Background

It can be said that Nepal entered a modern phase in engineering after the political change in the sixties. Engineering activities began to contribute to the development of the country and the engineering profession started to gain respect in the society. The engineering community began to grow in number and was involved in all spheres of national development and engineers were allowed to compete in administrative service also for the post of secretary. Furthermore, the introduction of democracy in 1990 encouraged the growth of engineering colleges in Nepal abd the enrolment of students into these engineering colleges was rising very fast. Hence it was expected that nearlt 3000 engineers would be graduating from local engineering colleges every year with nearlty an equal amount graduating from colleges abroad. So, a need was felt for an organization to manage the engineering profession. Therefore, to make the engineering profession more effective, Nepal Engineering Council was formed under the Nepal Engineering Council Act, 2055 promulgated by His Majesty the King on B.S. 2055/11/27 (11th March, 1999 A.D.). As per the Act, NEC has been vested with the statutory authority for the planning, coordinated development and monitoring of engineering profession and education in the country. NEC Act 2055 gives an outline on the formation of the Council, its tenture and the roles and responsibilities of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and the Registrar.

Nepal Engineering Council Rules, 2057 has also been prepared and approved by His Majesty's Government as per the provision of Clause 37 of the Act. It defines the registration of engineers into three categories as well as the formats for application:
a) General Registered Engineer
b) Professional Engineer
c) non - Nepali Registered Engineer

NEC Rules 2057 also lays down the professional code of conduct for engineers registered with the Council. The first Executive Council was formed on Magh 2056 under the chairmanship of Er. Ram Babu Sharma and completed its tenture on Magh 2060.