Engineering experience

One of the requirements of the Constitution is that a Member shall have had at least four years of electrical engineering experience. A proper interpretation of this clause is rendered difficult in many cases due to the vague manner in which an applicant´s record is prepared. There may be for instance, no indication as to whether he actually did the work, or whether he was associated with some other person. It may appear that he simply ordered machinery of a specified capacity which was designed, manufactured and installed by the engineers of the company to which the contract was awarded. A clearer view of the conditions may possibly be obtained by considering the qualifications of an architect who has been retained to build an ordinary dwelling house. His client may supply him with certain necessary essential details as to cost, material, and location. He may also indicate the number of rooms, their general arrangement, his choice of heating and lighting systems. He may be sufficiently skilled as a draftsman to prepare a satisfactory plan of the house. The architect would then embody all these suggestions in the working plans, and would prepare the necessary specifications, so that the builders could make their tenders for the structure. In a case of this kind, while certain general ideas might be supplied by the owner and the builder, there could be no question as to the functions of the architect. Even if all the details had been handed over to his office assistants, he was the responsible man, and his prior experience had been such that he could personally have done the work.