For Brit Readers : Do you get fed up when a grease monkey is called Engineer?

Because the customer wants repair or maintenance services performed. Not engineering. Trust me, there are some engineers out there that you don't want trying to fix things.

Quite often, building maintanence personnel are refereed to as "stationary engineers". Particularly if they are of the HVAC persuasion.

In usa a "professional engineer" is one licenced by the state, after being tested to be "responsible for life and property of the public" and any irresponsibility is closely followed by legal and financial suits, loss of professional licence, and usually carreer loss... after they take your house and personal assets...

A professional engineer knows where his area of expertise is, and what he can competently sign for, and if he's asked to sign off on a project that includes other areas of expertice, he knows or will find other professional engineers with expertise in those areas to sign off on those other areas.... A professional engineer, when he signs off on a project takes "professional responsibility" for the safety of the design to the "fullest extent of everything he has or ever will own" .. If he signs off on a building, or a bridge, or an overhead high tension electrical distribution system, or the design of a carnival ride, an airplane, truck or public conveyance.... "NOBODY IS GOING TO KILLED, DIE, OR BE HARMED DUE TO THE ADEQUACY OR INADEQUACY OF THE DESIGN".... It's not just government, or civil, it is "public safety" .... There may be many various engineers working on a project, under the review and approval of a Professional Engineer. Most insurance companies won't insure a company for product liability, with out the review and signature and stamp of approval by a licenced professional engineer..... Best Regards

I think the licence to operate the steam boiler in a building is a "stationary engineer" licence - differentiated from people who operate boilers that are not stationary and move on tracks.

-- bud--

John: Posting news is great. Posting the same article over 20x's is just plain nuts! Get a life. Frank

I heard Texas restricts the use of the word "Engineer" to registered professional engineers only. There may be similar requirements in Canada.

You need a degree in a Engineering Discipline (electrical, mechanical, civil, chemical, etc.) from a ABET acredited school. To advertise or provide engineering services, you must be , or work for a Registered Professional Engineer (PE), in the state where the work is to be performed.

The garbage men in some California cities call themselves Sanitary Engineers, and they got the municipalities to change their job title. My garbage is hauled away by a "engineer".

Engineering Boffin wrote: :: I believe that the title of Engineer should be protected. A :: 'qualification', or 'experience' does not make you an engineer. The :: title should only be awarded to those who have demonstrated :: competancies in their field against a recognised benchmark. Only then :: will the ambiguity be resolved. Although this is somewhat addressed :: in the UK by the title of 'Chartered Engineer', few people aim for :: this title as it only holds weight in certain circles. :: :: Best regards, Alan. (Working towards Chartered Engineer - view my :: profile)

Whilst I agree that specific titles such as Chartered Engineer, EurIng and MIEE should be protected and given appropriate status in society and pay in employment, I disagree that the title Engineer as generally used should, or even could, retrospectively be protected. It is a very old word, dating back to the time when all machines, inventions, contrivances, etc. were known as engines, e.g. beer engine= beer pump, difference engine= mechanical calculator and, historically, refers to both the people with the ingenuity involved in designing them, and the people responsible for operating and maintaining them. So, yes, even though I would prefer to call them Mechanics, it can even include grease-monkeys!

There are more modern and precise titles which employers can use, but then there is still great confusion. For example, depending on the employer, job, and industry, someone like me with an old IEE-accredited HND in Electrical & Electronic Engineering, could well be called almost anything, including Technical Officer, Instrument Mechanic, Engineering Technician, Electronics Technician or Technician-Engineer or Engineer, Electrician, and Service Engineer. In any of these situations, the employer would be aware of my qualifications, capabilities and limitations, and I would in no way be trying to pass myself off as a holder of any of the protected titles. Martin.