Acronyms often make documents unreadable except by experts and can be deceptive. The
Construction Industry Council (CIC), of which the Institution is a member, is the prime and permanent overall body set up and controlled by the various self-governing institutions in the construction industry. On the other hand, the Construction Industry Standing Conference (CISC) originated as a temporary body (set up with partial Government funding in 1990) to put on paper a system of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) for application at all levels and in all branches of the construction industry. There are three other standing conferences in engineering - Engineering Services (ESSC), Engineering Manufacture (SCEM), and Extraction & Processing (SCEP).
Professor A. Bolton