ENGINEER MARVEX is not just where industry comes to see what is new. It is also where the stakeholders get to sit down with the people setting the rules, ask questions and get clarity on what those rules mean in practice.
That role came into focus as new guidelines and regulations for electrical installations in buildings were discussed at a Town Hall session, giving engineers and industry professionals direct access to regulators and standards experts to raise concerns and clarify requirements.
For Ir. Alyaa Zainal Abidin, Electrical Safety Executive at the Energy Commission, having the exhibition, industry and regulators in one place makes that engagement much easier.
“It’s like a one-stop centre. You can have exhibitions and meetings in the same place. ENGINEER MARVEX is where everybody can meet and network with each other, and meet with regulators or any industry related to them.”
And that access matters. For engineers, understanding the latest requirements is fundamental to designing and delivering safe, compliant projects. But issuing a guideline is only the beginning, industry must also understand how to apply it.
“Guidelines are very important because, as regulators, we want the industry to comply with all the requirements because we want every installation to be safe. The guidelines provide a good safety baseline for every industry to follow and comply with,” Alyaa said.
Michael Laheurte, Standardisation Officer at Schneider Electric and Chair of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), said bringing these conversations into an industry environment also creates a more effective exchange.
“It’s a great opportunity because we have a lot of different stakeholders and different booths in the surroundings. I think it’s a good interactive session organised like this,” he noted,
With technology evolving quickly, he stressed that international standards must ultimately translate into the competencies, training and regulations required on the ground.
“What is important is how the guidelines are promoted and deployed locally, and to ensure that you have the right level of competencies and training programmes, and that international standards are adopted into local regulation and correctly implemented,” he advised.
That is where ENGINEER MARVEX adds another layer of value. Instead of industry reading a new requirement and wondering what it means, the platform creates room for the questions that inevitably follow.