Do I Need a Chartered Structural Engineer?
By Joseph Lawson MEng (Hons), Director / Structural Engineer, Lawson Cook Limited
When arranging structural calculations, a structural survey or a report for a property, clients sometimes ask whether the engineer needs to be chartered or whether they need an RICS qualification.
For most straightforward residential structural engineering projects in the UK, there is not a general legal requirement for the structural engineer to hold Chartered Engineer status.
What is required is that the person undertaking the design or structural assessment is competent to carry out the work they have been appointed to undertake.
There are, however, circumstances where a lender, insurer, client or another organisation may specifically require a particular professional qualification or membership. It is therefore important to understand the difference.
What Is a Chartered Engineer?
A Chartered Engineer, usually identified by the post-nominal CEng, is an engineer who has been professionally registered with the Engineering Council.
Professional registration provides independent recognition that the engineer has demonstrated the required level of competence and professional commitment. The title Chartered Engineer (CEng) is legally protected and can only be used by appropriately registered individuals.
Chartered status is therefore an important professional achievement and provides an additional independent benchmark of competence.
It does not, however, mean that every item of engineering work in the UK legally has to be carried out by a Chartered Engineer.
The Engineering Council itself confirms that the general terms “engineer” and “engineering” are not legally restricted in the UK, although specific professional titles such as Chartered Engineer are protected.
What Is a Chartered Structural Engineer?
There is also an important distinction between a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Structural Engineer.
The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) awards the title Chartered Structural Engineer to its Chartered Members and Fellows, normally identified by:
MIStructE – Member of the Institution of Structural Engineers
or
FIStructE – Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers
The Institution confirms that the title Chartered Structural Engineer is restricted to appropriately qualified members.
Someone may therefore be a structural engineer without being entitled to use the title Chartered Structural Engineer.
Does Building Control Require My Structural Engineer to Be Chartered?
For typical domestic works, the Building Regulations do not state that every structural design must be prepared by a Chartered Structural Engineer.
Instead, the Building Regulations require anyone undertaking design work to have the necessary:
Skills
Knowledge
Experience
Behaviours
to carry out that work competently and ensure that the resulting building work can comply with the relevant requirements.
This distinction is important.
For example, structural calculations and drawings for works such as:
Removing a loadbearing wall
Designing a steel beam
Constructing a house extension
Designing foundations
Carrying out a loft conversion
Removing a chimney breast
Forming a new opening
Designing straightforward residential steelwork
do not automatically need to be produced by somebody holding CEng or MIStructE status simply because Building Control is involved.
The engineer does, however, need to be competent to undertake the particular design.
So What Should I Look for in a Structural Engineer?
Chartership is one way of demonstrating professional competence, but it is not the only information that should be considered.
For a typical residential project, you should also consider:
Relevant engineering qualifications
Experience undertaking similar projects
Professional indemnity insurance
Understanding of current structural design standards
Experience dealing with Building Control
Quality of the structural calculations and drawings provided
Whether the engineer is working within their area of competence
Whether the scope of appointment is clearly defined
An engineer should also recognise when a project falls outside their own competence and specialist input is required.
The current Building Regulations specifically require designers to work within their competence and seek assistance where necessary.
When Might a Chartered Structural Engineer Be Required?
There are situations where professional status can become a specific requirement.
The most common example we encounter in residential work is when a mortgage lender or other third party requests a report.
A lender might specify that a report must be prepared by:
A Structural Engineer
A Chartered Structural Engineer
A Chartered Engineer
An MIStructE/FIStructE member
An MICE/FICE member
An RICS-qualified surveyor
Another suitably qualified professional
Those descriptions are not interchangeable.
If somebody has requested a report as part of a property purchase or mortgage application, we therefore recommend obtaining the lender's exact written requirements before instructing the engineer.
Mortgage Lenders Can Have Their Own Requirements
Mortgage lenders do not all use identical criteria.
The UK Finance Mortgage Lenders' Handbook contains both general requirements and lender-specific instructions, and in some circumstances specifies particular professional memberships. For example, requirements surrounding Professional Consultant's Certificates for certain new, converted or renovated residential properties can include memberships such as MRICS/FRICS, MIStructE/FIStructE and MICE/FICE, among others.
That is a very different situation from an ordinary structural design for a homeowner's extension.
It is therefore important not to assume that because one lender required chartered status for one type of report, all structural engineering work must be undertaken by a chartered engineer.
Likewise, you should not assume that a lender doesn't require chartered status simply because the proposed work itself would ordinarily not require it.
Where a lender is involved, ask them directly.
What Does RICS Mean?
This is another common source of confusion.
RICS stands for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
RICS is a professional body covering surveying disciplines across land, property and construction. Chartered RICS members commonly use the designation MRICS, while Fellows use FRICS.
Building surveying is one of the professions associated with RICS.
A building surveyor may undertake work such as:
Pre-purchase building surveys
Building condition assessments
Advice on defects and maintenance
Building fabric inspections
Refurbishment advice
Party wall and other property-related work
RICS describes building surveyors as professionals involved in assessing the condition of buildings and advising on their repair, maintenance and alteration.
Is RICS a Structural Engineering Qualification?
