[Closed] How much do you pay for your professional membership?

Zero as it makes no difference whether I'm Chartered or not (IET was IEE), so I don't bother.

RIBA is only £259 for the first year, then its £400+ from then on, notwithstanding the mandatory registration with ARB which is £105.
Both are self serving organisations.

£334/year for Chartered status and £80 for HCPC registration.

I think IChemE is about £250, but work have always paid it which is pretty typical in most places I've worked.

but work have always paid it which is pretty typical in most places I've worked.

and often the institution leadership come from the big cos. They know that a 1,000 surveyor employer will stump up the £500k, the Co. get the kind of institution THEY want not one that suits the members. The self-employed or small practices can go whistle.

RIBA is only £259 for the first year, then its £400+ from then on, notwithstanding the mandatory registration with ARB which is £105.
Both are self serving organisations.

Who seem incapable of speaking constructively to each other. Throw the AABC into the mix (who I am informed by the HMRC is a none deductible expense even though I need membership to work on government/HLF schemes in my field) you have quite a bill at the end of the year

Stoner - there's probably an element of truth in that for the engineering institutions but even if you have to pay it's probably worth £250. Membership is useful professionally, and you get access to member's group events, special interest groups, online data and resource library, preferential conference / training course rates, networking opportunities.

£500 sounds a bit much, if you don't get anything back.

footflaps +1. Company would pay my IMechE membership, but I refuse to give the the self-serving and professionally/publically invisible shower of sh!tes anything..... promotes a good office 'debate' each year....

About £250 for IMarEST but if work didn't pay I'd probably let my chartered status lapse. I'm not sure it's ever benefited me.

I'm a Chartered Engineer with the IMechE.

It costs me £200 per year.

For that I get a fortnightly magazine and some events and stuff....

My company won't pay it either 🙁

Dentists can pay the 365 to the BDA but that''s optional. You have to pay 890 to the GDC who are responsible for CPD, disciplinary controls and as many other aspects as they can get their hands on. Was £11 when I qualified.
Pretty sure medics pay at least the same if not more.

You should try Canada. It's normally ~$350 but because I'm a pesky foreigner it's closer to $500.

At the risk of getting shot down, these institutions are members organisations, mostly run by volunteers. If it's not to your liking get involved and change it.

It costs me £200 per year.

For that I get a fortnightly magazine and some events and stuff....

My company won't pay it either

If your company won't pay it, you can claim the tax back to at least minimise the cost to you.

tomd - i thought Id pop into the website and see if there were any technical papers of interest.

For £500 a year I would want:

PI cover up to £200k turnover. FREE. If they think membership is fundamental to good practice, they should back it and provide the PI cover that we have to pay for anyway.

online CPD/videos, course materials, assessment. FREE (They want £50 for an hour, or £200 for 10hrs worth in a year, or £500 a year unlimited) And this is "affordable". I dont care if its the sale of the ******** century, if they are making you take the damn things they should be covered by the subscription cost.

A decent online library of technical papers. We get access to a few bits and pieces of mainly irrelevant dross and all the useful stuff is missing.

JAG - Member
I'm a Chartered Engineer with the IMechE.

It costs me £200 per year.

For that I get a fortnightly magazine and some events and stuff....

My company won't pay it either

That seems cheap for chartered.

I pay more than that for AMIMechE.
Last time I looked, once you moved up to Chartered it was over £400.

And yeah - not sure what you really get for your money....
A boring magazine that wonders why people aren't 'into' engineering but the report in a very boring way about mainly boring subjects and talks that are always miles away from home and/or work and start way too early for me to get to.
Ooooh, you do get offers for training - but again, it all seems at massively over-inflated prices.

MrsMC is a social worker. £80 per year or she is immediately unemployed. And £280 to reregister after that.

Before HPCP or whatever it is called it was £15.

Richie_B - Member
Who seem incapable of speaking constructively to each other. Throw the AABC into the mix (who I am informed by the HMRC is a none deductible expense even though I need membership to work on government/HLF schemes in my field) you have quite a bill at the end of the year

£384* for a practising certificate from the Law Society which, as a representative body, has distinct chocolate fireguard status. However, for private practice lawyers, it's a compulsory requirement (not for those who work in house other than in specific circumstances).

