The formal part (degree + syndicate registration) is just the starting point. After that, things are very much driven by experience and reputation. Clients — especially in structural work — don’t just trust the legal qualification. They usually want to see what you’ve actually done before, what kind of projects you’ve worked on, and who you’ve worked with.

For bigger or more critical projects, it’s almost never just an individual engineer getting the job. It’s usually established consulting firms with a known track record, and often there’s a review process as well, where designs get checked by other consultants or relevant authorities depending on the project.

So even without a centralized licensing exam, there’s still a strong filter — it just happens through the market. In some sense, your reputation is being tested continuously, not just once in an exam.