No – not in itself.
RICS membership relates to the surveying profession. It should not be treated as the standard professional qualification for a structural engineer.
A structural engineer will generally focus more specifically on areas such as:
Structural stability
Load paths
Steel, timber, masonry and concrete design
Foundation design
Structural movement
Loadbearing walls
Structural alterations
Calculations and structural drawings
Professional registration for engineers is instead associated with the Engineering Council and engineering institutions such as the Institution of Structural Engineers and Institution of Civil Engineers.
That does not mean that the professions never overlap. They frequently do.
It simply means that “RICS surveyor” and “structural engineer” describe different professional disciplines.
Structural Engineer vs Building Surveyor
A simple comparison is:
Structural Engineer
Structural stability and behaviour
Structural calculations
Steel beam and frame design
Foundation design
Loadbearing wall alterations
Structural movement and cracking
Structural drawings
Engineering design
Building Surveyor
Overall building condition
Building surveys
Building fabric defects
Maintenance and repair advice
Pre-purchase condition surveys
Broader property defects
Wider building surveying advice
Surveying and property advice
There can be considerable overlap, particularly when investigating existing buildings.
For example, a building surveyor carrying out a house purchase survey may identify cracking and recommend that a structural engineer undertakes a more detailed structural assessment.
That does not mean that the subsequent structural engineer must necessarily hold the same RICS qualification as the building surveyor.
My Building Survey Says “Obtain a Structural Engineer's Report” – What Should I Do?
First, read the wording carefully.
If your surveyor simply recommends:
“Obtain advice from a structural engineer”
that is different from a lender specifically stating:
“A report must be provided by a Chartered Structural Engineer.”
If the report is being requested by your mortgage provider, we recommend asking the lender to confirm in writing:
1. Who must prepare the report?
and
2. What exact qualification or professional membership must that person hold?
Ideally, ask them to specify whether they require:
CEng, MIStructE/FIStructE, MICE/FICE, MRICS/FRICS, or simply an appropriately qualified structural engineer with appropriate Professional Indemnity Insurance.
This can avoid paying for a report only to discover afterwards that the lender has imposed a particular qualification requirement.
Does a Structural Survey Need to Be an “RICS Survey”?
Not necessarily.
A RICS building survey and a structural survey undertaken by a structural engineer are different services.
If you require a comprehensive survey of the overall property condition before purchase, a building surveyor may be the appropriate professional.
If the concern relates specifically to matters such as:
Structural cracking
Movement
Subsidence
Deflection
Loadbearing walls
Foundations
Structural alterations
Roof structure
Structural stability
then a structural engineer may be more appropriate.
Sometimes you may need both.
What About Lawson Cook Limited?
Lawson Cook Limited is a structural engineering practice providing structural design, calculations, drawings, structural surveys and reporting across residential and commercial properties.
Our engineers are not Chartered Structural Engineers, and we do not use CEng, MIStructE, MICE or MRICS designations.
For the majority of domestic structural engineering appointments we undertake, chartered status is not stipulated as a requirement. This includes typical structural design work such as extensions, loft conversions, loadbearing wall removals, steel beam design and other residential alterations.
Where a structural report is required by a mortgage lender or another third party, the position can be different. Some lenders may specify that the report is prepared by a Chartered Structural Engineer, Chartered Engineer or another professional holding a particular qualification or membership.
We have encountered cases where a lender has initially requested chartered status but, following further review, has confirmed that they are willing to accept a report from Lawson Cook Limited after considering our engineers' qualifications, experience and Professional Indemnity Insurance.
This is entirely at the discretion of the individual lender and should never be assumed. Where a lender or mortgage provider is involved, we recommend asking them to confirm their exact requirements in writing before appointing us.
If chartered status is specifically required, it can therefore be worth asking the lender whether they will consider an appropriately qualified and insured structural engineer who does not hold chartered status. We are happy to provide details of our qualifications and Professional Indemnity Insurance for the lender to review where appropriate.
Where a lender confirms that a specific professional qualification or membership is mandatory and that our professional status does not satisfy their requirements, we will make this clear before appointment.
The Most Important Question Is: What Does Your Project Actually Require?
For most homeowners planning an extension, wall removal, loft conversion or similar structural alteration, the question is generally not:
“Is the engineer chartered?”
but:
“Is the engineer appropriately qualified, experienced, insured and competent to undertake this particular structural design?”
Chartership provides a recognised independent professional benchmark and may sometimes be specifically required.
But it should not be confused with a universal legal requirement for all structural engineering work.
Where a mortgage company, insurer, solicitor or other third party is involved, always obtain their exact requirements before commissioning the report.
Need Structural Engineering Advice?
Lawson Cook Limited provides structural calculations, drawings, surveys and structural reporting from our Hertford base across Hertfordshire and surrounding areas.
If your enquiry has arisen following a building survey or lender request, please send us:
The property address
The building surveyor's report
The wording of any lender requirements
Relevant photographs
Any existing drawings or plans
We can then review the information and confirm whether the requested work falls within our scope.
Lawson Cook Limited
Structural Engineers
Hertford, Hertfordshire
info@lawsoncook.co.uk