Criminal record checks for engineers; in 2026 and beyond

During the IET Engineering Council registration process there is a box to sign that, normally, says that you don't have a criminal record. Those that do have some form of record are asked to identify (to appropriate admin folks) what the record is, as many are simply noted (e.g. some driving offences). 

There will be other offences that will preclude being trusted (e.g. fraud?) as a professional engineer. There are likely to also be other offences (e.g. those covered by 'safeguarding') where you may not get employment in some sectors.

As a very rough guide, if you can't discuss the spent record with relevant professionals then it's likely to be a problem. It also will depend on the level of responsibility you hope to hold and the commensurate registration category. Spent convictions are generally 'spent'.

The biggest advice is to talk directly to the appropriate registration authority, be that the IET (Technologists) or the ICE (Civils).

You may not know that some sorts of  spent convictions are not shown on some levels of DBS (or CRB check as it is called in some older literature).

The basic check does not show spent convictions but the enhanced ones (required for example to work unsupervised in a school or to become a youth leader) do.

Some offences, like violent attacks and more serious sexual offences are 'sticky' and remain on-record pretty much for ever.

Some material is filtered from even the enhanced checks as being too minor - offences when below 18 or things that only justified a written warning/ police caution , and as above more , fines / speed awareness courses for example for traffic offences where no-one got hurt.

Generally when a check is done, you get a copy of the information as well as the company applying, so you can see what has been said.

Not sure how much that helps. 

Mike

I have had multiple DBS checks and have an (current) Enhanced DBS as I volunteer as a STEM Ambassador.

What you will find is that many companies perform something called a BPSS check. This involves a Basic DBS.

My experience was that it you work on a government funded civils contract (an example being HS2), they will mandate a BPSS. If you work on other sensitive contracts, often the BPSS is the first stage, before any further security checks are performed.

If you work with children or vulnerable people, you are certain to need an enhanced DBS.

But yes, needing a DBS is fairly widespread in my experience.

How much of an issue it is, especially for a spent conviction, it depends on the nature. I have heard of one case (in a completely different industry) where someone had a blemish on their enhanced DBS, but it was up to the manager to write a justification and risk assessment for why the person was still suitable. Thats probably a special case, as you need to have skills that make it worthwhile someone spending the time to do that.

Prospective criminal record engineer said:

Do all civil engineers need security clearance at some point in their careers? 

To balance out the comments above (which are all correct), many positions don't require this. In fact I'd guess - but it is only a guess - that the majority don't. As a professional engineer (although not a civil engineer) I've never had a formal criminal record check in my employment, or a security clearance check, neither have I ever needed to ask for one to be done on the many engineers I've employed over the years.

I probably have been asked when I've applied for positions if I have any convictions spent or unspent. Just be honest here, if you hide it and it's then found out later it could be grounds for dismissal - whether it's relevant to your position or not.

Like Mark I have had multiple checks done for voluntary positions.

Prospective criminal record engineer said:

Because it seems that there has been an increase in firms performing enhanced DBS checks, despite not being legally entitled to.

Be careful that you're going by fact and not hearsay here. The guidance on eligibility is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dbs-eligibility-guidance Any employer can carry out a Basic DBS check. It would seem unlikely the ineligible employers are performing enhanced checks, I'm not clear how they would do this. 

Best advice: Become the best engineer you can, then good employers will find ways to employ you (even if they need to keep you away from certain tasks).