Quick Guide to...

Member (Graduate and Mature Entry Route)

A Member is a fully qualified civil engineering surveyor and a voting member of CICES.

Eligibility
A Member will have:
■ Successfully completed the CICES general, core and specialist competencies.
■ Successfully completed the Member review interview.
■ Graduate applicants will have a degree that is acceptable to CICES (this should be confirmed by CICES HQ
in advance of the application).
■ Mature applicants without a degree or with a degree that is not acceptable to CICES will be able to
compensate with additional experience and seniority.
■ An acceptable amount of working experience. CICES does not describe its qualifying standards in terms of
years of service, however a graduate is likely to need at least three years of experience in order to achieve
the competencies, whilst a mature applicant would normally be expected to have at least eight.

Please note separate routes exist for the following categories of applicants:
■ Applicants who are members or fellows of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).
■ Applicants who are members or fellows of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).
■ Applicants who are members or fellows of other relevant professional bodies (refer to the Professional Body
Route Quick Guide).
■ Senior applicants (with significant experience at a senior level – a prior assessment of an applicant’s CV
needs to be made by CICES before an application by this route).
■ Associate members who attained their grade before 31 December 2005.
■ Academic staff who are teaching civil engineering surveying.

How to Apply
The Member application must include:
■ Online application or upgrade form with details of two sponsors.
■ Principal sponsor’s form.
■ Digital photograph.
■ A detailed CV.
■ An experience report.
■ Continuing professional development records for the last two years.
■ Completed and signed off general, core and specialist competencies.
■ Photocopies of any prior qualifications to be considered.
■ The appropriate fee.

Detailed CV
The detailed CV is an opportunity to demonstrate your knowledge, understanding, range of skills and
experience on the basis of a whole career description. It should include colleges and universities attended,
qualifications gained, as well as a whole career description. This should include periods not in employment or
employed in non or semi-related fields. The detailed CV for this route should be 1,500-2,000 words long.

Sponsors
Sponsors should read the application details in full as they are vouching for the accuracy of these details.
Both sponsors should be Members or Fellows of CICES or another chartered construction sector UK
professional body. Full members or fellows of equivalent overseas professional bodies may be approved by
prior agreement with CICES HQ. CICES may check with the sponsor and the professional body to check their
validity.
Experience Report
The report is written to illustrate your contribution to a particular project. It should draw out your strengths
and give a clear indication of your responsibility and the scale of the project. It should draw out any problems
encountered, how they were overcome and highlight any new skills or experience gained. The project is
important, ideally it should have taken place within the last two years (and no more than five years ago)
and should be representative of your work. Choosing a challenging project will give you more opportunities
to demonstrate your skills and problem solving ability. The report for applications via this route should be
1,500-2,000 words long. The report should cover not only the technical skills, but also the ‘soft’ skills, such
as managing the project, leading your team, and dealing with the client, the contract and commercial matters.
The CICES golden threads are equality, diversity and inclusion, sustainability and climate change, and digital
transformation, so the report should cover the impact of these threads on you and the project.

Continuing Professional Development Records

A record of continuing professional development (CPD) undertaken in the last two years. The records may
be submitted in any reasonable format, including those required by other recognised professional bodies
(guidance on how to put together suitable CPD records is also available on the CICES website). CPD covers a
whole range of learning activities including new skills gained at work, workshops, seminars, training courses,
reading and mentoring.

Cross-referencing
The detailed CV, experience report and CPD records are used to assess the applicant’s learning and
experience against the competencies. In order to assist the examiners, applicants are asked to highlight at
least one reference against each core and specialist activity.

Competencies
All applicants must have the competencies assessed and signed off by their supervisor or manager. It is not a
condition that the supervisor or manager is a Member or Fellow of CICES. The competencies are statements of
the knowledge, skills and experience that the applicant must have to qualify as a Member. All documentation
for the competencies can be downloaded from the CICES website.

Certificates of Prior Qualifications

Include a photocopy of the certificate or diploma for any prior qualification that is to be considered as part of
the assessment. The institution reserves the right to check the validity of any such documents.

Member Review Interview

The Member review interview is a formal interview conducted by a panel of two or three examiners. The
applicant will be asked to introduce the project described in the experience report in an informal 10-15
minutes presentation. The examiners will then ask questions based on the presentation and the applicant’s
CV and CPD, and may also ask general technical questions or questions about broader industry issues.

Review outcomes
The examiners produce a detailed report and make a recommendation to the Education, Professional
Development and Membership Committee. The applicant is advised of the decision which may be:
■ To request that the applicant be granted the grade of Member.
■ To recommend a deferral. This signifies that the examiners would like evidence of a specific nature before
recommending that Membership is granted. It could involve writing a report on a technical matter on the
basis of a question that was not fully answered during the interview. In some cases it can be a matter of
producing further CPD records or successfully completing a short course.
■ To recommend a referral. A referral highlights specific areas of experience or expertise that have not been
fully demonstrated. In the case of a referral, the applicant will be given specific reasons why the referral
has been given and will be given the chance of another interview, re-examining specific aspects that are
deficient. The examiners may suggest a specific period before a re-interview should take place.
■ In exceptional cases, failure. In this case the grade of Affiliate will be offered.

In the case of a deferral or referral from the review, CICES may offer the grade of Technical Member.
Applications should be submitted, with all requested documentation, electronically by logging into or creating
an online account (top right of the CICES website) and heading to your ‘Profile’ page.
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