Initial Professional Development

Initial Professional Development enables engineers to demonstrate that they have the necessary competence and commitment to become registered with the Engineers Registration Board of Saint Lucia. The Engineers Registration Board has defined requirements for acceptable academic qualifications and work experience. Download a printable copy here.

How do I get my IPD?

Generally, there are three routes to complete your IPD

• Employer Training Scheme
• Individually Managed
• Retrospectively Collated

Typically in Saint Lucia, engineers take the Individually Managed and Retrospectively Collated Route.

Individually Managed Route 

If you are taking the Individually Managed Route, you will be responsible for managing your own training. APESL recommends that you take this route if you are just beginning your engineering career and that you do this with the assistance of a personal mentor. A mentor should preferably be a Registered Professional Engineer or an individual of equivalent standing. They will normally be an experienced engineer in your workplace and can provide guidance, advice and training. If you are in a situation where a mentor is not available within your organisation, APESL will be able to offer you guidance.

You should keep records of your training and experience to demonstrate that you have obtained acceptable work experience as required by the Engineers Registration Board. The ERB has a suggested format which can be downloaded here. You should keep these updated on a quarterly basis. APESL recommends the use of a personal development diary which you should update on a weekly basis. This diary should be used to include all IPD related activities making it easier to complete your Engineering Experience Record.

You should have regular meetings with your personal mentor to review your progress. You should also maintain your own record of continuing professional development (CPD). Further information on CPD can be found here. You should keep a professional development action plan of your training objectives for subsequent periods of your training.

Retrospectively Collated Route

This route is usually taken by engineers who have at least four years of work experience and who will not have time to build up the documentation which would be developed under the Individually Managed Route.  In the Retrospectively Collated Route, the projects you have undertaken in the preceding four years of employment should be clearly identified.