Me? I'm just about to stop working as a lawyer, so not sure I'll need it any more….

*I'm employed, so don't pay for it myself

[coughs] How is Camilla today?

On leave I think.

Slightly freaked out by that you will have to give me a clue

HCPC is £80 for 2 years.

IStructE is £299 which I'm generally happy to pay as I do get genuine benefits from membership. And it's tax deductible if you pay it yourself.
What annoys me though is having to pay an extra £30 or so to the Engineering Council every year to use the term 'Chartered Engineer' which I am already qualified and entitled to use through my Institution membership. I assume this applies to all the engineering institutions.

Law Society of England & Wales = £350
Law Society of Scotland = £550

I get a crap magazine that I only check the disciplinary section of (both for a laugh and to see if anyone I know has been booted). Separate payment is required into compensation funds.

Richie_B - Member

IOP (physics) is about £120 a year. The monthly mag is the main reason I pay it.

about 190 CEng MBCS CITP
For employees it's a tax deductible expense (stick it on your tax form)

aP - Member

Sorry. Chiswick.

My mind is befuddled by an EH deadline. For a minute I thought you were referring to a job I did in Chiswick 6 years ago, which really did freak me out.

I've been here for five years but still haven't made it to one of the group get togethers.

CEng MIMechE is £245.70 for 2015

IOP (physics) is about £120 a year

£100 for MInstP, for £120 you must be FInstP. I also pay mainly for the magazine, plus I think they do a lot of good in physics education amongst other things.

IISP want £100 for associate membership and £200 for full membership so I gave up on them despite having helped found it.

so far then it's Scottish Lawyers and Dentists are the only ones who have to pay more than us glorified estate agents for our accreditation?

Well I think that's me made my mind up.

£122 for MRSC, thinking of re-joining but only to get the 10% off a course I want to do...

Haven't missed the 13 years or so out of it as it's not a big thing over here and I don't recall ever seeing CChem ever required for a job.

I don't recall ever seeing CChem ever required for a job.

Likewise I've never heard of "CEng" being required or even mentioned....

The GMC and RCGP seem to ask for loads of money.
All they do is snoop on you and your so called 'unorthodox treatments and practice rituals'.

I'm not a member of either now - suits me and my subjects, I mean patients, perfectly...

DrP

(this may or may not be true...)

I looked into becoming chartered engineer and could see no reason for my job as I did not legally need it. It seemed like for many people it was a back slapping exercise to put on letter heads and look smart, part of the culture of prestige. If you need to have registration for legal reasons its different matter. The institute also seems to become self appointed spokespeople for the field / industry.

Likewise I've never heard of "CEng" being required or even mentioned....

Pretty common in my industry, things like "10 yrs experience and CEng" or a "Million years experience and approved by God" so very much worth having

Pretty common in my industry,

Which is?

I'm in Telecoms and very few people bother with the IET (less than 10% I'd say).

No health and safety training? 😆

Chartered biologist at Fellowship level, £165 pa - not essential for my job but useful.

about £380 for the association of photographers. i like the professionalism and exclusivity but it’s a double edged sword as the low membership means higher member fee’s. they do a lot for copyright/orphan works campaigning and legal advice. i wouldn’t bother if they lowered the standards for entry and became like the RPS or BIPP and full of sunset/cat pic taking retired opticians.

obviously you dont have to be a member but i have gained financially from being a member and its good to share info with fellow professionals that you otherwise wouldn’t cross paths with.
clients wouldn’t know i was a member or even ask so it’ not an essential.

Member with ICE is £280ish. Once again a lot of companies pay for it (mine does) and as you get further up the ladder does start to become a lot more of a prerequisite. I know my firm are starting to put a glass ceiling and where you can get without IEng or CEng.

Aerospace: £228 for full membership of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a further £36 for the Engineering Council (CEng) annual fee.

I thought I was getting ripped off, but on reading some of the other posts it seems I'm getting a bargain!

