GROUP 4 | PART 1

REPUBLIC ACT
NO. 544
AN ACT TO REGULATE THE PRACTICE OF
CIVIL ENGINEERING IN THE PHILIPPINES
ARTICLE I: SECTION 01 TITLE OF ACT
TITLE OF THE ACT AND
DEFINITION OF TERMS
SECTION 02 DEFINITION OF TERMS
SECTION 01 TITLE OF ACT

This Act shall be known as the

“Civil Engineering Law.”
SECTION 02 DEFINITION OF TERMS

(a) The practice of civil engineering within the meaning and intent of
this Act shall embrace services in the form of consultation, design,
preparation of plans, specifications, estimates, erection, installation
and supervision of the construction of streets, bridges, highways,
railroads, airports and hangars, port works, canals, river and shore
improvements, lighthouses, and dry docks; buildings, fixed structures
for irrigation, flood protection, drainage, water supply and sewerage
works; demolition of permanent structures; and tunnels. The
enumeration of any work in this section shall not be construed as
excluding any other work requiring civil engineering knowledge and
application.
SECTION 02 DEFINITION OF TERMS cont.

(b) The term “civil engineer” as used in this act shall mean a person
duly registered with the Board for Civil Engineers in the manner as
hereinafter provided.
 SECTION 03 COMPOSITION OF BOARD

POWERS AND DUTIES

SECTION 04
ARTICLE II: OF THE BOARD

BOARD OF EXAMINERS QUALIFICATIONS OF

FOR CIVIL ENGINEERS SECTION 05 BOARD MEMBERS

FEES AND COMPENSATION

SECTION 06
OF BOARD

SECTION 07 ANNUAL REPORT

SECTION 03 COMPOSITION OF BOARD

Within thirty days after the approval of this Act there shall be created
a Board of Examiners for Civil Engineers, hereinafter referred to as the
Board, to be composed of a chairman and two members who shall be
appointed by the Secretary of Public Works and Communication. The
members of the Board shall hold office for a term of three years after
appointment or until their successors shall have been appointed and
shall have qualified. The first members of the Board appointed under
this Act shall hold office for the following terms: One member for one
year; one member for two years; and one member for three years.
Each member of the Board shall qualify by taking the proper oath of
office before entering upon the performance of his duties.
SECTION 03 COMPOSITION OF BOARD cont.

Any member of the Board may be removed by the Secretary of Public

Works and Communication for neglect of duty, incompetency,
malpractice, unprofessional, unethical, immoral, or dishonorable
conduct, after having been given opportunity to defend himself in a
proper administrative investigation: Provided, That during the process
of investigation, the Secretary of Public Works and Communication
shall have the power to suspend such member under investigation
and shall appoint a temporary member in his place. Vacancies in the
Board shall be filled for the unexpired term only.
SECTION 04 POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD

The Board for Civil Engineers is vested with authority, conformable

with the provisions of this Act, to administer oaths, issue, suspend and
revoke certificates of registration for the practice of civil engineering,
issue certificates of recognition to civil engineers already registered
under this Act for advanced studies, research, and/or highly
specialized training in any branch of civil engineering subject to the
approval of the Secretary of Public Works and Communication, to
investigate such violations of this Act and the regulations, there-under
as may come to the knowledge of the Board and, for this purpose,
issue subpoena and subpoena duces tecum to secure appearance of
witnesses in connection with the charges presented to the Board,
SECTION 04 POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD cont.

to inspect at least once a year educational institutions offering courses

in civil engineering, civil engineering works, projects or corporations,
established in the Philippines and, for safeguarding of life, health and
property, to discharge such other powers and duties as may affect
ethical and technological standards of the civil engineering profession
in the Philippines. For the purpose of this Act, the Director of Public
Works and/or his authorized representative in the provinces and
chartered cities shall be ex-officio agents of the Board and as such it
shall be their duty to help in the enforcement of the provisions of this
Act.
SECTION 04 POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE BOARD cont.

