The Washington Accord is an international accreditation agreement for professional engineering academic degrees, between the bodies responsible for accreditation in its signatory countries. Established in 1989, the signatories as of 2014 are Australia, Canada, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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The agreement 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 undergraduate engineering degrees under Outcome-based education approach. Engineering technology and postgraduate programs are not covered by the accord, although some engineering technology programs are covered under the Sydney Accord and the 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 accreditation bodies of the Washington Accord, their respective countries and territories, and years of admission:
The following countries have provisional signatory status and may become member signatories in the future: