The Engineering Association of Ceylon was formed in 1906 and in 1956, the Institute of Engineers, Ceylon was established by Act No. 17 of 1968. It was later renamed as the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lank and has nearly 17,000 members on its roll as at present.
Membership
Its membership falls broadly in to two categories viz., Corporate Members and Non Corporate Members. Corporate Members are also commonly identified as Chartered Engineers. The Corporate Membership of the Institution is awarded through a stringent Professional Review Process to those who are academically qualified in engineering. The aspirants for Corporate Membership need to fulfill certain requirements with regard to their training and the practical experience. ;Corporate Member grades
CEng is used in Sri Lanka as a post-nominal abbreviation by Corporate Members of the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka.
PEng is used in Sri Lanka as a post-nominal abbreviation by Members who are registered as Professional Engineers with the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka.
''IntPE is used in Sri Lanka as a post-nominal abbreviation by Members whose names have been entered in the International Register of Professional Engineers for Sri Lanka maintained by the Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka.
, known as the "Father of Hydropower" in Sri Lanka, had his initial proposals on hydro power ignored by the Engineering Association of Ceylon in 1913. He had to construct the Ceylon's first small hydro power station in at Blackpool, between Nanu Oya and Nuwara Eliya, to supply electricity to the Nuwara Eliya town and submit a paper to the Engineering Association of Ceylon titled "Economics of Hydro Power Utilization in Ceylon", in it he proposed the possibility of hydro power and the concept of developing a national grid. The first hydro power plant of Sri Lanka was only commissioned in December 1950, after Wimalasurendra personally lobbying for hydro power in the State Council of Ceylon.
The process of selecting Chartered Engineers have been criticized, due to only IESL having the authority to award the designation and sole discretion to determine the selection criteria. In 2010, it discontinued the mature entry route for non-degree holding applicants to apply for Chartered Engineer designation. However, it grants membership to diploma graduates of the IESL owned IESL College of Engineering Pvt. Ltd., forcing non-degree holding applicants to under take its fee levied IESL College courses to gain IESL membership.
In 2017, the IESL sponsored legislation through parliament to establish the Engineering Council of Sri Lanka. Engineering Council has been criticized on its susceptibility to government influence and domination by the IESL with majority of the council are its members. It is criticized for allowing only the IESL and IIESL to submit its members for registration as engineering practitioners. Thereby allowing both institutions with IESL ability to control registration of engineering practitioners. IESL has been criticized in the past for restricting registration of Chartered Engineers having suspended the mature candidate route for non graduate engineers. With the formation of the Engineering Council foreign qualified engineers have become effectively excluded from practicing in Sri Lanka. Thereby establishing a monopoly for IESL graduate engineers in the island.
In 2018, IESL along with the GMOA has objected and criticized the Government of Sri Lanka for entering into a Free Trade Agreement with Singapore. Known as the Singapore - Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement, IESL claims have liberalized the services sector effecting the practices of local professionals such as engineers forcing them to compete with service sector companies from Singapore, which offer better quality services at lower rates than local professionals or organizations.
