Washington Accord (credentials)

Short description: International engineering degree agreement

The Washington Accord is an international accreditation agreement for undergraduate professional engineering academic degrees and postgraduate professional engineering academic degrees between the bodies responsible for accreditation in its signatory countries. The full signatories as of Juanuary 2024 are Australia , Canada , China , Costa Rica, Hong Kong, India , Indonesia, Ireland, Japan , South Korea , Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Pakistan , Peru, Russia , Singapore, South Africa , Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States .^[1]

Overview

The Washington Accord recognizes that there is substantial equivalence of programs accredited by those signatories. Graduates of accredited programs in any of the signatory countries are recognized by the other signatory countries as having met the academic requirements for entry to the practice of engineering. Recognition of accredited programs is not retroactive but takes effect only from the date of admission of the country to signatory status.

Scope

The Washington Accord covers both undergraduate and postgraduate engineering degrees.^[2] Engineering technology programs are not covered by the accord. Engineering technology programs are covered under the Sydney Accord and Dublin Accord. Only qualifications awarded after the signatory country or region became part of the Washington Accord are recognized. The accord is not directly responsible for the licensing of professional engineers and the registration of chartered engineers but it does cover the academic requirements that are part of the licensing processes in signatory countries.

Signatories

Signatory status: (2023)

Full signatory

Partial signatory

Territory of a signatory without membership of local accreditation organization

The following are the signatory countries and territories of the Washington Accord, their respective accreditation bodies and years of admission:^[1]

Member State	Member Institution	Year of admission
Australia	Engineers Australia	1989
Canada	Engineers Canada	1989
China	China Association for Science and Technology	2016
Costa Rica	Association of Engineers and Architects of Costa Rica	2020
Hong Kong	The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers	1995
India	National Board of Accreditation	2014
Indonesia	Persatuan Insinyur Indonesia (PII)	2022
Ireland	Engineers Ireland	1989
Japan	Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education	2005
Malaysia	Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM)	2009
Mexico	Consejo de Acreditación de la Enseñanza de la Ingeniería (CACEI)	2022
New Zealand	Engineering New Zealand	1989
Pakistan	Pakistan Engineering Council	2017
Peru	ICACIT	2018
Russia	Association for Engineering Education of Russia	2012
Singapore	Institution of Engineers Singapore	2006
South Africa	Engineering Council of South Africa	1999
South Korea	Accreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea	2007
Sri Lanka	Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka	2014
Taiwan	Institute of Engineering Education Taiwan	2007
Turkey	MÜDEK	2011
United Kingdom	Engineering Council	1989
United States	ABET	1989

The following countries have provisional signatory status and may become full signatory members in the future:

State	Institution	Provisional Status Approved
Bangladesh	Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh	2016
Chile	Acredita CI	2018
Myanmar	Myanmar Engineering Council	2019
Nigeria	Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria	2023
Philippines	Philippine Technological Council	2016
Saudi Arabia	Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC)	2022
Thailand	Thailand Accreditation Board of Engineering Education	2019