The Civil Engineering Profession: History and Process
Civil Engineering focuses on the infrastructure of the world:
Water works, Sewers, Dams, Power Plants, Transmission Towers/Lines,
Railroads, Highways, Bridges, Tunnels, Irrigation Canals, River Navigation, Shipping
Canals, Traffic Control, Mass Transit, Airport Runways, Terminals, Industrial Plant
Buildings, Skyscrapers, etc.
Civil Engineering History
• In the beginning, Civil Engineering included all engineers that did not practice
military engineering; said to have begun in 18th century France
• First “Civil Engineer” was an Englishman, John Smeaton in 1761
• Civil engineers have saved more lives than all the doctors in history through
development of clean water and sanitation systems
Philippine Civil Engineering
• In 1928 a group of civil engineers from the government sector formed the
Philippine Society of Civil Engineers (PSCE) which was the first civil
engineering organization in the Philippines with Engr. Marcial Kasilag as its first
president.
• Engr. Kasilag thereupon received the honor of holding PRC Registration Number
1 for Civil Engineers. He then occupied a high-ranking position in the government
and the early members of PSCE were government engineers.
• On August 2, 1935, Act Number 4211 was enacted – permitting under-aged
persons to take the board exam on condition that they will not practice their
profession until they attained the required age of 21.
• The Philippine Association of Civil Engineers (PACE) was formed from a group
of civil engineers in the private sector with Engr. Enrique Sto. Tomas Cortes as its
first president. The PACE being the most active than the PSCE led to the transfer
of many PSCE members to PACE.
• On June 17, 1950, the Architects (Philippine Institute of Architects) prepared and
lobbied the passing of the first Architect’s law (RA 545) while the Civil Engineers
(Philippine Association of Civil Engineers), the Civil Engineering law, RA 544,
through the efforts of PACE President Alberto Guevarra was also passed the same
year.
• In 1961, The Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP)
was founded.
• In 1971, PACE President Engr. Cesar A. Caliwara, exerted a serious effort in
merging the two organizations. Leaders of PACE and PSCE negotiated, and talked
about the choice of name. Some concerns were raised such as formal accounting
and turnover of assets and liabilities, accreditation of bonafide members and
CIVIL ENGINEERNG LAWS, ETHICS AND CONTRACTS ENGR. JOSEPH MANUEL G. GALAPON
election rules for the first officers which were sooner resolved, paved the way to
the creation of now called Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE)
• On June 1973, President Ferdinand E. Marcos issued Presidential Decree 223,
creating the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) regulating all professions
and accrediting only one organization to represent each profession.
Civil Engineering Processes
• Planning- Find problem areas that need improvement and set the criteria
for the design. Gather input from the public.
• Design- Draw plans to show how the problem is going to be fixed.
• Construction- Follow the plans from the design to build the solution to the
problem
• Operation/Maintenance- Fix small problems before they become big ones.
• Rehabilitation- to fix something back to original condition.
CIVIL ENGINEERNG LAWS, ETHICS AND CONTRACTS ENGR. JOSEPH MANUEL G. GALAPON