Registered Structural Engineer (RSE) in Hong Kong

A Registered Structural Engineer (RSE) is an engineer whose name is on the structural engineers’ register kept by the Building Authority under the Buildings Ordinance. You cannot become one by degree or title alone: the law requires prescribed qualifications and a recommendation from a statutory committee before a name goes on the register. If you are about to appoint an RSE, the only check that counts is the Buildings Department (BD) register. Registration as a professional engineer, or a chartered title, is not the same thing.

What the register is

BD keeps several registers of building professionals and contractors. The ones you are most likely to meet are the Authorized Person (AP), Registered Structural Engineer (RSE), Registered Geotechnical Engineer (RGE) and Registered Inspector (RI) registers for professionals, and the registered general building contractor and registered minor works contractor registers for contractors. Each is a separate list. Being on one does not put a person on another.

BD’s registration guide for building professionals frames the RSE around structural work: applicants must show sufficient knowledge of the Buildings Ordinance, its regulations and the codes of practice that apply to the design and supervision of structural works. BD publishes those codes online, for example the Code of Practice for Foundations 2017 (2024 Edition) and the Code of Practice for Site Supervision 2009.

How an engineer gets on the RSE register

BD’s registration guide and its guidance notes set out the route:

1. Professional registration first. The applicant must be a Registered Professional Engineer (RPE) in the structural discipline, or an RPE in the civil discipline with practical experience in structural engineering that the Registration Committee approves.
2. Hong Kong experience. Within the 3 years before the application, the applicant needs practical experience for a continuous period of 1 year gained in Hong Kong, of a kind the Registration Committee considers appropriate.
3. Assessment by the Registration Committee. The Structural Engineers Registration Committee has a statutory function to assist the Building Authority in considering applications. This is where the applicant’s knowledge of the ordinance, regulations and codes is tested. BD publishes guidance notes for RSE applicants on this stage.
4. Recommendation. Section 3(7) of the Buildings Ordinance says a person must not be included in the structural engineers’ register unless they have the prescribed qualifications and the Registration Committee recommends them.
5. A fixed registration period. BD’s registration FAQ says new registration, retention and restoration for APs, RSEs, RGEs and RIs each run for 5 years.

RSE and the other BD registers compared

Where you will meet an RSE

• Building works with a structural side. Ask your Authorized Person which professionals the works need, and get the RSE’s name in writing. See professionals the Buildings Ordinance requires.
• Minor works. BD names the prescribed building professionals and prescribed registered contractors for each item on its prescribed professionals and contractors pages. Our Minor Works Control System guide explains the system.
• Window inspections. Under the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme, BD lists the RSE among the registered people who can act as Qualified Person for the inspection and for supervising any repair.

How to check an RSE

1. Ask for the engineer’s full name as it appears on the register.
2. Search it on BD’s registers search and pick the structural engineers’ register. Our guide to searching BD registers walks through it.
3. Confirm the entry is current on the day you appoint, since registration runs in 5-year periods.
4. For window work, also check the qualified persons search. BD issues Qualified Person cards with the holder’s name, photo and expiry date.

Common mistakes

• Treating “registered professional engineer” or a chartered title as if it were RSE registration. RPE is the starting point, not the BD entry.
• Assuming one registration covers another. AP, RSE, RGE and RI are separate registers, so check the one for the role you are appointing.
• Checking the firm instead of the person. Search the named engineer who will sign.
• Relying on an old screenshot. Registration periods end, so search again before you appoint.

Practices in our architecture directory sometimes name the engineers they work with. We print that only when the firm publishes it, and it is not a BD record. The register is.