Pathways to registration FAQs

As an organisation with a Royal Charter, CIEH has been granted various powers.

One of these is the establishment of Registers of individuals who have satisfied CIEH of their qualifications, experience and willingness to abide by our code of ethics.

This means that Registration is a "quality mark" for people working in environmental health. Registrants have had their knowledge, skills and behaviour directly assessed by CIEH and have indicated that they are willing to behave ethically and maintain their competence through ongoing CPD.

Our Registers are live and online so that registrants' credentials can be verified by anyone at any time.

Registrants are issued with their own digital credentials.

• A register of Chartered Environmental Health Practitioners (CEnvH)
• A register of Environmental Health Practitioners (REnvH)
• A register of Food Safety Practitioners
• A register of Housing Health Practitioners

In addition to these, we also acquired the registers of the Environmental Health Registration Board (EHRB) when it closed in 2021.

The primary benefit of Registration with CIEH is that it indicates someone has demonstrated their knowledge, skills and behaviour to an independent 3rd party organisation (i.e. not simply to an employer or University).

This should offer reassurance to employers, colleagues, the general public and other stakeholders about a registrant’s competence. Individuals working in environmental health are also likely to have their credentials challenged in court proceedings, in which case registration with a recognised professional body can be invaluable.

Additionally:

• Our Registers are available online, so that any registrant's status can be checked by anyone, 24 hours a day.
• Registrants are issued with a unique digital credential, which includes metadata linked to their entry on the online register.
• Registrants may use the professional titles associated with their registration and there are additional designatory letters for Registered EHPs (REnvH) and Chartered EHPs (CEnvH), which can be used in email signatures, professional correspondence, etc.

A Registered Environmental Health Practitioner (EHP) has completed an accredited BSc, MSc or BSc EHP Apprenticeship in environmental health as well as the necessary assessments of their skills in practice, such as the EHP Portfolio and Professional Discussion.

A Registered EHP will therefore have demonstrated the required knowledge and the required application of that knowledge in all five areas of environmental health.

EHPs Registered with CIEH can use the letters REnvH after their name.

For CIEH "Environmental Health Practitioner" and "Environmental Health Officer" are equivalent terms. Following a member vote at an AGM, "Registered Environmental Health Practitioner" is the term used in our Byelaws.

Following an AGM motion, our Board of Trustees has set up a professional titles working group to consider whether this needs to be changed.

Unlike some other professions, "Environmental Health Practitioner" and "Environmental Health Officer" on their own are not protected in law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

CIEH would discourage the use of the terms EHO or EHP for people who are not Registered with CIEH, EHRB or REHIS.

CIEH will take action against people falsely claiming to be Registered Environmental Health Practitioners or Officers.

There have been a number of different pathways to Chartered Status over the years but all of them have included an accredited degree in environmental health and an in-depth assessment of that knowledge in practice. A Chartered EHP will have been working in environmental health for at least two years post-graduation.

Chartered EHPs can use the letters CEnvH after their name.

Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council granted CIEH the power to establish Registers and the use of the CEnvH letters for Chartered EHPs in 2016, following a member vote at the 2015 AGM.

The Environmental Health Registration Board closed in 2021. Its registers are now permanently hosted by CIEH. Part of the reason for this closure was that there was no process for removing EHRB registration after it had been awarded and no requirement for registrants to demonstrate ongoing competence or professional ethics.

The EHP Pathway was launched in September 2021 following consultation with members, employers and other stakeholders.

This consultation was a result of member disquiet with the two-year post-graduate Chartered Practitioner Programme, which closed in 2022.

His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council granted CIEH the use of the REnvH letters for Registered EHPs in October 2022, following a member vote at the 2022 AGM.

This was followed by a further stakeholder consultation about the pathway to Chartered Status, which was then relaunched in 2024.

Initial registration will also require:

• Membership of CIEH at the appropriate grade
• A commitment to abiding by our Code of Ethics and fitness to practise rules
• A commitment to completing an appropriate amount of Continuing Professional Development

In addition to this, people seeking registration who qualified some years ago will be required to:

1. Submit their CPD records for the previous 3 years
2. Pay a one-off registration fee

Registrants must:

• Maintain their CIEH membership at the appropriate grade
• Comply with their Continuing Professional Development obligations
• Adhere to the requirements of our Code of Ethics and fitness to practise rules

A Registration would lapse when:

• The registrant allowed their membership to lapse
• The registrant requested de-registration
• The registrant did not fulfil their CPD obligations and was not able to resolve this in a satisfactory manner with a CPD compliance panel
• The registrant was found to be in breach of the Code of Ethics and fitness to practise rules by a fitness to practise panel which determined that registration or membership be terminated

Usually yes, although this will depend on the reason for removal.

