By-laws

Corporate Members

1. Honorary Fellows

Distinguished persons intimately connected with acoustics or a science allied thereto, whom the Institute especially desires to honour for exceptionally important services in connection therewith and any distinguished person whom the Institute may desire to honour for service to the Institute or whose association therewith is of benefit to the Institute, shall be eligible to become Honorary Fellows of the Institute.

2. Fellows

Every candidate for election or transfer to the class of Fellow of the Institute shall, in the opinion of the Council, have made a significant contribution to acoustics or to the profession of acoustics as shall make it desirable that he/she be a Fellow of the Institute; and

(a) have had experience for at least seven years of responsible work in acoustics or its application which shall satisfy the Council; and

(b) have the necessary qualifications for Corporate Membership of the Institute.

3. Members

Every candidate for election or transfer to the class of Member of the Institute shall have received a general education approved by the Council and either;

(a) (i) have been educated in acoustics or in a discipline relevant to the practice of acoustics in a manner satisfactory to the Council and have obtained a diploma of the Institute or a degree or diploma recognised by the Council for the purposes of this Clause of the By-laws; and

(ii) have had experience for at least three years of responsible work which demands a knowledge of acoustics or its application as shall satisfy the Council; or

(b) (i) have satisfied the Council that he/she possesses an equivalent knowledge of acoustics and cognate subjects considered appropriate by the Council in accordance with clause (a) of this By-law; and

(ii) have had experience for not less than seven years of responsible work which demands a knowledge of acoustics or its application as shall satisfy the Council.

4. Authorised Titles

The authorised titles and their abbreviations for persons belonging to the various classes of Corporate Membership shall be;

(a) Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Acoustics (Hon. F.I.O.A.) or (HonFIOA)

(b) Fellow of the Institute of Acoustics (F.I.O.A.) or (FIOA)

(c) Member of the Institute of Acoustics (M.I.O.A.) or (MIOA)

Non-corporate Members

5. Associate Members

Every candidate for election or transfer to the class of Associate Member of the Institute shall have received a general education approved by the Council and either;

(a) have been educated in acoustics or in a discipline relevant to the practice of acoustics in a manner acceptable to the Council and have been awarded a diploma of the Institute or a degree or diploma recognised by the Council for the purpose of this Clause of the By-laws; or

(b) have been educated in a discipline related to acoustics and have supplemented their academic qualifications with a period, of length that shall depend on individual circumstances, spent applying their academic qualifications to acoustically-related problems.

6. Technician Members

Every candidate for election or transfer to the class of Technician Member shall have received a general education approved by the Council and shall;

have been educated in acoustics or in a related discipline and have been awarded a Certificate of Competence of the Institute or an equivalent qualification related to acoustics acceptable to the Council; and be regularly engaged in acoustics or a related discipline for at least 1 year.

7. Affiliates

Every candidate for election or transfer to the class of Affiliate shall be one who has received a general education approved by the Council and who wishes to participate in the affairs of the Institute but for whom no other class of membership is appropriate.

8. Students

Every candidate for election to the class of Student shall, at the time of application, be a bonafide student.

A candidate will not be eligible to apply for Student Membership if he/she is in full-time employment unless they are studying for the Institute of Acoustics' Diploma.

A student shall cease to be a student member after four years from the date of admission or at the end of his/her course of study, whichever is the earliest.

9. Sponsors

Sponsor Membership is open to firms, organisations or persons engaged in or having an interest in acoustics, and whose support can advance the aims and objects of the Institute. Each Sponsor shall be entitled to the range of Sponsors' privileges currently approved by the Council.

10. Authorised Titles

The authorised titles and their abbreviations for persons belonging to the various classes of Non-corporate Membership shall be;

(a) Associate Member of the Institute of Acoustics (A.M.I.O.A.) or (AMIOA)

(b) Technician Member of the Institute of Acoustics (Tech.I.O.A.) or (TechIOA)

(c) Affiliate of the Institute of Acoustics

(d) Student Member of the Institute of Acoustics

No other titles or abbreviations are permitted.

