November 2006 ISSUE
what’s in it for me?
Practice Standards Guidelines Outline
Expectations For Professionals
And Provide Additional Advice
When we discuss APEGGA membership with new graduates and other potential members, a question often asked is, “What’s in it for me?”
Though licensure and the enforcement of the EGGP Act make up our primary purpose, APEGGA offers a wide range of benefits and other services to its members.
What’s In It For Me? is a series of articles describing these programs.
The Practice Standards Committee publishes practice standards and guidelines to support APEGGA’s regulatory functions. Examples of such regulatory documents include: Authentication Practice Standard, Practice Standard for Quality Inspection of Geophysical Data, and Practice Standard for the Evaluation of Oil and Gas Reserves for Public Disclosure.
These documents define the standard of care expected of professionals, which may be enforceable through the discipline process or through the courts. However, the committee also develops guidelines that provide additional benefit to members by answering common practice and business questions.
What is an appropriate fee basis? How do I manage my risks? What’s the due diligence process for reviewing and relying on the work of others? What are my responsibilities when acting as an expert witness?
Examples of documents answering questions such as those are Establishing a Consulting Practice, Selecting Consultants, Management of Risk, Consulting Rate Structures and Contracts, Professional Member as Witness, Relying on Work of Others, and Developing Software.
In total, the Practice Standards Committee has developed over 30 practice standards and guidelines on a broad range of topics. These documents are reviewed and revised on a regular basis to ensure that they are complete and up to date.
All practice standards and guidelines are freely available online at www.apegga.org/Members/Publications/guidelines.html. These are searchable documents, and APEGGA also makes them available in hard copy.
Confidential professional practice and ethics advice is also available directly from APEGGA staff at 1-800-661-7020. If a significant number of members ask questions about some aspect of professional practice, then The PEGG column entitled Professional Practice & Ethics Corner will often address it, or a standard or guideline may be developed.