In this guide
Use this material to examine your own work. Confirm current requirements, forms and dates with IStructE before applying.
An additional energy question was reintroduced to the Chartered Membership Examination from January 2026. The same examination rules apply to it.
Confirming options for your session
The question options changed in January 2026. Check the current paper structure with IStructE for your session and obtain the energy appendix if considering that option. Where this site shows options, it uses the examination date to select the applicable structure.
Engineering considerations for energy structures
The examination rules remain the same, but the work may involve:
- Operational, thermal, dynamic, cyclic, accidental or blast loads alongside gravity and wind.
- Fatigue from machinery or environmental cycling.
- Equipment-driven vibration, deflection and tolerance limits.
- Difficult access for maintenance and inspection, with costly shutdowns.
- Decommissioning, dismantling and reuse at the end of a defined operational life.
Preparing for the option
Study the relevant structural forms and governing loads, and practise sketching stability. If the sector is unfamiliar, consider whether you can produce a complete answer under examination conditions before choosing it.
What tends to differ in an energy brief
| Situation | Typical building or bridge brief | Energy-sector brief |
|---|---|---|
| Governing loads | Gravity and wind | Operational, thermal, dynamic and cyclic loads; sometimes accidental cases |
| Fatigue | Rarely governs | Can govern where loading is cyclic |
| Serviceability driven by | People: comfort and appearance | Equipment: vibration, deflection and tolerance limits |
| Access and maintenance | A design consideration | Often decisive, because shutdowns are expensive |
| End of life | Usually distant | A defined operational life makes dismantling a real design case |
the Forum’s characterisation of the sector, offered as orientation. The requirements for the question itself come from the Institution's energy appendix.
Questions to ask yourself
- Do I work in this sector, or near it?
An unfamiliar structural form under exam conditions is a hard place to be, and the paper rewards a complete answer to an ordinary question over a partial answer to an interesting one.
- Can I sketch stability for the typical arrangements in this sector?
Ignoring stability is an automatic fail whichever question you answer.
- Have I read the Institution's energy appendix for the session I am sitting?
It supplements the general guidance, and the number of question options depends on when you sit.
Official sources
Selected publisher pages were rechecked in September 2026. Other source records were last checked in July 2026. Open the latest official document before relying on a requirement.