Is it illegal for a contractor to arrange the PE for my works?
No. The Professional Engineers Act lets a builder supply engineering services for the building works it undertakes, provided the services are actually provided by a registered PE with a practising certificate or a licensed practice. The Building Control Act also allows the builder to appoint the Qualified Person if the developer has not. The question is not legality but incentives: who the engineer reports to, who pays, and whose interest prevails when the engineer's findings would cost the contractor money.
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?
- What is the difference between a PE and a Qualified Person (QP)?
- Can the same PE design and supervise my works?
- Can a PE give a contractor a commission for referring work?
- Who does the PE owe duties to if the contractor pays the fee?
- What happens if my QP stops acting halfway through the works?