Engineering Council marks 40 years of regulating the UK engineering profession
10/01/2022
The Engineering Council was incorporated by Royal Charter in November 1981 to regulate the engineering profession in the UK and is now marking its 40th year of setting and maintaining standards, ensuring that society continues to have confidence and trust in the engineering profession.
The Engineering Council’s mission as a regulator is to maintain internationally recognised standards of competence and commitment for the engineering profession and to license competent institutions to champion those standards to deliver public benefit.
There are currently over a quarter of a million professionally registered engineers and technicians on the Engineering Council’s Register, all of whom have committed to maintaining and developing their knowledge throughout their careers. The most recent Ipsos MORI Veracity Index shows that engineering is one of the most trusted professions in Britain, along with others such as doctors and nurses.
Alasdair Coates, Engineering Council CEO, said: “The Engineering Council’s vision is to maintain society’s confidence and trust in the engineering profession. Voluntary regulation is important because standards matter. The public has a right to expect engineers, who do so much to shape our world, to be able to demonstrate their competence and behave in an ethical, sustainable way.”
Professional registration is internationally recognised and open to all practising engineers and technicians who can meet the requirements, which are based on competence and commitment rather than academic qualifications. What matters is the standard those seeking professional registration have reached, not the route they took to get there.
Because engineering is not regulated by statute in the UK (with the exception of some safety-critical areas, such as aircraft maintenance, gas fitting and railway signalling), there is no legal restriction on who can call themselves an engineer. But the four professional titles awarded by the Engineering Council: Engineering Technician (EngTech), Incorporated Engineer (IEng), Chartered Engineer (CEng) and Information and Communications Technology Technician (ICTTech), are legally protected and can only be used by individuals who have been assessed against the Engineering Council’s internationally recognised standards. Everyone on that register has also committed to abide by a Code of Conduct and to undertake continuing professional development (CPD), which is monitored.
This maintenance of standards for public benefit is at the core of the Engineering Council’s purpose. In its 40th anniversary year, it plans to:
- Implement the latest version of its standards, revised through a wide-ranging consultation with stakeholders. This is a five-yearly process, which ensures that the standards (including the requirements for professional registration) remain fit for purpose as engineering and the wider world changes.
- Deliver an online tool, RegCheck, to support employers and members of the public.
This is a simple online check to verify whether an individual engineer or technician has a currently active Engineering Council registration. - Launch its ‘Advancing Regulation’ strategy, which was developed in consultation with the profession and sets out its goals and priorities to 2025.
In this 2025 strategy, the organisation details its aspiration to see professional registration move from being seen as a ‘benefit to the registrant’ to being an ‘expectation of the individual’. As the importance of competence becomes increasingly clear in all areas of life, standards matter.
The Engineering Council looks forward to continuing to deliver public benefit by setting and maintaining standards, to ensure an engineering profession with sustainability and ethical principles at its core.
www.engc.org.uk
