Civil engineer
Construction and the built environment
Level 6 -
Designing, maintaining and decommissioning civil engineering infrastructure.
Reference: OCC0417
Status:
SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 3114/02
Technical Education Products
Employers involved in creating the standard:
Tony Gee & Partners, Arup, Arcadis, AtkinsRealis, Jacobs, Waterman Group, WSP, Systra, Transport for London, COWI, Skanska, McGee, BAM, Cormac, Sir Robert McAlpine, Breheny, Balfour Beatty.
Summary
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.
Employers involved in creating the standard:
Tony Gee & Partners, Arup, Arcadis, AtkinsRealis, Jacobs, Waterman Group, WSP, Systra, Transport for London, COWI, Skanska, McGee, BAM, Cormac, Sir Robert McAlpine, Breheny, Balfour Beatty.
Typical job titles include:
Keywords:
Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)
Duties
Duty D1
Deliver solutions to broadly defined civil engineering problems, by preparing, producing and presenting engineering diagrams and documents, to engineering specifications, industry codes of practice, regulations, standards, and procedures.
Duty D2
Deliver appropriate and effective technical civil engineering solutions, through the identification, selection, review and evaluation of data and technical information, and the use of a range of appropriate engineering analytical methods, techniques, processes, and technologies.
Duty D3
Manage civil engineering tasks or projects, and the input of others, by applying project, team and quality management principles and techniques to effectively identify, organise and manage resources, budgets or costs.
Duty D4
Contribute to the design and development of civil engineering systems, checking the systems meet the requirements of the end user or business need, and that relevant industry standards and procedures are adhered to.
Duty D5
Use a range of practical and workshop skills, selecting and applying appropriate materials, equipment, technologies and processes, to plan, undertake, analyse and evaluate civil engineering activities.
Duty D6
Use analytical and engineering analysis software (such as Computer Aided Design (CAD), digital data modelling systems (such as Building Information Management (BIM), and other techniques), recognising the limitations of the techniques used, to inform, develop or manage civil engineering solutions.
Duty D7
Ensure compliance with health, safety & welfare requirements, apply safe systems of work (including for example the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, the Construction (Design and Management) regulations), understanding the safety implications of their works, ensuring they apply and improve safe systems of work.
Duty D8
Identify, evaluate and mitigate risks associated with their work, and in the tasks and activities they are responsible for.
Duty D9
Comply with relevant policies, standards, regulations, legislation, strategies, technical guidance, and codes of practice, for example Building Safety Act 2022 or BSI Flex 8670, ensuring they are interpreted, implemented and communicated correctly and appropriately.
Duty D10
Comply with environmental policies and legislation, practice sustainable principles, evaluating how these impact on civil engineering, and how these assist in the achievement of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) and reducing carbon emissions.
Duty D11
Use data, information and quality management, and assurance systems and processes, for example ISO 19650, recognising the need for these in managing civil engineering information (for example, information relating to the golden thread) and their application in continuous improvement.
Duty D12
Communicate and liaise effectively with others internal and external to their organisation, such as customers or specialist contractors, respecting the need for the confidentiality and security of data and information.
Duty D13
Work reliably and effectively with others, taking responsibility for their own work and the input of others, and where appropriate, managing others.
Duty D14
Ensure compliance with equality, diversity & inclusion (EDI) and ethical standards, recognising the importance of these in the workplace.
Duty D15
Plan and maintain their own learning and skills development by carrying out continuing professional development in line with professional codes of conduct and/or industry specifications and obligations, and promoting the benefits of this to others.
Occupational Progression
This occupational progression map shows technical occupations that have transferable knowledge and skills.
In this map, the focused occupation is highlighted in yellow. The arrows indicate where transferable knowledge and skills exist between two occupations. This map shows some of the strongest progression links between the focused occupation and other occupations.
It is anticipated that individuals would be required to undertake further learning or training to progress to and from occupations. To find out more about an occupation featured in the progression map, including the learning options available, click the occupation.
Progression decisions have been reached by comparing the knowledge and skills statements between occupational standards, combined with individualised learner movement data.
Technical Occupations
Levels 2-3
Higher Technical Occupations
Levels 4-5
Professional Occupations
Levels 6-7
Construction and the built environment
Engineering and manufacturing