A register for engineers was recommended by an ACT government inquiry in 2012, following several high-profile construction incidents such as the 2010 Barton Highway bridge collapse.

Peak body Engineers Australia has recently highlighted concerns about fire safety risks that could impact a "significant" number of buildings in the territory, including aged-care facilities.

"The registration of engineers in the ACT is something we have been pushing for quite a few years now," Engineers Australia ACT general manager Keely Quinn said.

"'Engineer' is not a protected term in Australia. You can't call yourself an architect unless you are trained and registered, but anyone can use the word engineer.

"And this creates issues when it comes to things such as fire safety. You need to know what you are looking at."

In 2012 then-Workplace Safety Minister Simon Corbell agreed to set up such a compulsory registration scheme, with a deadline of June 2014.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said as recently as October 2016 the government was "progressing" the register.

The ACT planning directorate could not pinpoint why it had taken so long to implement the register, although did say there were difficulties in deciding what types of work it should apply to.

A spokeswoman for the directorate said the government was working on a wider set of reforms to increase the accountability of engineers and others in the construction industry.

"The work the government is doing under the building regulatory reforms will establish this broader system," she said.

"It will also integrate the regulation of other building and construction practitioners.

"This is a comprehensive piece of work but will be more effective in preventing major building defects and engineering failures rather than establishing a general register of engineers."

Many engineers favour a registration scheme as a way of demonstrating expertise, as well as an enforcement tool for striking-off those not qualified to practise.

"Because there is no regulator looking over your shoulder, in ten years we've had completely ridiculous passive fire solutions going around," said an ACT engineer who asked not to be named.

"Certifiers should have known enough to see that the solutions used here weren't being used anywhere else in the country."

Queensland is currently the only Australian state with a comprehensive engineers register in place, although Victoria is also moving in this direction.

A spokeswoman for the ACT planning directorate said a registration scheme would establish some thresholds for expertise, but it was not the sole fix to prevent sub-standard work.

"Registering or licensing people is only one component of an effective system for regulating engineering work," she said.

"The types of work that require a licensed or registered person need to be clearly described."

Engineers have also called into question the government's oversight of building certifiers who sign-off on construction plans in the territory.

"Our members have said that the ACT government has in recent times streamlined the process in terms of record keeping, and there's a lot less documentation needed to hand over to the ACT Planning and Land Authority," Ms Quinn said.

"The issue now is the competency of people signing-off on these documents. Are they qualified to sign off on it, or are they signing-off outside the scope of their knowledge and expertise?"

An ACT planning spokeswoman said at least 10 per cent of every building certifier's work was audited by the government every year.

"Additionally, investigations are also carried out when complaints are lodged specifically on the work of a building certifier."

ACT Liberals deputy leader Nicole Lawder echoed engineers' concerns about the building certification process in the territory.

"We have seen many cases over the past twelve months where buildings have not met the safety code. In any even, the government should be upfront about what the risks are and what it is doing about it."