Engineers Count

At the October 19, 2005 General Membership Meeting held at the Winnipeg Football Club “Blue and Gold Room” our guest speaker, Mark Frances, APEGM Consultant, presented an overview of the September 16, 2005 Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench ruling which stated that in Manitoba the planning and construction of all new buildings over 400 square meters, and modifications to existing buildings, must be stamped, supervised, and/or inspected by an architect. Following is a briefing of the court ruling and its impact on the construction industry:

Briefing

Key Impacts of the Ruling

The Ruling has revealed a significant conflict between the Architects Act and the Engineers and Geoscientists Act.

• An architect must prepare drawings and conduct inspections of buildings over 400m2;
• An architect must supervise all alterations to existing buildings, including renovations and additions;
• A specific requirement for the City of Winnipeg to alter its current practices and hire only architects for the creation of building plans. The ruling affects all projects in Manitoba;

A requirement for all builders and contractors to use the services of an architect in addition to any engineers that may be working on an existing or planned project.

Negotiation No Longer Possible

• Engineers have worked diligently to negotiate settlement.
• Twice before the Joint Board has reached a negotiated settlement and twice the Manitoba Association of Architects (MAA) has rejected the deal.
• In the past ten years there have been two legal challenges by the Architects.
  The only reasonable solution is a legislative change.

Potential Negative Effects of the Ruling

• Increased cost to taxpayers as the City must unnecessarily hire more architects;
• Increased cost to business, as additional professionals must be consulted;
• Increased cost to owners of apartment buildings, condominium complexes, and nursing homes - with potential cost increases being passed on to tenants/residents;
• Significant delays in project approvals and completions, as there are only 150 architects compared to 4400 registered engineers throughout Manitoba;
• Economic Slowdown in Manitoba, due to loss of business to other provinces, such as Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia, whose rules governing architects and engineers are less restrictive.

Goal to Achieve Remedy
We want the Architects Act to exempt engineers similar to the exemption of architects to the Engineers and Geoscience Act.

APEGM's Proposed Amendment to The Architect Act for consideration:

Nothing in this Act prohibits the practice of any profession or occupation by any person practicing it under the authority of a general or special Act of the Legislature.

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