Padang (ANTARA) - In order to prevent and guarantee the suitability of a building, every engineering graduate must have an engineering certificate.

"Now law number 11 of 2014 concerning Engineering has come into force, in the field of engineering, but some of our people don't know about it. "In fact, the law says that if there is negligence and non-compliance with standards, then it is considered malpractice," said the Head of the Regional Management of the Indonesian Engineers Association (PII) West Sumatra, Nasirman Chan in Padang, Thursday.

Nasirman added that in order to avoid malpractice in terms of construction, it is necessary to establish regulations followed by existing engineering standards, so that people who work in the engineering field are guaranteed, and the results of their work in the form of buildings are also guaranteed and functionally feasible.

"Many engineers work in the government, but not all of them understand certification, so they need to provide outreach so that they understand that to work in the engineering field, they must have a license or permit to practice work," he continued.

In detail, Nasirman could not say how many agricultural and engineering graduates were working in West Sumatra. However, in the PII community in the West Sumatra region, there are 2,294 registered members, of which only 640 have an Engineer Registration Certificate (STRI).

"Only a few have registration, so many engineering graduates do not yet have STRI, and it is necessary to provide outreach to the public, so that other expertise communities become aware of it, so that in the future they can take certification and licensing, so that they have a permit to practice in the engineering field, ” he explained.

To carry out the socialization of engineering certification, PPI for the West Sumatra region collaborated with Padang State University (UNP), as one of the universities in West Sumatra that produces many engineering graduates.

"Universities are the ones that produce prospective engineers, of course they also provide education to students from the faculties of engineering, agriculture, fisheries, maritime affairs, animal husbandry and others, so that in the future they will be more socialized and known," he said.

He continued that the legal sanctions for engineering graduates who do not have certification and are negligent in their work, in accordance with Law Number 11 of 2014 and Government Regulation (PP) Number 25 of 2019 concerning Engineering, are prison.

"For people who practice in the engineering field but do not have a certificate, the penalty is two years. "Meanwhile, for people who practice in the field of engineering causing harm to other people, the sanction is 10 years," he said.

Meanwhile, UNP Chancellor Krismadinata said that UNP is a campus that has engineering graduates, so that UNP engineering graduates can work professionally according to their competencies, engineering graduates must also have a license.

"In the future, universities must collaborate and synchronize with PPI or other institutions, so that engineering graduates at UNP have engineering licenses," he said.

Krismadinata said that currently UNP has 5,300 students in the engineering field, with an average of at least 1,000 engineering graduates at UNP a year ranging from D3 to S3, while there are around 500 fresh graduates each year.

"Currently UNP is preparing a professional engineering education program, where every person engaged in engineering and engineering must be certified and take part in the engineer certification program," he said.

In the future, the concept of professional engineering education will not only be taught by academic lecturers, but will also involve friends from engineers and PPi.

"So what UNP will do in the future is to get a bachelor's degree in professional engineering education involving various parties related to engineers, so as to produce professional graduates," he said