Procedure for Election

11. General

Every application for election or transfer to any class of membership of the Institute shall be in a form prescribed by the Council and shall be signed by the applicant, the proposer and supporter or supporters of the application as appropriate for the class of membership desired. The application shall be accompanied by a Declaration in the form set out in the Appendix to the Articles of Association of the Institute of Acoustics.

Every member who is elected shall be informed of his/her election by the Secretary who shall also send a copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association and these By-laws, and any other document by which his/her membership is governed.

No election or transfer shall become effective until all fees payable on such election or transfer have been paid.

12. Corporate Members

Election or transfer to Corporate Membership shall be decided by the Council at a Meeting of the Council. No record shall be made in the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council of the names of candidates not elected, but such a record may be made in the Minutes of a meeting of a Committee of the Council. The Council shall not be required to give its reason or reasons for refusing to elect a candidate.

The Council may re-admit to Corporate Membership in the class to which he/she formerly belonged any person whose Corporate Membership has terminated, provided the Council is satisfied that he/she is worthy of such readmission and such amounts have been paid in respect of entrance fees or arrears of fees and subscriptions as the Council may determine.

13. Honorary Fellows

A candidate for Honorary Fellowship shall be nominated by the Medals and Awards Committee and the nomination shall be submitted for approval at a Meeting of the Council.

14. Fellows

A candidate applying for election or transfer to the class of Fellow of the Institute shall normally be proposed by one Fellow or Honorary Fellow of the Institute who personally knows the candidate and shall be supported by two other Fellows or Honorary Fellows of the Institute who also personally know the candidate.

15. Members

A candidate applying for election or transfer to the class of Member of the Institute shall be proposed by one Fellow, Honorary Fellow or Member of the Institute who personally knows the candidate and shall be supported by two other Fellows, Honorary Fellows or Members of the Institute who also personally know the candidate.

Non-corporate Members

16. Associate Members, Technician Members and Affiliates

A candidate applying for election to the class of Associate Member, Technician Member or Affiliate of the Institute shall be proposed by one Corporate Member who personally knows the candidate.

17. Students

A candidate for election to the class of Student shall be proposed by one Corporate Member (no longer required from December 2014).

18. Sponsors

Proposals for election to the class of Sponsor shall come to the Council through and with the support of a Corporate Member who is acquainted with the work and interests of the applicant.

19. Election to Membership in Exceptional Circumstances

Notwithstanding the provisions of By-laws 1 to 9, the Council may, in exceptional circumstances of qualifications, experience or achievement in acoustics or a science allied thereto, elect any candidate to any class of Membership it considers appropriate.

Download: Memorandum and Articles of Association combined (November 2012).pdf

All members of the Institute shall at all times:

Conduct their professional activities in accordance with the Statement of Ethical Principles published by the Engineering Council and the Royal Academy of Engineering (revised 2017);
 

So order their conduct as to uphold the reputation of the profession and of the Institute and of its members and officers;

Safeguard the public interest in matters of safety, health and the environment.

Exercise their professional skill and judgement to the best of their ability.

Discharge their professional responsibilities with integrity, honesty and diligence.

Treat all persons fairly and with respect.

Definitions

The definitions set out below apply throughout these rules.

For the purposes of these Rules:

'members' includes a member, or members of any class referred to in the By-laws.

'employer' includes client.

'complainant' is the member or non-member originating the complaint.

'defendant' is the member against whom the complaint is made.

'Council' is the Council of the Institute of Acoustics.

'Officers' are the Honorary Officers as defined in the Articles of Association.

A Rules of Conduct

For clarity, these Rules have been grouped into the principal duties which all members should endeavour to discharge in pursuing their professional lives.

