The advent of computer technology has had a significant effect on the way civil and structural engineers operate. Although the uptake of computing techniques was initially slow and confined to number-crunching applications, the situation has changed tremendously in the recent past with computers being applied to several facts of civil and structural engineering. The result is a growing dependence on computers for a wide range of civil and structural engineering functions such as the analysis of complex structures, design, and drafting. This paper addresses the growing disquiet within the civil and structural engineering community over the reliability of computer-aided design systems and the absence of an effective regulatory framework for their use. It examines the limited regulatory structures available and questions the validity of vendor disclaimers which accompany most commercial software. The paper argues for the development of a formal regulatory framework for the use of computer-aided design systems and outlines some of the issues that need to be addressed.

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