CPD for Civil and Structural Engineers

All Engineering Professionals make a commitment to maintaining their competency in order to meet both current and future challenges within their industry. This article provides a brief overview of CPD courses for Engineers, some simple CPD examples, how to record your CPD, as well as the professional development requirements.

What is the importance of CPD for Engineers?

Civil Engineers, Structural Engineers, Chartered Engineers, Engineering Technicians, ICT Technicians and Incorporated Engineers all make a commitment to maintaining their competency through ongoing CPD. Continuing Professional Development, or CPD, is a fundamental part of any career in engineering – ensuring 'professionally registered and active' engineers keep up to date by constantly learning and improving, both formally and informally, beyond any initial education and training.

The activities you undertake depend on where you are in your career and what you’re looking to achieve, which will vary in relation to your circumstances, needs and objectives. CPD examples for engineering professionals covers a wide range of areas. Topics may include the need to keep up to date with changes to design codes and standards, changes to construction methods and keeping abreast of the latest building standards legislation.

The Engineering Council states that all members of professional engineering institutions within the engineering sector have obligations to undertake CPD. The professional engineering institutions work alongside the Engineering Council to advise on CPD, by providing guidance, resources and mentoring programmes.

CPD Examples for Engineering Professionals

CPD is any learning activity that enables an engineering professional to develop their competencies relevant to their profession. Continuing Professional Development is a holistic activity, not just relating to technical knowledge, but should contain an appropriate balance of all professional skills. Common CPD examples include – seminars, educational events, online E-Learning, private study, work experience and other types of work-based learning.

CPD must be relevant to the type of work being undertaken by the engineer and should be able to demonstrate necessary steps taken to remain competent to their chosen area of speciality. It can typically be divided into six broad types:

• Work-based learning & development
• CPD Seminars
• Professional body learning events
• Further self-directed learning
• Mentoring and coaching
• Industry-related education

Not all learning takes place within a group or facilitator situation. For more information on the various types of CPD, such as structured, self-directed learning please visit CPD explained.

Who are the governing bodies for Civil and Structural Engineers?

A commitment to Continued Professional Development is a requirement to be a member of many professional engineering organisations including;

• The Engineering Council
• Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)
• Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)
• Institute of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE)
• Institute of Structural Engineers (IStructE)
• Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET)

The Engineering Council is Britain’s regulatory authority for registration of Chartered and Incorporated engineers and engineering technicians.

Institution of Structural Engineer’s (IStructE) CPD Requirements

The Institution of Structural Engineers is the world’s leading professional body for qualifications and standards in structural engineering with over 27,000 members operating across 105 countries. IStructE acknowledges that CPD can be undertaken in a number of different ways. 30 hours per year of Continuing Professional Development is the expectation for structural engineering professionals, however, IStructE has recognised that some members may have periods where they need not undertake their normal level of structural engineering CPD.

The expectation is 90 hours over a period of three years to take into account times of reduced CPD. If there is a valid reason why you cannot gain 30 hours of CPD in a given year – or you do not manage to gain 90 hours over three years – then this will be taken into account during assessment. If a member does not comply with IStructE CPD policy, i.e. does not submit an appropriate CPD record, they may ultimately be removed from membership.

Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) CPD Hours Requirements

The Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. As an ICE member, you will be required to manage your own Continuing Professional Development. This means being able to send an annual record of your past year’s ICE CPD and your plans for the year ahead. ICE CPD Hours Requirements state;

ICE CPD hours requirements explain that anything that has contributed to learning and development can count towards civil engineering CPD e.g. courses, seminars, conferences, reading relevant publications, web-based research and personal development activities. ICE recommend you maintain your training and active learning whatever your circumstances and should record relevant developments and effective outcomes.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is one of the largest science, engineering and technology institutions in the world. Members should aim to undertake a minimum of 30 hours CPD per year, which could be split as follows:

• Personal technical knowledge/skills – Ten hours
• Job role technical knowledge/skills – Ten hours
• Personal soft skills – Ten hours
• Planned CPD – a minimum of ten hours

Unplanned CPD Remaining balance (up to 20 hours) Ad-hoc opportunities and less structured activities, such as attending events and exhibitions, self-study, etc.

What is the best way to plan and record your CPD?

It is important to plan your CPD and identify the areas that you need development in. Keep a record of your structural engineering CPD activities and after each activity, reflect on what you have gained – the knowledge you have absorbed, the skills you have developed and how it has influenced your attitude and approach. 

The CPD hours you record against each activity should reflect the amount of learning that directly contributes and is relevant to you as an engineering professional.

The current approach to CPD is cyclical, with the individual working through the following points and then starting again:

• Review: identify your competencies and needs, prioritise areas for development.
• Planning: consider how your requirements are to be met including activities and resources needed.
• Development Activities: put your plan into action.
• Accessing / Evaluating Achievement: record the development activities you have participated in, identify what you have learnt, the benefits gained and where possible document any evidence to show you have completed these activities.

Your CPD records are an excellent way to demonstrate that your knowledge and skills are up-to-date.

Recording CPD is important and beneficial in a number of ways:

• To aid the process of reviewing and reflection;
• To remind yourself what you have learnt;
• To provide information for potential employers, e.g. to help build an extended CV;
• For appraisals and promotion boards;
• For regulatory requirements;
• To provide evidence when proving competence, such as when applying for professional registration.

Where to find CPD for Engineers

We hope this article was helpful. Established in 1996, The CPD Certification Service works across all industry sectors. Thousands of CPD training courses, events, e-learning programs, conferences, workshops and seminars are formally certified by us every year.

For more information you can view our list of Engineering CPD Providers or visit the Engineering CPD Industry Hubs for a range of CPD activities and training that may be relevant to your career.

Become a CPD accredited provider

The CPD Certification Service has over 27 years’ experience providing CPD accreditation. With members in over 100 countries, our CPD providers benefit from the ability to promote themselves as part of an international community where quality is both recognised and assured.

If you are interested in offering training courses, seminars, workshops, eLearning, or educational events suitable for Continuing Professional Development, please visit the Become a CPD Provider page or contact our team to discuss in more detail. Alternatively, if you are looking for a free online CPD record tool to help manage, track and log your ongoing learning, as well as store your professional training records and attendance certificates in one simple place, go to the myCPD Portal page.