Washington Accord


The Washington Accord is an international accreditation agreement for undergraduate professional engineering academic degrees between the bodies responsible for accreditation in its signatory countries and regions. Established in 1989, the full signatories as of 2018 are Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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 only undergraduate engineering degrees. Engineering technology and postgraduate engineering 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

The following are the signatory countries and territories of the Washington Accord, their respective accreditation bodies and years of admission:
FlagMember StateMember InstitutionYear of admission
AustraliaEngineers Australia1989
CanadaEngineers Canada1989
ChinaChina Association for Science and Technology2016
Hong KongThe Hong Kong Institution of Engineers1995
IndiaNational Board of Accreditation2014
IrelandEngineers Ireland1989
JapanJapan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education2005
MalaysiaBoard of Engineers Malaysia2009
New ZealandEngineering New Zealand1989
PakistanPakistan Engineering Council2017
PeruICACIT2018
RussiaAssociation for Engineering Education of Russia2012
SingaporeInstitution of Engineers Singapore2006
South AfricaEngineering Council of South Africa1999
South KoreaAccreditation Board for Engineering Education of Korea2007
Sri LankaInstitution of Engineers, Sri Lanka2014
TaiwanInstitute of Engineering Education Taiwan2007
TurkeyMÜDEK2011
United KingdomEngineering Council1989
United StatesABET1989

The following countries have provisional signatory status and may become member signatories in the future:
FlagStateInstitution
BangladeshBoard of Accreditation for Engineering and Technical Education
ChileAcredita.CI
Costa RicaAssociation of Engineers and Architects of Costa Rica
MexicoConsejo de Acreditación de la Enseñanza de la Ingeniería
PhilippinesPhilippine Technological Council
MyanmarMyanmar Engineering Council
ThailandThailand Accreditation Board of Engineering Education
IndonesiaIndonesian Accreditation Board of Engineering Education