomaly that engineering is one of the few professions not to have a mandatory licensing scheme. Now, as government introduces regulations for professional registration of engineers, we will need expert schemes to verify their qualifications, skills and ongoing training. AIRAH’s ARPEng program satisfies this need for Mechanical Engineer – HVAC&R professionals.” 

ARPEng has been designed to meet the requirements of the Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ) and other state-based schemes as they are released. AIRAH is in the process of lodging applications to become an assessment scheme for the Queensland and Victorian professional registration schemes. 

“A successful application to become an ARPEng will display to the industry – and to the public at large – an individual’s qualifications and commitment to the discipline,” Gleeson says. “It confirms their skills, professional development and training are up to date, and that they are a qualified professional.” 

Gleeson says the scheme provides extra value to members, and supports AIRAH’s vision to create an Australian HVAC&R industry that is highly skilled and professional, safe, sustainable and environmentally effective. 

“We see it as a vital scheme, not just for individuals,” he says, “but for Australia’s building industry as a whole.” 

Full details of the ARPEng scheme can be found at www.airah.org.au/ARPEng