A1. Professional competence and integrity

A1.1     Members shall avoid undertaking work which is beyond their capabilities. Therefore, members shall undertake to:

• upgrade their professional knowledge and skill and encourage others to do so.
• maintain adequate awareness of technological developments, procedures, standards, laws and statutory regulations which are relevant to their field either by involvement in the Institute's Continuing Professional Development Scheme or by any other appropriate means.
   

A1.2     Members shall not knowingly act for a client for whom other members are acting in the same matter until either:

• the first contract has been determined by the client; or
• the member has sought an assurance from the client that the first member is aware of their involvement.
   

A1.3      Members shall not maliciously or recklessly injure or attempt to injure whether directly or indirectly the professional reputation of others, whether they are members or not.
 

A1.4     Members shall show proper regard for the sanctity of data. In particular members will:

• not knowingly alter, manipulate, fabricate or misrepresent data.
• ensure that primary data used in any publication or report are available in a form that would allow for independent scrutiny and that sufficient details of any experiments, by which the data were derived, are available to allow others to replicate such experiments.
   

A1.5      If members are co-authors rather than primary authors of reports and publications, then they should establish and agree the extent of their professional responsibility for the validity of the work with the primary author.

A2. Public interest

A2.1        Members shall act in accordance with the principles of sustainability and not do anything, or permit anything under their authority to be done, of which the probable and involuntary consequences would, in their professional judgement:

• endanger human life or safety; or
• expose valuable property to the risk of destruction or serious damage; or
• needlessly pollute the environment except when legally authorised to do so.
   

A2.2       In their work, members shall respect all relevant laws and statutory regulations. However, the Institute is not competent to judge the legality of any action nor to resolve disputes concerning non-technical aspects of any contract.
 

A2.3       Members shall raise a concern about a danger, risk, malpractice or wrongdoing which affects others (‘blow the whistle’), and support a colleague or any other person to whom you have a duty of care who in good faith raises any such concern. 
 

A2.4       Members shall notify the Institute if convicted of an indictable criminal offence or an adverse civil court judgement, related to any aspect of the Institution’s Code of Professional Conduct (whether in UK or overseas); or upon becoming bankrupt or disqualified as a Company Director or Charity Trustee. 
 

A2.5       Members shall notify the Institute of any significant violation of the Institute’s Code of Conduct by another member. 
 

A2.6       Members shall notify the Institute if they have had membership of another professional body terminated as the result of a disciplinary procedure.

A3. Duty to Employers and Clients

A3.1        When discharging their professional duties members shall:

• satisfy themselves as to their scope, obtaining in advance any necessary clarification or confirmation, and shall not accept professional obligations which they believe they have not sufficient competence or authority to perform.
• accept responsibility for all work carried out by them, or under their supervision or direction, and shall take all reasonable steps to ensure that persons working under their authority are competent to carry out the tasks assigned to them and that they accept responsibility for work done under the authority delegated to them.
• assess relevant liability and if appropriate hold professional indemnity insurance.
• give advice that is objective and, as far as practicable, reliable and take all reasonable steps to ensure that the person who over-rules or disregards their advice is aware of the possible consequences.
• disclose to their client or employer any benefits or interests that they may have in any matter in which they are engaged on their behalf.
• neither communicate to any person, nor publish any information or matter not previously known by them or published in the public domain, which has been communicated to them in confidence by a client or employer without the express authority of that client or employer.
• not offer, give or receive any inducement (financial or otherwise) to or from a third party in return for the introduction of clients or professional assignments without making such action known to the client.

• safeguard any funds or other resources managed for the benefit of any person and shall avoid any misrepresentation, whether financial or professional, of their own worth or that of their employer.

   

A4. Conflicts of interest

A4.1       Where a conflict arises or may arise between the members' own interests and those of any of their associates and the interests of a client, the members must:

• disclose to the client as soon as practicable the possibility of the conflict.
• inform the client that neither they personally nor their firm or company can act or continue to act for the client unless requested to do so having first advised the client to obtain independent professional advice; and confirm to the client in writing the above position.
   

May 2025