The Board may, with the approval of the Secretary of Public Works
and Communication issue such rules and regulations as may be
deemed necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. The board
shall also adopt a code of ethics in the practice of civil engineering
and have an official seal to authenticate its official documents.
SECTION 05 QUALIFICATIONS OF BOARD MEMBERS

Each member of the Board shall, at the time of his appointment:

a. Be a citizen and resident of the Philippines;

b. Be at least thirty years of age and of good moral character;
c. Be a graduate of civil engineering from a recognized and legally
constituted school, institute, college or university.
d. Be a registered civil engineer duly qualified to practice civil
engineering in the Philippines;
e. Have practiced civil engineering, with a certificate as such, for a
period of not less than ten years prior to his appointment.
SECTION 05 QUALIFICATIONS OF BOARD MEMBERS cont.

f. Not be a member of the faculty of any school, institute, college, or

university where civil engineering course is taught, nor have a
pecuniary interest in such institutions; g. No former members of the
faculty of any school, institute or university where civil engineering is
taught can become a member of the Board unless he had stopped
teaching for at least three consecutive years.
SECTION 06 FEES AND COMPENSATION OF BOARD

The Board of Examiners for Civil Engineers shall charge for each
application for examination the sum of forty pesos payable to the
collecting and disbursing officer of the Bureau of Civil Service upon filing
of said application, and for each certificate of registration, twenty pesos.
Each member of the Board shall receive a compensation of five pesos for
each applicant examined. A civil engineer in the service of the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines appointed as member of
the Board shall receive the compensation as herein provided, in addition
to his salary in the Government. All authorized expenses of the Board,
including the compensation provided for herein, shall be paid by the
collecting and disbursing officer of the Bureau of Civil Servcie out of
such appropriation as may be made for the purpose.
SECTION 07 ANNUAL REPORT

The Board shall, at the end of each fiscal year, submit to the Secretary
of Public Works and Communication a detailed report of its activities
and proceedings during the period covered by the fiscal year ended.
 EXAMINATION
SECTION 08 REQUIREMENT

ARTICLE III: HOLDING OF

EXAMINATION AND
SECTION 09
EXAMINATION
REGISTRATION
SUBJECTS OF
SECTION 10 EXAMINATION

EXECUTIVE OFFICER
SECTION 11
OF THE BOARD
 QUALIFICATIONS FOR
SECTION 12 EXAMINATION

ARTICLE III: OATH OF CIVIL

EXAMINATION AND
SECTION 13 ENGINEERS
REGISTRATION
SEAL AND USE OF
SECTION 14
SEAL

EXEMPTION FROM
SECTION 15 REGISTRATION
 REFUSAL TO ISSUE
SECTION 16
CERTIFICATE

SUSPENSION AND
ARTICLE III: SECTION 17 REVOCATION OF
EXAMINATION AND CERTIFICATES
REGISTRATION
RE-ISSUE AND
SECTION 18 REPLACEMENT OF
CERTIFICATES

SECTION 19 TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

SECTION 08 EXAMINATION REQUIREMENT

All applicants for registration for the practice of civil engineering shall
be required to pass a technical examination as hereinafter provided.
SECTION 09 HOLDING OF EXAMINATION

Examination of candidates desiring to practice civil engineering in the

Philippines shall be given in the City of Manila beginning second
Monday of February and August of each year, provided that such days
do not fall on official holidays, otherwise the examinations shall be
held on the days next following.
SECTION 10 SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION

Applicants for certificate of registration as civil engineer shall be

examined, in the discretion of the Board, on the following subjects:
mathematics, including algebra, plane and spherical trigonometry,
analytics, descriptive and solid geometry, differential and integral
calculus, and rational and applied mechanics; hydraulics; surveying,
including highway and railroad surveying; plane, topographic and
hydrographic surveying, and advance surveying; design and
construction of highways and railroads, masonry structures, wooden
and reinforced concrete buildings, bridges, towers, walls, foundations,
piers, ports, wharves, aqueducts, sanitary engineering works, water
supply systems, dikes, dams and irrigation and drainage canals.
SECTION 11 EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE BOARD

The Commissioner of Professional Regulation Commission shall be

the executive officer of the Board and shall conduct the examinations
given by the said Board. He shall designate any subordinate officer of
the Professional Regulation Commission to act as the Secretary and
custodian of all records including examination papers and minutes of
the deliberation of the Board.
SECTION 12 QUALIFICATIONS FOR EXAMINATION

Any person applying for admission to the civil engineering

examination as herein provided shall, prior to the date of the
examination, establish to the satisfaction of the Board that he has the
following qualifications:

a. Be at least twenty-one years of age;

b. Be a citizen of the Philippines;
c. Be of good reputation and moral character; and
d. Be a graduate of a four-year course in civil engineering from a
school, institute, college or university recognized by the Government
or the State wherein it is established.
SECTION 13 OATH OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

