Engineering Council
The History of IEng
Professional registration as an Incorporated Engineer (IEng) has been available for over 40 years. When the title was first introduced it was called Technician Engineer (TEng).
To avoid confusion with another Engineering Council title, Engineering Technician (EngTech), this was formally changed to IEng in 1988.
The Engineering Council and the professional engineering institutions have worked hard over the years to raise the awareness and status of Incorporated Engineers. The following timeline and the "The History of the Incorporated Engineer" paper sets out the key dates and explains the evolution of this professional title.
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| 1818 | The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is founded |
| 1828 | ICE awarded its Royal Charter (awarding Chartered Civil Engineer) |
| 1847 | The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) is founded. Royal Charter is granted in 1930 |
| 1965 | The Council of Engineering Institutions (CEI) is formed. Operating under its Royal Charter, the CEI holds the register of Engineering Technicians (EngTechs), Technician Engineers (TEng) and Chartered Engineers (CEng) |
| 1977 | An ‘Inquiry into the Engineering Profession’ is announced, chaired by Sir Montague Finniston |
| 1980 | Finniston Committee report is published |
| 1981 | The Engineering Council was formed with its own Royal Charter |
| 1987 | The term Incorporated Engineer was widely accepted by the Profession and Industry |
| 1988 | The title of Technician Engineer was replaced by IEng after the necessary changes were approved to the Engineering Council’s Royal Charter |
| 1991 | Following the newly formed Joint Accreditation Panel (JAP), which received delegated powers from institutions to accredited academic courses for EngTech and IEng registration, an accreditation agreement was approved for civil engineering courses |
| 1997 | The Engineering Council launched the third version of its standards for registration, SARTOR 3. This raised the academic entry standard for the Incorporated Engineer to BEng |
| 1998 | The Institution of Electronics and Electrical Incorporated Engineers merged with the Institution of Mechanical Incorporated Engineers to form the Institution of Incorporated Engineers (IIE). |
| 2001 | A new certificate for Incorporated Engineers who wished to be recognised in Continental Europe was published |
| 2001 | The IIE gained a Royal Charter |
| 2001/02 | Engineering Council UK (ECUK) and Engineering Technology Board (ETB) formed from Engineering Council |
| 2004 | ECUK launches the UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UK-SPEC) |
| 2006 | The IIE merged with Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) to become the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) |
| 2007/8 | ECUK undertook an IEng review, recommendations included to retain the name and to revise competent statements in UK-SPEC |
| 2008 | ECUK is granted a budget from ETB to promote professional registration |
| 2009 | ECUK changes its name to Engineering Council and ETB becomes EngineeringUK |
| 2009/10 | IEng promotion including research, advertising and communications |
| 2010 | The number of new IEng registrations increases by 64% compared to the year before |
| 2012 | Engineering Council’s Strategic Plan 2012-2015 includes IEng strand |
| 2012 - | IEng promotion continues |
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