All development designs have to be approved by appropriate approval agencies.  However, anyone can design engineering works and construct buildings and structures including those used by the public as stores, theaters, cinemas, community halls, libraries, schools, night clubs, sewerage disposal systems and highways etc.

To safeguard the public, the Engineering Community has prepared legislation to require that only Registered Engineers should legally be allowed to practise professional engineering in Trinidad and Tobago.  The legislation is yet to be taken to Parliament.

In the interim, the Board of Engineering strongly urges all Employers, Agents, Developers, Entrepreneurs, Designers, and Constructors to hire, employ, contract, or otherwise ensure that only Registered Engineers of Trinidad and Tobago, or individuals acceptable to the Board, are engaged for professional engineering works in Trinidad and Tobago.

The Board of Engineering has been regulating the practice of engineering in Trinidad and Tobago for 20 years. It is responsible for assessing whether an applicant qualifies for registration, keeps a register of all registered members in Trinidad and Tobago, and can take disciplinary action against any registered engineer who breaches the provisions of the Board’s Code of Ethics.

At the end of 2010, the Board had 869 active engineers on its register.