Engineering specification celebrates 10th anniversary

The standard which regulates engineering competence in the UK has celebrated its tenth anniversary at a special event hosted in the House of Commons on 20 May 2014.

The UK Standard for Professional Engineering Competence (UK-SPEC) was first published in 2003 and sets out the criteria for the Engineering Technician, Incorporated Engineer and Chartered Engineer standards.

The third edition of the standard was published in January 2014 and is regularly monitored by representatives from employers, engineering educators and professional engineering institutions, including the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). 

Leading figures from UK engineering celebrated the first ten years of UK-SPEC, and the importance of engineering to the UK economy, at a House of Commons event sponsored by Sir Peter Luff, MP for Mid Worcestershire and former chair of the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee.

IChemE chief executive, David Brown, said: “In just a decade, the UK-SPEC has become highly regarded and a fine example of organisations working together for the good of industry and the profession.

“Safety, confidence, professionalism, quality and creativity are just some of the attributes needed by the modern engineer – the UK-SPEC provides the framework that brings all these features together, and more, to provide a trusted and objective measure of engineering competence.

“It’s also great to see political support for engineering in the House of Commons. Engineering sits at the heart of the government’s economic plans and the professions’ ambitions to improve education in schools, address skill shortages and boost UK competitiveness cannot be achieved without more political leaders making engineering a priority.”

Changes to the new UK-SPEC include updated terminology and a greater emphasis on Continuing Professional Development (CPD). IChemE will begin issuing revised documentation for UK-SPEC by 2015. Professional reviews for all branches of engineering are required to use the third edition of the specification by 1 February 2016.

Earlier this year, IChemE welcomed announcements to link Apprenticeships to professional standards and registrations such as Engineering Technician and Registered Science Technician.