SYSTEM’S FORMAL BASIS

Designing, implementing and operating OE’s Course Accreditation System is based on two documents:

a) The Statute approved by decree-law 119/92, of 30^th June, published in Diário da República no. 148 I-A Series of the same date,

b) Membership and Qualification Regulations, including Annexed Rules, approved in a Meeting of Representatives Council on 29^th March 1993 and whose amendments were approved by the Meeting of Representatives Council on 20^th March 1999.

The Course Accreditation System is justified in article 7 of the Statute:

“1 – Applicants to membership in OE must have a engineering licentiate degree, or its legal equivalence, completed a training period and passed an admission exam.

2 – As for the admission exams stated above, OE must:

a) Define the conditions by which they are periodically held;

b) Define objective criteria for exemption to the admission exam that are periodically reviewed and based on the course’s curricula, on the means of teaching and on the evaluation methods (article 1, point 3 of the Membership and Qualification Regulations);

3 – Full members are registered under the specialisation recognised by OE.”

The Membership and Qualification Regulations also state the following (article 1):

“1 – Under the Statute’s terms, membership applicants must have an engineering licentiate degree, or its legal equivalence, completed a training period and passed an admission exam.

2 – Applicants who have completed courses accredited by OE on the course completion date are exempt from admission exams.

3 – Accreditation processes and admission exams are subject to the rules annexed to these regulations. Approval of academic qualifications by either of the two processes is strictly equivalent for admission purposes.

4 – Full membership is usually awarded to members in the training period, with a choice of formal internship or a curricular internship, in compliance with the rules annexed to these regulations.”