Engineering Council

Engineering Council Feedback and Complaints

At the Engineering Council we work with the Professional Engineering Institutions (PEIs) that we license. This ensures that the PEIs’ processes and standards are applied fairly and consistently when they assess the competence and commitment of their members for professional registration. We welcome all feedback concerning regulation of the engineering profession in the UK, both as a means of continuing to improve our overall service and to meet our own Charter and Bye-Law commitments.

How do I give general feedback to the Engineering Council?

The Engineering Council welcomes all feedback concerning regulation of the engineering profession in the UK. You can give feedback to the Engineering Council via the Contact Us form

How do I make a complaint to the Engineering Council?

If you’re dissatisfied with the conduct of a Professional Engineering Institution (PEI) or the Engineering Council, you can make a formal complaint via the Engineering Council’s formal complaints process. We at the Engineering Council will make every effort to deal with the issues raised and report back transparently and in a timely manner.

Please note, as the Engineering Council is governed by a Royal Charter, we have a very specific and defined remit. As such, there is a clear scope of the complaints which the Engineering Council can investigate. See below for more details.

If you are unhappy with an individual engineer or business:

Whilst the Engineering Council is unable to investigate complaints against individuals or suppliers, here are some options you may wish to consider:

• Complain directly to the individual or company;
• Contact Citizens Advice for advice on how to proceed; you may find useful information on their website here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/Solve-an-ongoing-consumer-problem/
• If you know the company is affiliated with a trade organisation or a professional engineering institution, you might wish to bring the matter to their attention for investigation; you might find this information on the company’s website, social media page, or advertisements.

Our Remit

Please note that The Engineering Council can only investigate complaints that fall within our remit. This includes complaints regarding:

• If a registrant loses Engineering Council registration as a result of action by their Professional Engineering Institution (PEI)then they may appeal to the Board of the Engineering Council under Schedule 10.
• If a PEI loses all or some of its licences it may appeal to the Board of the Engineering Council under Schedule 22.
• If an engineering institution licensed by the Engineering Council as a PEI, or approved by the Engineering Council as a Professional Affiliate, fails to respond to complaints about its actions or behaviour, the Engineering Council will review this with PEI or Professional Affiliate concerned regarding the nature of the complaint and the institution's response. However, the Engineering Council only has jurisdiction if the actions of the PEI or Professional Affiliate are matters of process concerning the assessment of individual members, or the process of the PEI's or Professional Affiliate's own disciplinary procedures. The Engineering Council may not make judgments upon the outcome made by Licensees of complaints or appeals against their individual members.
• If a registrant's behaviour falls short of the Code of Conduct of their PEI this should initially be reported to the institution concerned as a complaint against the member of that institution. The Engineering Council will assist complainants in identifying a registrant’s professional body, where it is possible to directly identify the individual registrant.
• If the complainant is not content with the response of the PEI or Professional Affiliate concerned, then the Engineering Council will discuss the matter with the PEI and examine records if relevant. The outcome may be an agreement to review processes. The Engineering Council has no jurisdiction or sanction that it can apply unless the PEI has failed to follow its own disciplinary procedures. These disciplinary procedures are, however, subject to review by the Engineering Council. The Engineering Council cannot act as adjudicator on matters of fact concerning individual cases, or reopen decisions arrived at under processes in agreed disciplinary procedures. Engineering Council can only investigate those complaints against PEIs that relate to licensed processes.
• If you are dissatisfied with how the Engineering Council has handled an issue or interacted with you.

Some complaints and requests are outside the remit of the Engineering Council. The Engineering Council cannot:

• investigate complaints or take part in legal actions against individual registrants.
• offer opinions about the engineering competence or engineering good practice of individuals or companies (including on the results of any applications or assessments).
• initiate action to deprive registrants of their registered status - that is the responsibility of the PEIs and Professional Affiliates.
• offer opinions or accept appeals regarding decisions made from applications or accreditation visits. Concerns or queries regarding accreditation visits should be made to the PEI that undertook the assessment.
• provide legal advice or recommend legal representation.
• investigate complaints that are more than six years old, unless there are extenuating circumstances.
• rule on complaints about matters that are covered by general law (for example, employment, criminal activity or copyright disputes).
• make judgments upon, nor rule on, an organisation’s membership fees nor request in any instance that any membership fees must be reduced or waived.

How we handle your complaint

At the Engineering Council we aim to acknowledge all complaints or other feedback within two working days via an email acknowledgement. We aim to investigate and resolve your complaint within ten working days unless additional information or time for investigation is required. If your complaint is viewed as not being within the Engineering Council’s remit, you will be informed of this.

Before you contact us

Before making your complaint, please view our FAQs section, to see if an answer already exists for your complaint or query. Please also read the section above titled Our Remit, which details the types of complaints that the Engineering Council can and cannot investigate.

Contact us

Complaints should be made using our Contact Us form. You may also contact us via email at complaints@engc.org.uk

Data Protection

For information about how your data is processed during the complaints procedure, and your rights as a data subject, please see our privacy notice.