RICS here as well...They don't offer much 🙁

However, it's better to be inside the tent pissing out than pissing in. IMO

MODUS is a good fire starter 😉

Domestic electrical - around £400 / yr.

It is difficult to see why it is £400. I get an Assessor visit me for around 3 hours each year to judge my competence and see if my paperwork is neatly filed. Other than that, I dont really use any of the 'benefits' - the Tech helpline is pretty useless for anyone who has a brain, a magazine that is thrown straight into the bin, and a library of Tech articles which are available via google anyway.

I'm in the IET at Tech level too, though thats a personal decision and has little bearing on my work, but it's nice to be slightly more clued up about things.

footflaps - Engineering consultancy. A lot of client's use it as a benchmark, and will often accept someone's CV if the experience is borderline but they have CEng. Shows a good level of commitment and experience to their profession. The example above of 10yrs and CEng is actually a fairly common thing in bid documents.

In the Geol Soc the Fellow is £200, Chartered adds a one-off £85, I believe. It gets you library, one journal from a choice of, and monthly mag with something topical. And you can charge it against tax.

MODUS is a good fire starter

even the ones i shot the covers for? 😕

I ditched it. Not a requirement to be CEng. Company encourage it but don't pay for it therefore I can live with MEng.

Mine isn't a proper professional organisation, but that's OK because my work pays for it. IIRC it's £400 a year

MODUS is a good fire starter

But it's about as absorbent as a welsh slate though redthunder 😉

even the ones i shot the covers for

My arse appreciated them. Thanks.

My arse appreciated them. Thanks.

so did my bank account. so do keep up your membership 🙂

Just added it up. Over £1k for professional organisations (HCPC, FRCpath, FsocBio) and societies (ESHRE, ASRM, BFS, BSGM) and doing some further qualifications (HCLD).

I need to cut down!

My federation sub's are clearly well spent protecting my best interests.

[img] [/img]

are you obliged to be a member of the federation bregante?

Seems to be that some are optional. I thought a Professional Membership would mean you can't do your job with out it. In the case of Paramedic you can't even use the title unless you have the qualifications and registered.

That headquarters picture reminds me of GSK's new headquarters from about 10-15 years ago.

At a time when our site removed all plants to save the 10K watering bill (I have no idea, that was the figure bandied around) despite loads of people offering to do it for free, the new headquarters was just opening up which contained "the street"; coffee shops, gym, launderette (1 day turnaround on suits) and a host of other benefits including a jungle of plants which they caught on video and e-mailed everyone this....

That motivated people a lot.

RTPI - £290. Employer pays it fortunately; I wouldn't bother otherwise unless I was in sole practice. RICS does sound a rip off.

not necessarily Drac. You can do most of the "professional" work that has a label without being a member.
Most of the titles are protected in use and for some stuff in Surveying you arent insured* unless youre registered to do a particular function (thinking formal valuation work here) - and that's what people are buying when they instruct you to value something, they want back up in case you screw it up.

I can continue to do what I do with or without my Letters. I just cant call myself a Chartered Surveyor anymore.

General Medical Council: £390/year (mandatory)
Medical defence society/professional indemnity: £283/year (I personally wouldn't work without it)
Royal College of Physicians: £126/year (mandatory if I want to use my postgrad qualification letters after my name)
British Cardiovascular Society: £100/year (optional)

I also paid ~£800 for the mandatory ePortfolio for the duration of my 5 years of training, and will have to pay £400 to be registered as a consultant at the end of that time.

2.99 a year for the Tufty club( journalist)

@stoner

It does have very rough feel to the paper. Very tactile 🙂

Not obliged Stoner, no but we are forbidden from joining any unions as such so it's them or nothing. And if we ever do get in the mire then they're pretty much the only protection we get.

In present company I feel somewhat embarrassed by the mere £50pa us Scottish teachers pay to the GTCS... 😳

Our Nursing & Midwifery Council fees are £100 per year, rising to £120 next April. If you don't pay you can't practice, full stop.

There are few (if any) perks for registrants. The NMC is predominately a judge, jury and potential executioner that we have to pay for, rather than the general public who it 'protects'.

They've a nice HQ in the middle of London and a few regional offices in the not so cheap parts of other cities, not that we get a chance to see/use them (unless we're in trouble).

