COREN Registered Engineer flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

COREN registration cadres

COREN registers four cadres: Engineer, Engineering Technologist, Engineering Technician and Engineering Craftsman. Each cadre has its own entry qualification, training route and scope of practice under the Engineers (Registration, etc.) Act.

Professional practising licence

Issued by COREN for one year at a time and renewable on application. Practising engineering, or using the title engineer, without a current licence is an offence under the enabling Act.

COREN and NSE compared

COREN is the statutory regulator established by law to register, license and discipline engineering practitioners. The Nigerian Society of Engineers, founded in 1958, is a voluntary professional society whose membership does not itself authorise practice.

Seal and signature rule

An engineer should seal and sign only drawings, calculations and reports personally prepared or directly supervised. Countersigning another engineer's work requires documented technical review and acceptance of professional responsibility for it.

Competence boundary rule

Accept only work within your demonstrated competence. Where a task exceeds your training or experience, obtain competent specialist input or decline the assignment rather than expose the public to risk from inexperience.

Design record retention

Keep design calculations, drawings, specifications, test results and as-built records for the structure's service life or the statutory retention period, so later modification, maintenance and forensic review remain possible.

Verification of registration

Clients and employers should confirm a practitioner's status through the COREN register of engineers, since a claimed title, academic degree or society membership alone does not prove current registration and licensing.

Paramountcy of public safety

The engineer's first obligation is the safety, health and welfare of the public. This duty overrides instructions from an employer or client whenever the two conflict, and any refusal should be documented.

Conflict of interest

An engineer must disclose in writing any financial or personal interest in a contractor, supplier or competitor, and withdraw from evaluation, award or certification decisions where impartiality cannot be preserved.

Client confidentiality duty

Information obtained in an engineering engagement is confidential and must not be disclosed without consent, except where disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect public safety and health.

Kickbacks and secret commissions

Payments, gifts or commissions received from vendors or contractors to influence selection are prohibited. Offered inducements must be refused, recorded, and reported to the employer or the relevant regulator.

Duty to report misconduct

An engineer who knows of unprofessional conduct or a dangerous practice by a colleague must report it to the employer and, where the public is at risk, to COREN for investigation.

Misrepresentation of competence

Claiming qualifications, registrations or experience not actually held, or exaggerating responsibility on past projects, is professional misconduct and may also constitute fraudulent misrepresentation under Nigerian law.

COREN enabling statute

The Engineers (Registration, etc.) Act originated as Decree No. 55 of 1970, was amended by Decree No. 27 of 1992, and is now Cap E11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

COREN Registrar role

The Registrar is the chief executive of COREN, responsible for day-to-day administration, maintaining the register of practitioners and issuing practising licences, and reports to the governing Council.

COREN disciplinary process

Complaints are screened by an investigating panel and, where a prima facie case exists, referred to the disciplinary tribunal, which may caution, impose conditions, suspend or withdraw registration or licence.

Unregistered practice offence

Practising as an engineer, or using a title implying registration, without being registered and licensed is an offence under the Act, and employers may not place such persons in engineering positions.

Environmental Impact Assessment Act

Nigeria's EIA Act, originally Decree No. 86 of 1992 and now Cap E12 LFN 2004, requires projects on the mandatory list to obtain environmental impact assessment approval before construction begins.

Public Procurement Act 2007

The Act requires open competitive bidding and due process for federal procurement above prescribed thresholds, with oversight by the Bureau of Public Procurement and publication of contract awards.

National Building Code 2006

A model code setting minimum requirements for building design, construction, materials and supervision in Nigeria. Its binding legal force depends on adoption by the relevant state or local authority.

Critical path

The longest path through a project network. Activities on it have zero total float, so any delay to them delays project completion, and it fixes the shortest achievable project duration.

Total float formula

Total float equals late start minus early start, or late finish minus early finish. It is the time an activity can slip without delaying the project completion date.

Cost Performance Index

CPI equals Earned Value divided by Actual Cost. A value below 1.0 means work performed has cost more than budgeted; above 1.0 indicates cost efficiency against the budget.

Schedule Performance Index

SPI equals Earned Value divided by Planned Value. A value below 1.0 means the project is behind schedule; above 1.0 means it is ahead of the planned progress.

Hierarchy of control

Risk controls ranked from most to least effective: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and finally personal protective equipment as the last line of defence.

Permit to work

A formal written authorisation for high-risk work such as hot work, confined-space entry, excavation or energised electrical work, issued after hazard assessment and specifying controls, isolations and validity period.

Axial stress formula

Direct normal stress equals applied axial load divided by cross-sectional area: sigma = P/A. Strain is deformation divided by original length, and elastic modulus equals stress divided by strain.

Bending stress formula

For elastic bending, stress equals bending moment times distance from the neutral axis divided by second moment of area: sigma = My/I. Maximum stress occurs at the extreme fibre.

Factor of safety

Factor of safety equals failure or ultimate stress divided by allowable working stress. It covers uncertainty in loads, material properties, analysis assumptions and the consequence of failure.

Manning's equation

Open-channel velocity equals one divided by Manning's roughness coefficient, multiplied by hydraulic radius to the power two-thirds, multiplied by bed slope to the power one-half.

Bernoulli equation

For steady incompressible flow along a streamline, pressure head plus velocity head plus elevation head is constant, less losses: p/gamma + v squared over 2g + z equals a constant.

Three-phase power formula

For a balanced three-phase supply, active power equals root three times line voltage times line current times power factor: P = sqrt3 times V_L times I_L times cos(phi).