The short version:

Why we are here

The Joint Council of Engineering Institutions was formed in 1964 to agree common standards for Professional Engineers.  Development of this task has been continuous through establishment of the Engineers Registration Board (originally for Incorporated Engineers), creation of the Engineering Council (in response to the Finniston Report of 1980), reform of the Engineering Council in 1996, and creation of the Engineering Council UK in 2002.

The long version:

History

Since the dawn of civilisation, mankind has used materials and ingenuity to provide shelter, facilitate production or capture of food, and to facilitate defence (or attack). In the UK, the importance of engineers as soldiers was recognised by the founding of the Corps of Engineers in 1717. Recognition of the contribution of engineering to civilian society came later when the Institution of Civil Engineers was formed in 1818. Civil engineering was strongly associated with the dramatic developments of the modern economy - particularly canals, bridges, lighthouses, ports and public health.

The significance of the 19th century railway economy led to creation of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1847, but the transformation in communications which resulted from the use of electrical telegraphy meant that an Institution of Electrical Engineers was established in 1871.

As engineering became more specialised, the number of societies and institutions grew. By the mid 1950s the demand for a central body - to agree standards for education and training, and to act as a representative of the profession - led to the creation of the Joint Council of Engineering Institutions in 1964 (later the Council of Engineering Institutions or CEI).

During the 1960s increasing criticism of the CEI's performance resulted in the first Royal Commission to look at the organisation and utilisation of the engineering profession across the country. The central recommendation in its 1980 report was that Government should establish an authority to act as "an engine of change". Its members were to be appointed by Government, its purposes were summarised as "to advance education in, and to promote the science and practice of engineering for the public benefit and thereby to promote industry and commerce" in the United Kingdom. It was intended to focus the promotion of engineering and the establishment of uniform standards of engineering qualification in one national body.

The outcome was the establishment of the Engineering Council in 1982 with a governing Council composed of a majority of qualified engineers, plus men and women connected with engineers in industry and the wider world.

Overall, the Engineering Council was successful in a number of areas, in particular publishing Standards and Routes to Registration (SARTOR) in 1985 and establishing an auditing role to assess the ability of the professional engineering institutions (PEIs) to maintain registration standards. But the increasing dissatisfaction of the PEIs with the unrepresentative nature of the Engineering Council's governing body, coupled with  concerns about overlaps of responsibility and message, led to the reform of the Council in 1995. The principle outcome was the creation of a fully representative Senate of 54 as a new governing body.

Continuing concerns about the breadth of activity of the Council led to a further review in 2001, and in 2002 the then Engineering Council was split into the Engineering Technology Board (now called EngineeringUK) and ourselves, the Engineering Council UK (The latter reverting to 'Engineering Council'). [The detailed history of the Engineering Council 1982-2002 (Chronicle of Engineering Council) can be accessed via the link on the right hand side of this page ] EngineeringUK is now responsible for the promotion of engineering, while the Engineering Council is responsible for professional registration standards, which it overhauled in 2003. We also published the first version of the 'UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence' (UK-SPEC) in December of that year.