Time of Changes

It is with a great pleasure that, as Chairman of OET (Portuguese Order of Technical Engineers), a professional body with more than 160 years of existence representing more than 25,000 members in 16 different specialties, I accept the invitation to write this chronicle for your acclaimed publication.

The OET has been working actively on the legislation that regulates the activity of Engineering and Architecture in Portugal.

Some of this legislation has already been published and is already being applied, and we think that, above all, it protects the consumer interests in engineering services and includes all of Engineering and Architecture professional: Technicians, Engineers and Architects and non-graduate technical professionals.

There is other legislation that is still being reviewed, like the changes to the Portuguese Law 31/2009, of 3th July, and the Ordinances 1379/2009, of 30th October and 16/2004, of 10th January, as well the Statutes of the OET.

Our Order has always faced the changes with a constructive spirit and has fought for the interests of Technical Engineers not to compromise the citizen’s interests – they need our services daily, both as individuals and as business organizations.

The OET does not accept the State to be prisoner of the corporate interests, including professional associations. The National interest can never be subjugated to individuals and corporate interests. We know how difficult it is for some people to accept that the Orders do not exist to protect individual interests. The Orders are not Trade Unions either.The professional associations are created as associations of public law, with powers delegated by the State and the regulatory function is its most noble duty.

Some Orders bring to their younger members and to members of other professional Orders serious problems, assuming unpatriotic postures and it sadden us. We are talking about the Technical Engineers who work in some countries of the CPLP and who face difficulties to do their job, just because someone think it’s possible to limit their work through illegitimate agreement and protocols.

And this kind of situation only happens due to lack of information, as these limitations have not been accepted in Portugal for many years.

We are confident that those barriers will fall, as they did in Portugal, in some way, by the action of the Troika. And that’s good news for Portuguese companies and professionals in engineering and architecture.

The country, will never be the same, after the Troika as some protectionist measures have ended.

During these 160 years of existence, the Technical Engineers, being responsible citizens, always have and will continue to put their personal interests behind the country’s interests, without neglecting the quality and reliability of the Portuguese engineering and architecture.