How To Become A Chartered Professional Engineer In New Zealand

To become a Chartered Professional Engineer ( CPEng NZ ) in New Zealand, candidates need to fulfill the globally benchmarked educational standard. Such a required educational standard is a Washington Accord-accredited qualification or equivalent level of knowledge.

If a candidate does not have a qualification, a combination of qualifications, or international registration that Engineering New Zealand (The assessor) recognizes, he/she can meet the required educational standard if he/she has gained equivalent knowledge.

How To Get CPEng (Chartered Professional Engineer) NZ?

If an aspirant’s dream is to flourish in his/her engineering career in New Zealand as a CPEng, he/she must know about the Knowledge Assessment. To pursue such a dream one must complete the Engineering New Zealand Knowledge Assessment. Moreover, aspiring candidates must demonstrate they have a level of technical knowledge and comprehension gained through their work and learning that is equivalent to Washington Accord accredited qualification. They are required to exhibit they can deal with complicated engineering problems and accomplish complex engineering activities.

NOTE: If candidates possess the Washington Accord accredited qualification, they have to prepare a KA01 report otherwise a KA02 report. Thus if one’s knowledge assessment is successful, one can complete a chartered assessment for a Chartered Professional Engineer.

What Is The Procedure Of Applying To Be A Chartered Professional Engineer In New Zealand?

To apply to become a CPEng, aspiring candidates must go through the different stages directed by the authoritative body, Engineering NZ. The directed stages are:

  1. Eligibility
  2. Preparation
  3. Apply Online
  4. Validation
  5. Evaluation
  6. Decision

Stage 1: Eligibility – To become eligible to apply for CPEng, one must have a Washington Accord Accredited Qualification {an accredited 4 years of Bachelor of Engineering (honors)}  or to be able to equivalent level of knowledge.

Stage 2: Preparation – Throughout their engineering career, candidates must garner enough experience to be ready to complete the knowledge assessment. To fulfill the minimum standard for registration, they are required to show that they are able to practice worthily in their practice area to the standard of a proper professional engineer.

Stage 3: Apply Online – Aspirants must apply for knowledge assessment when Engineering NZ carries out the chartered assessment within definite periods.

Stage 4: Validation – Once the application is complete, submit it to the Engineering NZ team for validation. One of the competent assessment advisors evaluates the submitted application from scratch to end. The advisor aims to give feedback within 10 working days. They will let the candidate know if he/she needs to make any changes before the application is sent to the assessment team.

Stage 5: Evaluation – When the applicants’ application is finalized, an assessment panel will be assigned to them. The assessment panel assesses the application over 8 to 10 weeks and may contact them for additional information.

Stage 6: Decision –  The assessment panel lets the candidates know the result of their application through email. If successful, their next step is to complete the chartered assessment for CPEng.

Before Starting Take The Right Step:-

  • Make sure the work and CPD records are up to date.
  • Familiarize oneself with the assessment criteria.
  • Familiarize oneself with complex engineering problems as one needs to demonstrate the ability to solve complex engineering problems.
  •  Discuss with candidates who have been through the process before.
  • Identify and choose the engineering discipline and field that one would like to apply for.

Key Points To Remember While Preparing Cpeng Report For Engineering NZ

  • Candidates must illustrate three to four engineering projects or activities that they have gone through, which display their talent to apply their engineering knowledge to solve complex engineering problems.
  • They have to produce actual samples of their work; analyses, calculations, or reports that they have personally undertaken to substantiate their work episodes.
  • They need to explain the activities where they had to apply a high level of engineering knowledge, for instance, the analyses they have done, and the work they have accomplished in scoping a problem and then developing a definite solution.
  • They must write the documents using the first person ‘I’ or ‘me’ instead of ‘we’ or ‘us’. It can help the assessor assess their personal contribution.

How To Demonstrate One’s Equivalent Knowledge?

Candidates are required to demonstrate their equivalent knowledge in eight different areas, which are known as elements. The elements are based on the knowledge profile expected of a graduate of Washington Accord-accredited qualification. They define each element together with the performance indicators that Engineering NZ is looking for. The eight elements should be based on the following:

  1. Natural Sciences Knowledge applicable to the discipline
  2. Mathematics, numerical analyses, and statistics knowledge applicable to the discipline
  3. Engineering fundamental knowledge in the engineering discipline
  4. Engineering specialist knowledge
  5. Design process knowledge in a practice area
  6. Engineers practice knowledge in the relevant discipline
  7. Engineering society knowledge in engineering practice in the discipline
  8. Research-based knowledge in the research literature of the discipline
Chartered Engineer Duties In New Zealand
  • Chartered professional engineers must ensure that engineers’ knowledge and abilities are kept up-to-date.
  • They undertake all the engineering activities in the utmost careful and competent manner.
  • They only undertake the activities that are under the engineers’ abilities.
  • They have to show effective interpersonal skills in communicating technical matters.
  • They use the confidential information of the clients and employers carefully for the purpose only and do not disclose it unless the disclosure is permitted by the rule.
Chartered Engineer Salary In New Zealand 

Chartered Professional Engineers get handsome salaries in New Zealand. The annual average salary of a chartered professional engineer in New Zealand ranges from $90,000 to $1,55,000. Their salary varies according to their job title (senior civil engineer, structural engineer, senior structural engineer, technical director, and many more), and work experiences.