Philippine

R.A. Mechanical
Engineering
8495 Act of 1998
Rules and Regulations
Implementing R.A. No. 8495
 1 Title, Statement of Policy and Definition of Terms

Section 1. Title
This Resolution shall be known and cited as the -Rules and Regulations
Implementing the Philippine Mechanical Engineering Act of 1998 (RRIPMEA).

Section 2. Statement of Policy

The Board of Mechanical Engineering concurs with and abides by the policy of
the State in recognizing the importance of mechanical engineers in nation
building and development, in promoting their talents through sustainable human
development and in developing and nurturing competent, virtuous, productive
and well-rounded mechanical engineers whose standard of professional
practice and service shall be excellent, qualitative, world-class and globally
competitive through regulatory measures, programs and activities.
Section 3. Definition of Terms
a. Board –Board of Mechanical Engineering (BME)
b. Board Chairman –Chairman, Board of Mechanical
Engineering
c. Commission Professional Regulation Commission (PRC)
d. Commission Chairman Commissioner, Professional
Regulation Commission
e. CPE –Continuing Professional Education
f. C.A. No. 294, as amended by R.A. No. 5336 Old
Mechanical Engineering Law
g. CHED –Commission on Higher Education
h. PME –Professional Mechanical Engineer
i. RME –Registered Mechanical Engineer
Section 3. Definition of Terms
j. CPM –Certified Plant Mechanic
k. Integration
l. OTEC –Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion
m. Practice of Mechanical Engineering
n. Mechanical Equipment or Machinery
o. Mechanical processes, works, projects or plants
p. Capacity of process works, projects or plant-rated capacity in kilowatt of
mechanical works, projects or plants
q. S.O. - Special Order issued by the CHED authorizing the graduation of a
student
r. Syllabi
 2 Official Seal of the Board

Section 4. Official Seal of the Board

The official seal of the Board shall be represented by a drawing of Hers-
Steam Engine, 1st Century A.D., consisting of a cylindrical kettle mounted on
a three-legged metal support, heated by firewood under the kettle with two
tubes attached vertically inside the kettle opposite each other connected by
a tube passing through a spherical metal ball which revolves on its axis
emitting steam at the opposite side of the ball through small pipes.
 Composition, Qualifications, Terms
3
of Office and Meetings of the Board

Section 5. Composition of the Board

• Chairman
• Two (2) members to be appointed by the President of
the Philippines from three (3) recommended, chosen, and
ranked in the order of preference and submitted by the
Commission, from five (5) nominees submitted by the
duly accredited association of mechanical engineers in
the Philippines.
 Duties and Responsibilities of
4
the Chairman, the Members
and of the Board

Section 10. Duties and Functions of the Chairman

• Head of the Board

• Responsible for the assignment of other duties and
responsibilities to the members
• Spokesperson of the Board in the Commission and in
other offices and agencies of the government in all that
pertains to and concerns the functions of the Board.
Section 11. Enforcement and Implementation of R.A. No. 8495
Including the Rules and Regulations Promulgated Thereunder

Section 13. Decisions, Orders or Resolutions

and Other Issuance of the Board
The Board shall meet en banc to deliberate and decide on such
matters. The presence of a quorum shall be sufficient to
deliberate and act upon the matters above-mentioned and a
majority vote shall be required for the validity of the Act.

The presence of two (2) members shall constitute a quorum and

the vote of two (2) members shall constitute a majority vote.
Section 16. Records of the Board; Removal of Such Papers, etc.
All records of the Board including applications for examination, examination
papers and results, minutes of deliberation, administrative cases shall be
kept by the Commission. No papers, communications, certificates, records of
cases and other documents shall be removed from the premises of the
Commission unless expressly authorized in writing by the Chairman of the
Commission.
Section 17. Duties and Functions of the Chairman

The Board shall, at the close of each calendar year, submit an annual report to
the President of the Philippines through the Professional Regulation Commission,
giving a detailed account of its proceedings and accomplishments during the
year and making recommendations for the adoption of measures that will
upgrade and inform the conditions affecting the practice of mechanical
engineering in the Philippines.
 Licensure Examination for the
5
Practice of Mechanical Engineering

Section 18. Examination Required for the

Practice of Mechanical Engineering

Unless expressly exempted by the provisions of R.A. No.

