Understand what BOE examination means, why the Certificate of Proficiency is required, how the examination is conducted, and how the system changed after the Boiler Operation Engineer’s Rules, 2011.
Required for persons in charge of large boiler installations.
Conducted by the Board of Examiners formed by the Boiler Department.
The 2011 Rules brought a common structure for all states and UTs.
Includes theory, numerical calculation, drawing and viva assessment.
Under the Boiler Operation Engineer’s Rules, 2011, the person in charge of a boiler or a battery of boilers having more than 1000 square metre heating surface area must possess a Certificate of Proficiency as a Boiler Operation Engineer. This is a mandatory requirement for all boiler owners.
This certificate is issued by the Steam Boiler Department of a State or Union Territory after the candidate passes the examination conducted by them. For this purpose, a Board of Examiners is formed by the Chief Inspector or Director of Steam Boiler of the State or Union Territory. This examination is known as the BOE examination.
Before 2011, this examination was conducted by a few states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra, West Bengal and others under separate rules laid down by those states. The type of examination, syllabus, eligibility criterion and even the type of certificate issued used to be different from state to state.
The frequency of examination was also not regular in many states, except perhaps in the State of Gujarat. In some states, two classes of certificate were issued as Boiler Proficiency Certificate 2nd Class and 1st Class, while some states issued only one certificate as BOE certificate.
After the Boiler Operation Engineer’s Rules, 2011 came into force, all states and union territories are expected to conduct a similar examination and issue the BOE certificate to successful candidates. Many states where the examination was not held for several years have now started forming the Board of Examiners and conducting the examination.
The syllabus, eligibility criterion and number of papers are now broadly the same for every State and Union Territory.
The BOE examination comprises three papers of 100 marks each on Boiler Theory, Numerical Calculations and Engineering Drawing. Once a candidate qualifies in the written papers, the candidate has to appear for a viva test.
Once the certificate is acquired from any state, it is valid in all states of India. However, a candidate can generally apply for the BOE examination only if the state in which the candidate is employed has formed the Board to conduct the examination.
Before 2011, some states accepted applications from candidates of other states if the candidate obtained a No Objection Certificate from the respective State Boiler Department. Now, most states are not accepting out-of-state applications. However, many states have started conducting the examinations and others are also likely to follow.
