Mutual Exemption Agreement

ICE holds individual Mutual Exemption Agreements (MEAs) with the following International professional Institutions:

  • Engineers Australia
  • Engineers Ireland
  • Hong Kong Institution of Engineers
  • South African Institution of Civil Engineers / Engineering Council South Africa
  • Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand

What is an MEA?

An MEA exempts individuals having to undertake ICE’s standard qualification process to achieve the professional qualification of CEng MICE* as the process to gain a professional qualification by the listed professional institutions has been deemed substantively equivalent to that of the ICE

*Where applicants are Members of IPENZ this would be the equivalent ICE grade—see table below

Please note

Am I eligible?

You must:

  • Be a full and current Member of your home Institution
  • Have achieved that membership via your home Institution’s standard review route (eg not transferred membership from another Institution)
  • Hold formally accredited academic qualification(s) to Washington Accord level. If your academic qualification(s) has been individually assessed by your home Institution, ICE reserves the right to undertake its own assessment. You may be asked to submit further information in these cases

How can i apply?

To apply applicants will need to submit various documentation to support their application, details are noted below:-

  • MEA Application Form
  • Detailed CV - please refer the ICE guide to Writing an Effective CV when compiling your CV. You must include descriptions of the projects on which you have worked, including size, cost and positions of responsibility
  • Completion of Appendix A (evidence and examples of meeting Member attributes).
  • Three completed Sponsors’ Questionnaire application forms
  • Certified copy of your Professional Institution's membership and professional engineer registration certificate*.
  • Certified copy of your academic qualification(s)
  • A completed 3 year Professional Development Record and a current 12 month Development Action Plan (as described in ICE Continuing Professional Development guidance)
  • A non-refundable MEA application fee

*ICE will contact and validate directly with your Professional Institution that you are a current member in good standing

How is your application assessed?

Your application will be assessed by the ICE's Exemption and Recognition Panel, who will be looking to confirm how you have achieved the ICE Member attributes.

For details on submission deadlines and when results are due, please see our key dates page.

After the assessment

  • Successful applicants will be admitted to the ICE as Member.
  • On admission as a Member you will be invoiced for the ICE entrance fee (unless you are an ICE Graduate member of at least 2 year’s standing). 
  • You will receive an ICE Membership certificate once all outstanding fees have been settled.
  • If your application was not successful you will be advised in writing of the reasons why and may be invited for interview.

More information

For further details, contact the Exemption and Recognition Panel Coordinator on +44 (0) 207 665 2174 or email erp@ice.org.uk.



Pay Online

Mutual Exemption Agreement

You are now able to pay for your Mutual Exemption Agreement application *online. It's a quick, safe and secure way of paying for your application.

*If you are not registered or logged in to MyICE you will be asked to do so before paying online.