Can a PE give a contractor a commission for referring work?
The PE Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics prohibits a PE from offering any commission or payment for the introduction of professional employment, and from canvassing or soliciting professional employment. It also prohibits a PE from accepting trade commissions, discounts or allowances connected with the work, and from accepting payment from anyone other than the client without the client's knowledge and approval. Owners can ask for a written confirmation that no such arrangements exist.
From the RRD Field Guide, checked against the sources cited in PE Endorsement in Singapore: What It Legally Means and Why Engineer Independence Matters. General information, not advice for your project.
The fuller picture
A PE endorsement is a statutory signature: only a Professional Engineer registered with the PEB and holding a practising certificate in force may sign plans or certificates that the law requires a PE to sign, and documents signed otherwise are invalid. The endorsing PE owes duties to the client, the regulator and the public, which is why owners are better served appointing and paying the engineer directly.
More questions on this topic
- What does it mean when drawings are 'PE-endorsed'?
- How do I check that an engineer is a real, practising PE?
- Is it illegal for a contractor to arrange the PE for my works?
- What is the difference between a PE and a Qualified Person (QP)?
- Can the same PE design and supervise my works?
- Who does the PE owe duties to if the contractor pays the fee?
- What happens if my QP stops acting halfway through the works?