Hierarchy of engineering profession 

Engineering profession is characterized by the following hierarchy with specific functions.  

Professional institutions:

 Professional institution provides a forum for members of a particular profession to interact among themselves. The institutions also set ethical standards and standard of professional conducts for members including benchmarks and best practices.  They are quasi regulatory agencies and can administer disciplinary actions for members’ misconducts. For instance, the Nigerian Institution of Agricultural Engineers (NIAE) provides a forum for Agricultural Engineers within the country to interact among selves.

Professional society:

This is an umbrella association formed by coming together of several members of professional institutions with the primary objective of providing a forum where members of the profession can interact to share ideas.  This body provides a wider platform for its operation than the professional institution. The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) for instance is the umbrella association for all engineering disciplines in Nigeria which provides a bigger forum where they interact with each other, for example agricultural engineers can interact with other engineering professionals.

Professional regulatory body:

Professional regulatory body is established by a decree or law whose primary function is to regulate the training of members of a particular profession such as engineering and the formulation of edicts of professional practice. 

There are many professional regulatory bodies in Nigeria that regulate different professions ranging from accounting to engineering.  The list in Table 1-1 below presents some notable professional regulatory bodies in Nigeria. Some of these institutions also administer certification examinations to members depending on their charter.  Passing these examinations is seen as symbol of professional accomplishments and lends credence to the competence of the individuals who have passed the examinations.    

The professional regulatory body for engineering training and practice in Nigeria is the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN).