Engineering Council
Engineering Card
FEANI launched its Engineering Card in 2012. The aim of the card is to promote mobility of professional engineers by providing a portable document validating their professional qualifications/registration
The Engineering Card is issued by participating agencies in FEANI member countries under a formal agreement with FEANI. To be eligible for the card, an individual engineer must hold a recognised engineering degree. Application should be made in the FEANI member country where the degree was awarded.
At present the Engineering Council has not joined the FEANI Engineering Card scheme as the criteria restrict it to those with an engineering degree awarded in the country where the card is being issued. This would exclude many registrants, including those with cognate degrees, those who gained their academic qualifications outside the UK and those who achieved registration through experience-based routes.
By contrast, admission to FEANI’s European Engineer Register and the EUR ING title is open to those who can demonstrate appropriate professional experience and competence. It also requires commitment to abide by the FEANI position paper on Code of Conduct: Ethics and Conduct of Professional Engineers.
Some people who are eligible for the Engineering Card will therefore not be eligible for EUR ING, while some EUR INGs will not be eligible for the Engineering Card.
For more information about the Engineering Card please visit FEANI's Engineering Card page.
There is often confusion about the relationship between the FEANI Engineering Card and the European Professional Card. FEANI’s card is issued as a ‘hard card’ backed up by a data file, and is designed to be used by engineering graduates, employers, clients and other interested parties. The European Professional Card will be an electronic certificate that is only accessible to Competent Authorities. In many EU member states, the Competent Authority is a government department, rather than an independent professional body.
The EU Commission has decided not to include the engineering profession in the first tranche of users of the European Professional Card. A decision will be taken as to whether it will be included in a future tranche in due course.
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The rules for the Engineering Card specify that it can be issued by participating organisations to graduates of engineering degree programmes.
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As a minimum, the Card will show the degree level of the holder – ie first cycle (Bachelor), second cycle (Master), third cycle (Doctorate). Indicators of experience and CPD activity can also be included.
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At present there is no provision for the Engineering Card to be issued to non-graduate professionally-qualified engineers, or graduates of non-engineering degrees who have attained their professional title through competency-based assessment. These rules will be reviewed as participating organisations gain experience of issuing the Engineering Card.
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Participating organisations will issue the Engineering Card under an agreement with FEANI. Future decisions concerning the rules for issuing the Engineering Card will be developed in consultation with all FEANI member organisations.
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The Engineering Council will keep the opportunity to participate in the Engineering Card scheme under review. A number of factors will influence when the Engineering Council decides to participate in the scheme including: demand from registrants; the extent to which the Engineering Card becomes an aid to mobility; the availability of the card to professional engineers who have qualified through competency-based assessment.
In the meantime, the Engineering Council will continue to participate in the development of the Engineering Card rules and operating procedures.