For example, if it has lapsed simply because of a lapse in membership then rejoining and providing some CPD records would usually be sufficient.

Your details will be removed from the registers and your digital credentials will expire. You should cease referring to yourself as a Registered Environmental Health Practitioner (etc). You should inform your employer, especially if registration is one of the requirements for your role.

However, there is no legal requirement for practitioners to be registered, so in many cases you will be able to continue to work.

You can search by name and registration or membership number on our online register.

Registrants will be issued with their own digital credential and a unique registration number. They will also appear on our online register that is publicly accessible. We will always be happy to confirm whether or an individual is registered and for what.

Yes, our registers are linked to our database so any changes should take effect within one hour.

Our qualification and registration processes is overseen by the Environmental Health Services Committee - a committee of the Board of Trustees.

The committee’s responsibilities include oversight of:

• Qualification and entry to the registers
• Membership and ongoing registration
• CPD
• Potential misconduct issues

The process for investigating potential misconduct is set out in our Code of Ethics and fitness to practise rules.

The registers are online can be viewed by anyone with access to the internet. We can also confirm registration by email or telephone, etc.

Your name, membership number, registration number and the types of registration you hold will be viewable.

For Food Safety Practitioners, the type of qualification held (i.e. Higher Certificate in Food Control or Advanced Professional Certificate in Food Hygiene and Standards Control) will be viewable.

For people who have registered via the Chartered Practitioner Programme, the specific sub-disciplines in which competence has been demonstrated will be viewable.

Please contact [email protected]. We rely on members and the general public to inform us of potential breaches of the Code.

No, your registration with EHRB is ongoing. The EHRB registers are now hosted permanently on the CIEH website.

You would need to:

1. Be in membership at the Member or Fellow grade
2. Send us sufficient CPD records from the previous 3 years
3. Pay your registration fee

There is more information about this and an application form on our EHRB page.

You would then also be Registered with CIEH and would appear on our Register. You would therefore be issued with your use digital credentials to use on online professional profiles, websites, CVs etc.

You would also be entitled to use the designatory letters REnvH.

The Public Health Diploma (aka Environmental Health Diploma) was the environmental health qualification before the EHRB Certificate of Registration. For the purposes of Registration, we class EHPs with the Diploma as equivalent to those with the EHRB Certificate of Registration. All of the content in this section applies to EHPs with the Diploma too.

You do not need to do anything. All current Chartered EHPs (except those paying the retired rate of membership) will automatically be added to our Registered of Chartered EHPs.

There is no expectation that people who have become Registered Chartered EHPs (by any method) would be required to undertake the EHP pathway.

Registration is aimed at practitioners, i.e. those actively practising environmental health. For this reason, registration is tied to ongoing CPD activity and it is not generally expected that retired members will be registered.

You are very welcome to remain a member of CIEH and your membership will not be affected by any of this.

You can choose whether or not to become Registered. On the one hand, Registration may be a good way to advertise your credentials to potential clients. On the other, it will require ongoing CPD activity.

You should continue to with your degree and discuss which registration pathway you wish to pursue with any potential (or actual!) employers.

Most people may enrol on a pathway to registration when they have completed the taught elements of their degree (for example when they are commencing on their dissertation).

People on the BSc EHP Apprenticeship may enrol during the final year of their degree.

People who have a 'year out' work placement as part of their degree may enrol at the beginning of that.

We usually recommend that your portfolio consists of new work. However, relevant material which has been completed no less than three years prior to enrolment can be included in the EHP Portfolio. Exceptional work completed prior to this could potentially be included, subject to the agreement of CIEH.

CIEH offers an equivalency assessment for internationally qualified EHPs where we evaluate their knowledge and experience against our pathway. The candidate should contact us at [email protected] for more information about the application process.

Yes, we continue to recognise REHIS qualifications and you would be welcome to become Registered with CIEH. However, your REHIS qualification and membership are already valid for work in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.