All successful candidates in the examination shall be required to take

a professional oath before the Board of Civil Engineers or other
Government Officials authorized to administer oaths, prior to entering
upon the practice of the civil engineering profession.
SECTION 14 SEAL AND USE OF SEAL

All registered civil engineers shall obtain a seal of such design as the
Board shall authorize and direct: Provided, however, That the serial
number of the certificate issued by the Board shall be included in the
design of the seal. Plans and specifications prepared by, or under the
direct supervision of a registered civil engineer shall be stamped with
said seal during the life of the registrant’s certificate, and it shall be
unlawful for any one to stamp or seal any documents with said seal
after the certificate of registrant named thereon has expired or has
been revoked, unless said certificate shall have been renewed or re-
issued.
SECTION 15 EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION

1. Registration shall not be required of the following persons:

a. Officers or enlisted men of the United States and Philippine Armed

Forces, and civilian employees of the Government of the United States
stationed in the Philippines while rendering civil engineering services
for the United States and/or Philippines.

b. Civil engineers or experts called in by the Philippine Government for

consultation, or specific design and construction of fixed structures as
defined under this Act, provided that their practice shall be limited to
such work.
SECTION 15 EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION cont.

2. Any person residing in the Philippines may make plans on

specifications for any of the following:

a. Any building in chartered cities or in towns with building

ordinances, not exceeding the space requirement specified therein,
requiring the services of a civil engineer.

b. Any wooden building enlargement or alteration which is to be used

for farm purposes only and costing not more than ten thousand
pesos.
SECTION 15 EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION cont.

c. Provided, however. That there shall be nothing in this Act that will
prevent any person from constructing his own (wooden or light
material) residential house, utilizing the services of a person or persons
required for the purpose, without the use of a civil engineer, as long as
he does not violate local ordinances of the place where the building is to
be constructed.

3. Nor shall anything in this Act prevent draftsmen, student clerk-or-

work, superintendents, and other employees of those lawfully engaged
in the practice of civil engineering under the provisions of this Act, from
acting under the instruction, control or supervision of their employer.
SECTION 15 EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION cont.

4. Nor shall anything in this Act prevent any person who prior to the
approval of this Act have been lawfully engaged in the practice of
“maestro de obras” to continue as such, provided they shall not
undertake the making of plans supervision for the following classes of
work:

a. Building of concrete whether reinforced or not.

b. Building of more than two stories.
c. Building with frames of structural steel.
d. Building of structures intended for public gathering or assemblies
such as theaters, cinematographs, stadia, churches, or structures of like
nature.
SECTION 15 EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION cont.

5. Nor shall anything in this Act prevent professional architects and

engineers to practice their professions.
SECTION 16 REFUSAL TO ISSUE CERTIFICATE

The Board for Civil Engineers shall not issue a certificate to any person
convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction of any criminal offense
involving moral turpitude, or to any person guilty of immoral or
dishonorable conduct, or to any person guilty of immoral or
dishonorable conduct, or to any person of unsound mind. In the event
of a refusal to issue a certificate to any person, the Board shall give to
the applicant a written statement setting forth its reason for such
action, which statement shall be incorporated in the records of the
Board.
SECTION 17 SUSPENSION AND REVOCATION OF CERTIFICATES

The Board shall have the power, after due notice and hearings to
suspend or revoke the certificate of registration for any cause
mentioned in the preceding section.
SECTION 18 RE-ISSUE AND REPLACEMENT OF CERTIFICATES

The Board may, after the expiration of one year from the date of
certificate of registration is revoked and for reasons it may deem
sufficient, entertain an application for a new certificate of registration
from the registrant concerned. Such application shall be
accomplished in the same form prescribed for examination, but the
Board may, in its discretion, exempt the applicant from taking the
requisite examination.
SECTION 19 TRANSITORY PROVISIONS

As soon as this Act takes effect, any person desiring to practice the
profession of civil engineering shall be required to obtain a certificate
of registration in the manner and under the conditions hereinafter
provided.

All civil engineers duly licensed under the provisions of Act Numbered
Twenty-nine hundred and eighty-five, as amended, at the time this
Act takes effect, shall be automatically registered under the provisions
hereof. Certificates of registration held by such persons in good
standing shall have the same force and effect as though the same
have been issued under the provisions of this Act.
SECTION 19 TRANSITORY PROVISIONS cont.

