COREN Registered Engineer cheat sheet

COREN registers four cadres - Engineer, Engineering Technologist, Engineering Technician and Engineering Craftsman - each with its own entry qualification, training route and permitted scope of practice.

Standard route to registration as an engineer: an accredited B.Eng/B.Tech/B.Sc(Eng) degree, completed NYSC, prescribed post-qualification experience, and satisfactory completion of COREN's professional assessment.

The practising licence runs for one year and must be current; practising engineering, or using a title that implies registration, without a valid licence is an offence under the enabling Act.

Seal and sign only drawings, calculations, specifications and reports that you personally prepared or directly supervised; countersigning another person's work requires documented technical review.

Rule: decline or refer any assignment that falls outside your demonstrated competence, and record the referral in writing.

Retain design calculations, drawings, specifications, test records and as-built documentation for the project's service life or the applicable statutory retention period.

NSE membership (Nigerian Society of Engineers, founded 1958) is a voluntary professional-society credential; it does not by itself authorise practice - COREN registration and licence do.

Clients and employers verify status through the COREN register of practitioners; a claimed degree or title is not evidence of current registration.

Paramountcy rule: the safety, health and welfare of the public ranks above duty to employer, client or contractor; conflicting instructions are refused and recorded.

Disclose in writing any financial or personal interest in a supplier, contractor, subcontractor or competitor, and withdraw from evaluation or award decisions where impartiality cannot be preserved.

Client and employer information is confidential; disclosure is permitted only with consent, where required by law, or where necessary to avert danger to the public.

Solicitation and advertising must be truthful and dignified - no false claims of qualification, no exaggeration of project responsibility, no disparagement of other practitioners.

Kickbacks, secret commissions and undisclosed gifts from vendors or contractors are prohibited; offered inducements are refused and reported to the employer and, where relevant, to COREN.

Only work you prepared or supervised may be signed or sealed; taking credit for another engineer's design is misconduct.

Duty to report: known unprofessional conduct or a dangerous practice must be reported to the employer and, where public safety is at risk, to the regulator.

Sustainability duty: apply pollution, waste and emission controls, consider lifecycle and environmental impact, and document residual environmental risk.

Enabling law: the Engineers (Registration, etc.) Act, originally Decree No. 55 of 1970, amended by Decree No. 27 of 1992, now Cap E11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

COREN's statutory functions: register and license practitioners, accredit engineering programmes, prescribe standards and codes of conduct, conduct examinations, and discipline erring practitioners.

Governance split: the Council sets policy and approves registrations and sanctions; the Registrar is chief executive, keeps the register and issues practising licences.

Disciplinary route: complaint → screening/investigating panel → disciplinary tribunal; sanctions range from caution and conditions to suspension and withdrawal of registration or licence.

Offences under the Act include practising without registration, employing unregistered persons in engineering positions, and making false entries or statements in relation to the register.

Environmental Impact Assessment Act (originally Decree No. 86 of 1992, now Cap E12 LFN 2004): projects on the mandatory list need EIA approval before construction; category determination is by screening.

Public Procurement Act 2007: federal procurement above prescribed thresholds requires open competitive bidding, due process and Bureau of Public Procurement oversight, with contract award publication.

National Building Code (2006) sets model minimum requirements for building design, materials, construction and supervision; its binding force depends on adoption by the relevant state or local authority.

Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act 2010 requires use of local labour, materials and services in oil and gas projects, with NCDMB oversight and Nigerian content plans.

Critical path = longest path through the network; its activities have zero total float and any delay on them delays project completion, so it fixes the shortest possible duration.

Total float = LS − ES = LF − EF; free float = ES of successor − EF of the activity.

PERT expected duration tE = (O + 4M + P)/6, with variance = ((P − O)/6)²; use for uncertain, non-repetitive activities rather than CPM deterministic durations.

Earned value: CV = EV − AC, SV = EV − PV, CPI = EV/AC, SPI = EV/PV; CPI or SPI below 1.0 signals overrun or delay respectively.

Forecast at completion: EAC ≈ BAC/CPI where current cost performance is expected to continue; EAC = AC + ETC where remaining work is re-estimated bottom-up.

Contract type selection: lump sum/fixed price (design risk largely with contractor), measured/BoQ (remeasurement on quantity change), cost-plus (owner bears cost risk), design-and-build (single-point responsibility).

Hierarchy of control, strongest to weakest: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, then PPE as the last line of defence.

Risk score = likelihood × severity; apply ALARP and record residual risk after controls in the risk register.

Permit-to-work applies to hot work, confined-space entry, excavation, energised electrical work and work at height; a JSA/toolbox talk and gas or isolation checks precede issuance, and the permit is time-limited.

Quality assurance uses the PDCA cycle, an inspection and test plan with defined hold and witness points, and non-conformance reports closed before handover.

Direct stress σ = P/A; strain ε = δ/L; elastic modulus E = σ/ε; Poisson's ratio ν = lateral strain ÷ longitudinal strain.

Elastic bending: σ = My/I, maximum stress at the extreme fibre (y = c); average shear τ = VQ/(It); deflection limits commonly expressed as span/250 or span/360.

Factor of safety = failure (ultimate) stress ÷ allowable working stress; it absorbs uncertainty in loads, material strength, analysis assumptions and failure consequence.

Concrete: strength and durability are controlled mainly by water/cement ratio and compaction; nominal mixes include 1:1.5:3 (high grade) and 1:2:4 (general RC), with characteristic cube strength fcu used in design.

Statics: equilibrium requires ΣF = 0 and ΣM = 0; shear force is zero where bending moment is maximum, and the shear diagram area equals the change in bending moment.

Flow: Q = AV; continuity A₁V₁ = A₂V₂; Bernoulli p/γ + v²/2g + z = constant along a streamline minus losses; Darcy–Weisbach hf = f(L/D)(v²/2g).

Open-channel flow by Manning: V = (1/n)R^(2/3)S^(1/2), where n is roughness, R hydraulic radius (area ÷ wetted perimeter) and S bed slope.

Electrical: V = IR; single-phase power P = VI cos φ; balanced three-phase active power P = √3 V_L I_L cos φ, with reactive power Q = √3 V_L I_L sin φ.

Heat and expansion: conduction Q/t = kAΔT/L; sensible heat Q = mcΔT; thermal movement ΔL = αLΔT - provide expansion joints or flexibility accordingly.