Im trying to start up a Performance shop but Im hearing that I need a Mechanic Certification to work on other people's cars. Is this true and is there a way around it? Is there a simple test I can take or something. Or could a Mechanical Engineering Degree be enough. Any advice would be helpful.

There is no way around it,
Turn the scenario around, would you let a mechanic design new brakes for your car?

I think that you should be able to figure this one out yourself especially "if you really have" a Mechanical Engineering Degree...

Unless you want to be a fly by night operation with no credibility.

Ghislain.

Im working on my mechanical engineering degree. and yes I WOULD let a mechanic design new brakes for my car if he had done it before. So is it illegal to work on cars without a licence?
PS. I have plenty of credibility, just not any official schooling for automotive technician

Your shop needs to employ one person with a licence. That is it. There are other regulations the shop needs to fulfil also.

If anything was to happen to one of the cars you worked on, the sh!t would hit the fan since you are not a licensed mechanic. That said, there are lots of places working on cars without a licensed tech. I wouldn't let them work on my car though. Would you let your neighbor work on your teeth if he had some dental tools?

Let me just start with the fact that I go to the University of Waterloo for Mechanical Engineering. I am half way through my third year.

If you have any concept what so ever of what you are getting into by becoming a Professional Engineer you would understand that a mechanic is not qualified to design brakes. They may choose from a selection of certified brake components but you require advanced knowledge of materials and engineering processes to design brakes. When a P. Eng. stamps something they are taking responsibility for that design and any failures that ensue. Engineers are held to a srict code of ethics and work under very strict laws, they pay dues and have very expensive insurance.

There are very important reasons why people are required to have specific licenses and training. As a pre eng grad you should have a concept of what this means.

I strongly suggest that you go to www.peo.on.ca and do a lot of reading.

What University do you go to? My first year included a very good introductory course to engineering ethics and laws. They would apply very well in this situation. If you do not understand the reasoning and facts behind them, perhaps you should not be in this field. Dodgy ethics will not be tolerated in any P Eng and would likely result in litigation and revocation of your license, if you even make it through the EIT period.

Simply put Nicky, you do not need to but it would kind of make the business a little more credible. Especially if you have to justify your shop's work in front of a judge...

Again, a "real" MechEng student should be able to figure this one out. Ask one of your prof, he'll give you a clean unbais answer.

Ghislain.

It's the first thing I used to ask small shops before I started doing all my own work.

He or she could be a great mechanic without a license, but how am I supposed to know that? I need to see the license on the wall to make me feel a little better.

I'm an Optician and I've got a huge license on the wall showing I'm licensed. Would you trust anyone else with your eyes that has not gone through the 4 year education I've had? It would be like an Ophthalmologist trying to fit a pair of bifocals on me and me trying to do cataract surgery on him. It just doesn't work.

thanks to all of you for the tips and I have found someone to work for me that is licenced. I specifically want to thank Kala for reinforcing my opinion of most University students, that being they think they know everything and that everyone else is an idiot. Kala, people like you are the exact reason I chose NOT to go to university, I could have but I am attending Durham College now. I have a much better understanding of the principles necessary to design components than the other university eng students I know.

Going from the fact that you are 18 that would put you in your first semester of college, and your friends at University are also likely in their first year.

University engineering gives you a whole lot of theory in the first two and a half years of school, it is during the last year and a half or so that you start to learn to apply the theories. College education does application right off the bat. Of course a college student would have a better concept of design, in the first year.

I do not believe that everyone is an idiot and no where in my previous post did I say that I know everything. My best mentor ever had no college education at all, he was an amazing mechanical designer, he had a grandfathered degree in this field. He knew how to use his tables and design mechanical systems quickly and reliably. But he didn't know the theory behind the work, there in lies the difference between college and University. The majority of the work out there is designed by techs and the engineer just checks it over and stamps it. My last seven work terms I’ve worked as a designer and my first go to was always a tech.

But this is not a peeing contest between University and College students.

I went off the information that was given, you made yourself out to be a Mechanical Engineering student (vs. a Mech Eng Technician or Technologist). Opening an illegitimate shop could have ruined any future career you would have had as a P Eng.

I'm glad that you found someone that will work for you and allow you to run a legitimate business. Best of luck in your endeavors.