Chartered Engineer (UK)

Election Requirements

To become chartered, the Engineering Council require engineers meet requirements set out in The UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence and Commitment (UK-SPEC) which broadly fall into two categories, academic qualification and initial professional development (IPD).

Academic Qualifications

The UK-SPEC denotes the following academic qualification requirements (for the 'traditional' pathway):

• An accredited Bachelor's degree with honours in engineering or technology, plus either an appropriate Master's degree or engineering doctorate accredited by a Licensee, or appropriate further learning to Masters level
• An accredited integrated Master of Engineering (MEng) degree
• An accredited Bachelors degree with honours in engineering or technology started before September 1999
• Equivalent qualifications or apprenticeships accredited or approved by a Licensee, or at an equivalent level in a relevant national or international qualifications framework

Initial Professional Development

Initial Professional Development (IPD) is acquired through work place learning. The UK-SPEC splits IPD into five key competencies:

Competency A. Knowledge and understanding
Chartered Engineers shall use a combination of general and specialist engineering knowledge and understanding to optimise the application of advanced and complex systems.

Competency B. Design, development and solving engineering problems
Chartered Engineers shall apply appropriate theoretical and practical methods to the analysis and solution of engineering problems.

Competency C. Responsibility, management and leadership
Chartered Engineers shall demonstrate technical and commercial leadership.

Competency D. Communication and interpersonal skills
Chartered Engineers shall demonstrate effective communication and interpersonal skills.

Competency E. Personal and professional commitment
Chartered Engineers shall demonstrate a personal commitment to professional standards, recognising obligations to society, the profession and the environment.

Requirements specific to Institutions

The Engineering Council do not directly register Chartered Engineers. This task is delegated to Professional Engineering Institutions (PEIs). In addition to the key competencies set in the UK-SPEC, the PEI may have additional requirements for election to membership. For example, the Nuclear Institute (NI) requires demonstration of the key competencies, but also of the Nuclear Delta. According to the NI, the nuclear delta differentiates nuclear professionals from professionals in other fields and institutions. The Nuclear Delta® is defined by three core elements, which capture what is unique, special and different about the nuclear industry.

• Nuclear Safety Culture
• Nuclear Security Culture
• Nuclear Technology & Safety

Maintenance Requirements

The Engineering Council requires demonstration of commitment and Continued Professional Development (CPD) for on-going registration as a chartered engineer. The Engineering Council sets out basic requirements and similar to IPD, CPD may be further enhanced by individual PEIs. The general requirements are: Take ownership of their learning and development needs, and develop a plan to indicate how they might meet these, in discussion with their employer, as appropriate.

• Undertake a variety of development activities, both in accordance with this plan and in response to other opportunities which may arise.
• Record their CPD activities.
• Reflect upon what they have learned or achieved through their CPD activities and record these reflections.
• Evaluate their CPD activities against any objectives which they have set and record this evaluation.
• Review their learning and development plan regularly following reflection and assessment of future needs.
• Support the learning and development of others through activities such as mentoring, and sharing professional expertise and knowledge.

Designatory lettering

Chartered Engineers are entitled to use the post-nominals, CEng, after names as a means of denoting their status with the Engineering Council. This is written after honours, decorations and academic/university, but before letters denoting membership of professional engineering institutions. When a Chartered Engineer has more than one institution membership conferring designatory letters, the institution through which the holder is registered as a Chartered Engineer appears immediately after CEng, with other memberships following in order of the institution's foundation dates.

International equivalence

The level of competence required for registration as a Chartered Engineer in the U.K. is comparable to many continental European countries that require master's-level education for registration as a professional Engineer. The Washington Accord, signed by the Engineering Council in 1989, recognises "substantial equivalence" between the academic requirements for registration between signatories, meaning that foreign qualifications recognised by their local signatory body are accepted for Chartered Engineers, and UK qualifications can be used in applying for similar international statuses. Recognition under the Washington Accord is outcome-based, not based on the length of courses.

Chartered Engineers are entitled to register through the European Federation of National Engineering Associations as a European Engineer and use the pre-nominal of EUR ING.

Bodies qualified to register Chartered Engineers

The body that maintains the UK's register of Chartered Engineers is the Engineering Council. Authority to register Chartered Engineers is delegated to licensed Professional Engineering Institutions (PEIs):

• Institute of Acoustics
• Royal Aeronautical Society
• Institution of Agricultural Engineers
• British Computer Society
• Chartered Association of Building Engineers
• Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers
• Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors
• Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation
• Institute of Cast Metals Engineers
• Institution of Chemical Engineers
• Institution of Civil Engineers
• Energy Institute
• Institution of Engineering and Technology
• Institution of Engineering Designers
• Institute of Explosive Engineers (IExpE)
• Institution of Fire Engineers
• Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers
• Institute of Healthcare Engineering and Estate Management
• Institute of Highway Engineers
• Institution of Lighting Professionals
• Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology
• Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining
• Institute of Measurement and Control
• Institution of Mechanical Engineers
• Royal Institution of Naval Architects
• British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing
• Institution of Nuclear Engineers
• Society of Operations Engineers
• Institute of Physics
• Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine
• Institution of Railway Signal Engineers
• Institution of Royal Engineers
• The Safety and Reliability Society
• Institution of Structural Engineers
• Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management
• Institution of Water Officers
• The Welding Institute
• Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES)
• (UK chapter of) International Council on Systems Engineering
• The Permanent Way Institution (PWI)

Some of these institutions also register Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians. There are other Engineering Council UK licensed member institutions that register Incorporated Engineers and Engineering Technicians, but do not register Chartered Engineers. Incorporated Engineer is roughly equivalent to North American Professional Engineer designations and Chartered Engineer (CEng) is set at a higher level.