The consulting industry in Nepal received new opportunities and challenges from the early seventies when government departments started using private professionals to provide services in small-scale engineering projects. Since then, though the industry is in a continuous path of growth, the parallel support from the concerned quarters of the formulation of appropriate policies, regulations, and environment for healthy development could not take place.
Thus, in order to protect the interest of consulting industry of the country, the Society of Consulting Architectural & Engineering Firms, (SCAEF) Nepal was registered with the then HMG/N on November 20, 1990, under the collective endeavor of the professional consulting firms. The Government has recognized SCAEF as the National Body on August 15, 1996 and has designed the Ministry of Physical Planning and Works as “Line Ministry” to look after the interest of SCAEF and its member firms on February 22, 2005. The Public Works Directives (PWD), January 2002, published by the then HMG/N requires the consulting firms to be registered with the professional societies mandatory for getting short-listed to participate in the proposal submission.