8495, all persons desiring to practice the mechanical
engineering profession must take and pass the licensure
examination for the practice of mechanical engineering.
Section 25. Holding of Examination
Examination for the practice of mechanical engineering in the
Philippines shall be given twice a year in the City of Manila and in
such other places as may be determined by the Board and approved
by the Commission. The names, dates and venues of examination for
each year shall be included in the schedule of Professional Licensure
Examination issued annually by the Commission. Written or printed
notice of such examination shall be posted on the bulletin boards of
the Main and Regional Offices of the Commission and furnished to all
schools, colleges and universities offering the courses for licensure
examination for dissemination to their graduates.
Section 28. Ratings
To pass the examination, a candidate for professional mechanical
engineer, mechanical engineer and certified plant mechanic must
obtain an average of seventy (70%) percent in all subjects, with no
rating below fifty (50%) percent in any of the subjects.

Section 29. Re-examination

An applicant who fails pass the examination for the third time shall
be allowed to take another examination only after the lapse of
one (1) year from the date of the last examination taken.
 Registration and Issuance
6 of Certificates of
Registration and Licenses

Section 32. Registration of Successful Examinees

All those who passed the licensure examination, shall be registered after taking the
oath of a professional before the member of the Board or any person authorized
by law to administer oaths and upon payment of the prescribed fees.

Section 34. Renewal of Professional License

The professional license issued to Professional Mechanical Engineers, Mechanical
Engineers or Certified Plant Mechanics shall be valid for three (3) years from its
issuance and, unless the holder thereof is exempt from CPE requirements, shall be
renewed every after three (3) years.
 7 Administrative Proceedings

Section 40. Administrative Investigation

The investigations of cases against a registered Professional Mechanical Engineer,
Mechanical Engineer or Certified Plant Mechanic shall be conducted by the Board with
the assistance of the legal/hearing officers of the Commission in accordance with the
pertinent provisions of the –Rules and Regulations Governing the Regulation and
Practice of Professionals –as amended, issued by the Commission.
Section 41. Grounds for the Suspension or
Revocation of Certificates
The Board may suspend or revoke the certificate of registration and license of a
registered Professional Mechanical Engineer, Mechanical Engineer or Certified Plant
Mechanic or the temporary/special permit issued to foreign mechanical engineers allowed
by law to practice mechanical engineering in the Philippines upon any of the following
grounds:
• Use or perpetuation of any fraud or deceit in obtaining a certificate of registration
• Negligence
• Incompetence
• Unprofessional or dishonourable conduct
• Abetment of the illegal practice of Mechanical Engineering
• Violation of the Code of Ethics for Mechanical Engineers and Certified Plant Mechanics
• Violation of policies of the Board
• Non-compliance with CPE requirements
 Report on the Performance of the
8 Candidates of Schools, Colleges and
Universities in Licensure Examination

Section 42. Report of the Board

The Board shall prepare a report on the performance of the examinees of schools,
colleges or universities in the licensure examinations for Mechanical Engineers and
Certified Plant Mechanics. The Board may recommend to the Commission on Higher
Education: (1) the monitoring of schools, colleges and universities, whose successful
examinees in three (3) consecutive licensure examinations is less than 5% of the total
number of its candidates who took the said licensure examinations; (2) the publication
of the names of schools, colleges and universities whose successful examinees in five (5)
successive licensure examinations in a particular profession is less than five percent
(5%) of the total number of examinees of said schools, colleges or universities in each
of the licensure examinations taken; and (3) the phase out of the course/ program.
 Seal and Use of Seal
9 of Professional
Mechanical Engineers
Section 43. Seal of a Professional Mechanical Engineer

