OPQIBI qualification (engineering) and RGE Études recognition

Engineering organisations practising engineering as their main or secondary activity — technical design offices, engineering companies, consulting engineers, project managers, thermal engineers, acousticians, ecological engineers — in building, infrastructure, environment and energy performance. The qualification applies to the organisation, not to individuals.

What this scheme covers

• C.1A nomenclature of nearly two hundred numbered qualifications, organised by field (building, infrastructure, environment, energy), each described in a sheet setting out the service covered and the criteria to be met.
• C.2An award decided on a file reviewed by a qualification body, against three families of criteria: identification of the organisation (legal existence, tax and social-security compliance, insurance, financials), its human, material and methodological resources, and its references attested by clients.
• C.3"RGE Études" recognition attached to certain qualifications under the charter signed on 4 November 2013 with ADEME and the relevant ministries, a new version of which was signed on 27 May 2016. It adds specific requirements to the usual criteria: training and experience of technical referents, material and methodological resources, and a minimum number of references reviewed in detail.
• C.4A four-year cycle with annual checks: the qualification is granted for four years, but the certificate is reissued each year once the body has verified the organisation still meets the conditions. Organisations that cannot yet produce references enter through a probationary qualification, valid for one year and renewable once, to be converted into a full qualification thereafter.

The link with Qualiopi

Outside the scope of Qualiopi: OPQIBI qualifies engineering organisations, not training providers. The bridge runs both ways. Many design offices also sell training — building thermal performance, environmental regulations, audit methodology — and as soon as they want it funded from public or pooled funds, Qualiopi certification applies, regardless of their OPQIBI qualifications. Conversely, RGE Études recognition requires trained technical referents, hence training providers whose courses are recognised and which themselves need Qualiopi certification to be funded.

The process, summarised

1. 1.Start from the services you actually deliver to select qualifications in the nomenclature, reading each sheet: service covered, resource criteria, expected references. A qualification requested without matching references weakens the whole file.
2. 2.Submit the first-time application through the OPQIBI extranet, with its letter of undertaking and its sub-files: identification, resources, references.
3. 3.Clear the admissibility check then the review: administrative, legal and financial verifications, checks with clients to validate the references, detailed analysis of at least one reference, then examination by the qualification body.
4. 4.For RGE Études recognition, additionally evidence the initial and/or continuing training and experience of the technical referents, the material and methodological resources used, and a minimum number of references attested by the project owners.
5. 5.Maintain the qualification through the cycle: annual check with updated documents and reissue of the certificate, then a renewal file at the four-year mark, backed by references from the period just ended.