British AirLine Pilots Assocn (BALPA) charge 1% of salary (with some tax relief) which works out at £84 a month for me at the moment 😯

£130, but I don't bother as it's fairly clear they're just a self-serving entity. Work have/would pay, but a waste of tax-payers' money 😉

Pretty sure medics pay at least the same if not more.

General Medical Council: £390/year (mandatory)
Medical defence society/professional indemnity: £283/year (I personally wouldn't work without it)
Royal College of Physicians: £126/year (mandatory if I want to use my postgrad qualification letters after my name)
British Cardiovascular Society: £100/year (optional)

Sorry legolam, it's going to get considerably more expensive after you are registered as a consultant. Per year:-

GMC 390ukp,
Medical defence society around 1200ukp pa,
Royal College of Physicians only 310ukp by neat trick of being in a Scottish College and therefore being an "overseas" member in Yorkshire ( London College was around 600ukp when I jumped ship )

Semi compulsory BMA (trade union) 432ukp
Specialist societies X3 a further 200ukp

Not sure I want to add all that up. I think it is roughly a Superfly per year.

Ah well.

I can continue to do what I do with or without my Letters. I just cant call myself a Chartered Surveyor anymore.

Ah! Cheers. Guy a few doors up from me does that and other property related things, can't remember what he calls himself.

Not obliged Stoner, no but we are forbidden from joining any unions as such so it's them or nothing. And if we ever do get in the mire then they're pretty much the only protection we get.

It's not the same as a Professional body really though. You could do you job without them but use them for your own protection.

I am a mechanical engineer and I work in the aerospace industry. I stopped paying ImechE a few years ago when I realised that it was doing SFA for my employability as well as for my career prospect.
It depends on you alone what is in your CV and what you are going to make of your career.
In all the interviews, job offers and headhunting experiences I had, I cannot recall it being even mentioned (wether I was a member).

I recall a workmate calling it "freemasonry for engineers" 😉

£211 for my prof body. That doesn't include PI cover or practicing certificate (as I am not yet a "responsible individual" I don't yet have these bills to pay) but they will be extras in due course when/if I next get promoted.

I probably have about £1000 of cpd costs for courses and the like on top of that although you can spend a lot less if you do a lot of webinar / online training.

Royal College Veterinary Surgeons £299, mandatory to be able to practise.

BVA £288

BSAVA £222

Veterinary Defense Society payment for legal cover thankfully usually paid for by practice.

TMIET is £137 pa, my employer pays for 2/3.
CIS is £450 pa, my employer pays all. Not really a professional membership, more a certification.

MRCVS £299, DACVIM $500, Specialist status £100, Societies £400, professional indemnity £1200

If I gave up I could buy a SC nomad after a few years...

Getting off lightly, try being an outdoor leader....

BMC, British Cycling, SNAM, BASI, BAIML, MTA....

Member of Royal Town Planning Institute (MRTPI) - £290 but employer pays
I have also sometimes paid for Membership of Chartered Management Institute (MCMI) - £149 although cost depends on what qualifications / experience you have

Mrs FD is a surgeon and like legolam, it costs get a small fortune every year just so she can turn up to work, easily £1k + .

Are mandatory exams included in the total too? If so Royal College exams £5k ish, annual ATLS £500. Other squidly exams £1k

Plus more

British AirLine Pilots Assocn (BALPA) charge 1% of salary (with some tax relief) which works out at £84 a month for me at the moment

that's quite a lot, but then so is 8400 a month...

British AirLine Pilots Assocn (BALPA) charge 1% of salary (with some tax relief) which works out at £84 a month for me at the moment

1% of your salary is less than what most of my staff pay.

Stoner,
In respect of the CPD I know 😉 a lot of surveyors who register theirs using all the free cpd courses that aren't run by RICS to fulfil the requirement. Till they start asking for the cpd certificates that most courses hand out seems to work.
"Glorified estate agent" take it you qualified in estate management then 🙂

free cpd courses that aren't run by RICS to fulfil the requirement.

Links or it isnt true 😉

General Practice: jack=? / master=0