All graduates in civil engineering from a school, institute, college, or

university recognized by the Government who have passed the civil
service examination for senior civil engineer and have been practicing
or employed in the Government as such during five years are
exempted from taking examination.
 ENFORCEMENT OF
SECTION 20 THE ACT BY OFFICERS
ARTICLE IV: OF THE LAW
ENFORCEMENT OF ACT
REGISTRATION
AND PENAL PROVISIONS SECTION 21
REQUIRED

PENAL
SECTION 22 PROVISIONS
SECTION 20 ENFORCEMENT OF THE ACT BY OFFICERS OF THE LAW

It shall be the duty of all duly constituted law officers of the national,
provincial, city and municipal governments, or any political
subdivisions thereof, to enforce the provisions of this Act and to
prosecute any person violating the same.
SECTION 21 REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Unless exempt from registration, no person shall practice or offer to

practice civil engineering in the Philippines without having obtained
the proper certificate of registration from the Board for Civil
Engineers.*
SECTION 22 PENAL PROVISIONS

Any person who shall practice or offer to practice civil engineering in

the Philippines without being registered in accordance with the
provisions of this Act or any person presenting or attempting to use as
his own the certificate of registration of a registered civil engineer, or
any person who shall give any false or forged evidence of any kind to
the Board, or any person who shall impersonate any registrant civil
engineer of different name or any person who shall attempt to use a
revoked or suspended certificate of registration, or any person who
shall use in connection with his name or otherwise assume, use or
advertise any title or description tending to convey the impression
that he is a civil engineer, without holding a valid certificate of
SECTION 22 PENAL PROVISIONS cont.

registration, or any person who shall violate any of the provision of this
Act, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and shall, upon conviction, be
sentenced to a fine of not less than five hundred pesos nor more than
two thousand pesos, or to suffer imprisonment for a period of not less
than six months not more than one year, or both, in the discretion of
the court.
 PREPARATION OF PLANS
SECTION 23 AND SUPERVISIONS OF
CONSTRUCTION BY
ARTICLE V: REGISTERED CIVIL
ENGINEER
MISCELLANEOUS
PROVISIONS
SECTION 24

RECIPROCITY
SECTION 25 REQUIREMENTS
 ROSTER OF
SECTION 26 CIVIL ENGINEERS

ARTICLE V:
MISCELLANEOUS
SECTION 27 REPEAL

PROVISIONS
CONSTRUCTION
SECTION 28 OF ACT

SECTION 29 EFFECTIVITY
SECTION 23 PREPARATION OF PLANS AND SUPERVISIONS OF
CONSTRUCTION BY REGISTERED CIVIL ENGINEER

It shall be unlawful for any person to order or otherwise cause the

construction, reconstruction, or alteration of any building or structure
intended for public gathering or assembly such as theaters,
cinematographs, stadia, churches or structures of like nature, and any
other engineering structures mentioned in section two of this Act unless
the designs, plans, and specifications of same have been prepared under
the responsible charge of, and signed and sealed by a registered civil
engineer, and unless the construction, reconstruction and/or alteration
thereof are executed under the responsible charge and direct
supervision of a civil engineer. Plans and designs of structures must be
approved as provided by law or ordinance of a city or province or
municipality where the said structure is to be constructed.
SECTION 24

The practice of civil engineering is a professional service, admission to

which must be determined upon individual, personal qualifications.
Hence, no firm, partnership, corporation or association may be
registered or licensed as such for the practice of civil engineering:
Provided, however, That persons properly registered and licensed as
civil engineers may, among themselves or with a person or persons
properly registered and licensed as architects, form, and obtain
registration of, a firm, partnership or association using the term
“Engineers” or “Engineers and Architects,” but, nobody shall be a
member or partner of such firm, partnership or association unless he
is duly licensed civil engineer or architect, and the members who are
SECTION 24 cont.

civil engineers shall only render work and services proper for a civil
engineer, as defined in this Act, and the members who are architects
shall also only render work and services proper for an architect, as
defined in the law regulating the practice of architecture; individual
members of such firms, partnership or association shall be responsible
for their own respective acts.
SECTION 25 RECIPROCITY REQUIREMENTS

No person who is not a citizen of the Philippines at the time he applies

to take the examination shall be allowed to take it unless he can prove in
the manner provided by the Rules of Court that, by specific provision of
law, the country of which he is a citizen, subject, or national either
admits citizens of the Philippines to the practice of the same profession
without restriction or allows them to practice it after an examination on
terms of strict and absolute equality with citizens, subjects, or nationals
of the country concerned, including the unconditional recognition of
degrees issued by institutions of learning duly recognized for the
purpose by the Government of the Philippines: Provided, That if he is not
a citizen of the Philippines, and was admitted to the practice of a
profession in the Philippines after
SECTION 25 RECIPROCITY REQUIREMENTS cont.

