Civil engineer

About the role

This  occupation is found in the construction, built environment and engineering sectors, with civil engineers employed in a variety of organisation types and sizes. 

The broad purpose of the occupation is to provide the technical management of civil engineering tasks and activities, or projects, which includes the planning, design, construction, management, maintenance or dismantling of:

• the built environment: for example, buildings, structures, parks and public spaces, schools, offices, museums, hospitals,
• Infrastructure: for example, transportation (road, rail, bridges, tunnels, ports and airports),
• water and waste management, marine and coastal engineering: for example, irrigation systems, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), flood, river and coastal defences,
• energy supplies: for example, utilities, hydropower, power stations, nuclear plants, on and offshore wind farms. 

Civil engineers use and apply advanced engineering knowledge, underpinned by advanced scientific and mathematical principles and theories, whilst using a range of methods, techniques, and procedures to deliver civil engineering solutions. They do so by sourcing, reviewing, interpreting, critically analysing and evaluating a range of data and information, specifying materials or processes, and propose and deliver solutions for civil engineering problems, evaluating performance and support continuous improvement.   

With the need to mitigate the detrimental effects on the environment and an increased drive for carbon emission reduction, improvements in building performance and sustainability, civil engineers will consider the whole life cycle of a civil engineering asset, ensuring civil engineering systems and projects align with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG), respond to carbon net-zero emissions targets, and are compliant with environmental and sustainability policies and legislation, including the climate change act. 

Civil engineers will prepare, produce and present civil engineering information, designs and documentation, with regard for the practical need to construct, manage and maintain, and improve civil engineering equipment and systems, and to relevant codes of practice and industry standards, to statutory and regulatory requirements (such as the Building Safety Act 2022, BSI Flex 8670, Construction (Design and Management) (CDM)), and complying with health, safety and wellbeing requirements. 

They use appropriate analytical and computational software, including engineering analysis software (such as CAD or Revit software), to prepare, produce, and communicate civil engineering solutions, recognising the limitations of the techniques and outputs produced. Many civil engineers now use digital data modelling processes and systems, such as Building Information Management (BIM), using ISO 19650 standards, to manage information over the whole life cycle of a civil engineering asset (such as the information required for the ‘golden thread’). 

Civil engineers will be responsible for initiating, planning, and managing tasks, projects or processes, the team members, or specialist technical input, and wider resources needed, whilst applying appropriate project, financial, legal and commercial management knowledge and techniques, using quality management systems and risk assessment procedures to mitigate risks, and to improve safe systems and security. 

They will also commission, carry out, or review site inspections or surveys, report progress against performance criteria, and check specified technical aspects of design, site, construction or manufacturing activities.  

In their daily work, employees interact with their line manager, often a senior engineer or project manager, and their team members, to determine, manage, and review tasks, projects and programmes of work, agreeing individual and team responsibilities; they do so to design, produce and evaluate civil engineering solutions, ensuring they are fit for purpose, safe, secure, environmentally sustainable, and meet customer and industry specifications. 

Civil engineers will regularly work with other civil engineers and technicians, and specialist contactors for which they may be responsible for.  They will also collaborate with others working in a range of disciplines, and from various employer types (e.g., clients, consultancies, contractors); these might include building services engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers, surveyors, architects, project managers, planners, environmental practitioners, legal or finance teams, where they will need to communicate effectively in relation to technical and project matters. 

Depending on their employer, civil engineers will also communicate and collaborate with those outside their own organisation, including clients or customers, consultants or contractors, suppliers, manufacturers, and with stakeholders or with representatives from appropriate regulatory bodies.  

Civil engineers, depending on their employer, will spend their time in an office environment, working on site, working remotely or a combination of these. 

Employees are responsible for designing, delivering and managing civil engineering technical solutions to specification, ensuring accuracy and quality, within financial, time, resource, commercial and legal limits, and compliant with health and safety regulations, to industry, regulatory and legislative standards, including the Building Safety Act 2022.  They must also comply with health and safety regulations, including the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, Construction (Design and Management) regulation, and environmental and sustainability policies. 

They are able to make decisions, exercising sound independent engineering judgement, whilst knowing their own limits of authority when undertaking the occupational duties in a range of contexts and environments, adapting to issues that arise, informing the actions to be taken and reviewing the effectiveness of these actions. They are also responsible for their own, and promoting the benefits of, equality, diversity and inclusion and continuing professional development, and recognising their own obligations to society.  

Entry requirements

Whilst individual employers will set the selection criteria for their Apprenticeships, employers will work with their chosen training provider to agree specific entry requirements.  However, candidates will typically have completed a relevant level 3 or 4 apprenticeship in the field, or have relevant qualifications, such as a BTEC Diploma, T-Level, A levels, or Higher National Certificate (HNC) or Diploma (HND) in civil engineering, construction, or physical and mathematical sciences.

Entry requirements are ultimately set by each employer — treat these as the baseline, not the bar.