Section 44. Use of Seal

Every Professional Mechanical Engineer shall, upon registration, obtain a seal above
described which shall be stamped/affixed on every sheet of designs, plans,
specifications, project feasibility studies, appraisals, recommendations, technical
reports, proposals and other professional documents involving mechanical equipment,
works, projects or plants to be submitted or filed with government authorities or to be
signed, issued or used professionally.
 Registration with or without Examination
10 and/or Issuance of Special/Temporary
Permits to Foreign Mechanical Engineers
Section 45. Applicability of Guidelines
Promulgated by the Commission
The Guidelines on the Registration of Foreign Professionals Allowed by Laws to Practice
the Regulated Professions in the Philippines, as amended, promulgated by the PRC on
January 20, 1998 shall be applicable to foreign Professional Mechanical Engineers and
Mechanical Engineers. The Board of Mechanical Engineering shall adopt, issue or
promulgate rules providing for the procedure for the taking by foreigners of the licensure
examination for PME and ME and for the registration with or without examination and
issuance of licenses through reciprocity as well as the issuance of temporary/special
permits to foreign PME and ME allowed by other laws to practice their professions in the
Philippines.
 11 Prohibitions, Enforcement and Penalties

Section 46. Prohibitions

1. No person shall practice mechanical engineering in this country unless such person
shall have secured a license to practice Mechanical Engineering in the manner
provided in R.A. 8495.
2. Unless authorized under R.A. 8495, it shall be unlawful for a person to do and act
such tasks and responsibilities.
3. It shall also be unlawful for any one to stamp or seal any document with a seal of
a Professional Mechanical Engineer after the certificate of registration shall have
been revoked or cancelled.
Section 47. Enforcement
Without prejudice to the enforcement of the provisions of R.A. No. 8495, particularly
Sections 33 and 35 among others by the duly constituted officers of the law of the
national, provincial, city or municipal government, the Commission through its
hearing/legal officers shall conduct investigations on complaints under oath filed by
aggrieved persons on any violation of the penal provisions of R.A. No. 8495 and, if the
evidence adduced so warrant, shall forward the records of the case to the office of the
city or provincial prosecutor which has jurisdiction over the case for the prosecution of
the offender/violator.
Section 48. Penalties
In addition to the administrative sanctions imposed under R.A. No. 8495, any
person who violates any of the provisions of said Act and rules and regulations
promulgated thereunder shall, upon conviction, be penalized by a fine of not less
than fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) nor more than two hundred thousand
pesos (P200,000.00) or imprisonment of not less than six (6) months nor more
than three (3) years, or both fine and imprisonment at the discretion of the Court.
12 Integration of Mechanical Engineers

Section 49. All registered Professional Mechanical Engineers,

Mechanical Engineers and Certified Plant Mechanics shall be
integrated into one national organization of Mechanical
Engineers to be accredited by the Board of Mechanical
Engineering and the Professional Regulation Commission.
 13 Miscellaneous Provisions

Section 50. Code of Ethics and Professional Standards

Section 51. Indication of License and Privilege Tax Receipt

Section 52. Teaching of Mechanical

Engineering Professional Subjects

Section 53. Appointment of Professional

Mechanical Engineers in Government
 14 Transitory Provisions

Section 55. Mechanical Plant Engineers

Section 56. The present Board shall continue to function in the

interim until such time as the new Board shall be constituted.

Section 57. Incumbent Faculty Members Teaching

Mechanical Engineering Professional Subjects
 14 Separability and Effectivity Clauses

Section 58. Separability Clause

If any section, paragraph, provision or clause hereof shall be declared unconstitutional
or invalid, such judgment shall not affect, invalidate or impair any other part hereof,
but such judgment shall be merely confined to the section, paragraph, provision or
clause directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment has been rendered.

Section 59. Effectivity

This Rules and Regulations shall take effect after thirty (30) days following its
publication in full in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general
circulation, whichever comes earlier.