December 8, 1941, his active practice in that profession, either in the

Philippines or in the state or country where he was practicing his
profession, shall not have been interrupted for a period of two years or
more prior to July 4, 1946, and that the country or state from which he
comes allows the citizens of the Philippines by specific provision of
law, to practice the same profession without restriction or on terms of
strict and absolute equality with citizens, subjects or nationals of the
country or state concerned.
SECTION 26 ROSTER OF CIVIL ENGINEERS

A roster showing the names and places of business of all registered

civil engineers shall be prepared by the Commissioner of PRC
periodically but at least once a year. Copies of this roster shall be
placed on file with the Secretary of Public Works and
Communications and furnished to all department heads, mayors of all
chartered cities, to the Director of Public Works, to such other
Bureaus, government entities or agencies and municipal and
provincial authorities as may be deemed necessary and to the public
upon request.
SECTION 27 REPEAL

All laws, parts of laws, orders, ordinances, or regulations in conflict

with the provisions hereof; including parts of Act Numbered Twenty-
nine hundred and eighty-five, as amended, as pertains to the practice
of civil engineering, are hereby repealed, except the provisions of Act
Numbered Thirty-one hundred and fifty nine amending Act
Numbered Twenty-nine hundred and eighty-five, pertaining to the
practice of “maestro de obras.”
SECTION 28 CONSTRUCTION OF ACT

If any part or section of this Act shall be declared unconstitutional,

such declarations shall not invalidate the other provisions hereof.

SECTION 29 EFFECTIVITY

This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

RELATED STATUTES
ACT 4211 (EFFECTIVE AUGUST 2, 1935)
Permitting under-aged persons to take the board examination on condition that they
will not practice their profession until they attained the required age.

ACT 545 (EFFECTIVE JUNE 17, 1950)

Regulating the practice of Architecture

ACT 1080 (EFFECTIVE JUNE 15, 1954)

Making bar and board examinations equivalent to 1st grade civil service eligibility
ACT 4566 (EFFECTIVE JUNE 19, 1965)
Regulating constructions

ACT 5181 (EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 8, 1967)

Requiring residence and reciprocity in the exercise of professions by aliens

PD 1350 (PROMULGATED APRIL 7, 1978)

Allowing applicants for citizenship to take board examination pending approval of their
petition
ART. 1414
When money is paid or property delivered for an illegal purpose the contract may be
repudiated by one of the parties before the purpose has been accomplished, or before
any damage has been caused to a third person. In such case, the courts may, if the
public interest will thus be subserved, allow the party repudiating the contract to
recover the money or property.

ART. 1415
Where one of the parties to an illegal contract is incapable of giving consent, the courts
may, if the interest of justice so demands, allow recovery of money or property delivered
by the incapacitated person.

ART. 1416
When the agreement is not illegal per se but is merely prohibited and the prohibition
by the law is designed for the protection of the plaintiff, he may, if public policy is
thereby enhanced, recover what he has paid or delivered.
ART. 1417
When the price of any article or commodity is determined by statue, or by authority of
law, any person paying any amount in excess of the maximum price allowed may
recover such excess.

ART. 1418
When the law fixes, or authorizes the fixing of the maximum number of hours of labor,
and a contract is entered into whereby a laborer undertakes to work longer than the
maximum thus fixed, he may demand additional compensation for service rendered
beyond the time limit.

ART. 1419
When the law sets, or authorizes the setting of a minimum wage for laborers, and a
contract is agreed upon by which a laborer accepts a lower wage, he shall be entitled to
recover the deficiency.
ART. 1420
In case of a divisible contract, if the illegal terms can be separated from the legal ones,
the latter may be enforced.

ART. 1421
The defense of illegality of contracts is not available to third persons whose interests are
not directly affected.

ART. 1422
A contract which is the direct result of a previous illegal contract, is also void and
inexistent.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING
STAY TUNED FOR PART 2

CASICA DELA CRUZ DELA REA DELOS SANTOS RAMIREZ