ICE holds individual Mutual Exemption Agreements (MEAs) with a number of national professional institutions whose qualification criteria closely mirror those of ICE. Individuals holding specified qualifications with those institutions are granted recognition which exempts them from following ICE’s standard qualification process to achieve CEng MICE.

Benefits

• If you have already achieved a professional qualification listed in the table below, you will be exempt from taking a Professional Review for ICE Membership (MICE).
• Once admitted as an ICE Member (MICE) via this route you will be eligible for Engineering Council registration as a Chartered Engineer (CEng), unless you are an ASCE member.
• Becoming a member (MICE) entitles you to a wide range of benefits to support you in your civil engineering career.

• Please note that the resulting ICE professional qualification cannot subsequently be used to gain recognition with another engineering body outside the UK, as it will have been granted on the basis of the substantive equivalence of the holder’s original qualification. Anyone seeking further recognition should qualify by Professional Review following the guidance in ICE 3001A.

Find out more about the benefits you can receive when you become a member of the ICE.

Am I eligible?

In order to be eligible for ICE membership via an MEA you must:

• Be a full and current corporate member of your home institution
• Have achieved that corporate 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 to make an application

The following information must be submitted:

• Membership Application Form - ICE 3105 

• Detailed CV - Please refer to MGN 15 when compiling your CV, which must include descriptions of the projects on which you have worked, including size, cost and positions of responsibility and examples of how you have achieved the ICE core attributes. Alternatively, in order to demonstrate how you have achieved the ICE Member attributes, you may wish to complete Appendix A of the application form, in addition to your CV.

• Application fee
• Three Sponsors’ Questionnaires - ICE 3123a
• Certified copy of your relevant membership and professional engineer registration certificates
• 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 3006A and ICE 3190) 

For information - 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 core attributes listed in MGN 3. 

Key dates

• Please submit your application by the deadline date for your preferred Exemption and Recognition Panel meeting. The Panel meeting dates are listed in the Exemption and Recognition Panel section on the Key Dates section.
• You will normally be advised of the Panel’s decision within 10 working days of the Panel meeting.

Find out more about ICE key dates

Fees

• A non-refundable MEA application fee must be submitted with your application.
• On admission as a Member, you must pay the ICE entrance fee (unless you are an ICE Graduate member of at least 2 year’s standing), then an annual subscription fee to maintain your membership.

To find out more about other ICE membership fees please visit our fees section.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. I am Chartered Civil Engineer with ICE. How can I apply for membership of one of ICE’s MEA institutions?  

2. What title can I use when I become a Member?

On admission to membership you will be able to use the qualification MICE. If you also request Engineering Council registration you will hold the qualification CEng MICE. Please note that ICE membership via this route does not entitle you to use ICE’s own protected title of “Chartered Civil Engineer” as this is only awarded to those who have passed an ICE Professional Review.

3. How can an ASCE member gain CEng registration?

An ASCE member can either apply for a Chartered Professional Review after being admitted as a Member via the MEA route, or can apply via ICE’s standard route (by completing a career appraisal then applying for Chartered Professional Review). See ICE 3001A for further guidance

4. If I am eligible to apply via the MEA route can I apply via any other route?

Any individual eligible to apply via the MEA route may choose to apply for ICE membership via the standard route or other appropriate route instead if they prefer to.

EU nationals who are qualified with Engineers Ireland are likely to also be eligible to apply via the European Directive route.

5. Who can be my sponsor? What do they have to do?

The relevant information on the criteria for sponsors and their role and responsibilities is detailed in ICE 3123a.

6. If I have previously failed an ICE Professional Review can I apply via this route?

Yes you can, however, if you have previously been unsuccessful at an ICE Professional Review within 3 years of your MEA application you will need to provide an additional statement to show HOW you have rectified the areas you were unable to demonstrate satisfactorily during your Professional Review. Failure to provide this evidence could result in your application being declined.
 

More Information

If you need any further information, please contact the Exemption and Recognition Panel Executive on +44 (0)20 7665 2174 email erp@ice.org.uk.