If you decide to become a civil engineer in a local authority, you could be involved in a vast range of different areas of work - designing, planning and supervising the construction of the area’s roads, bridges and large buildings, sea defences and harbours, docks and airports - and even land reclamation and sewerage systems.

As a civil engineer, you may decide to specialise in transport or planning, engineering or buildings, bridges or structures. There’s considerable variety in the range of opportunities that civil engineering can offer and over 10,000 civil/structural engineers employed by local authorities.

Civil engineers may be based in any kind of council, depending on the allocation of the budget. Much construction work is put out to tender, but councils still employ professionals to plan and oversee the work and manage the contracts.

Work Environment

Civil engineers tend to divide their work routine between office and site, so you could be in a pleasant, warm office one day and out in the sunshine and fresh air (or pouring rain and cold!) the next.

You could work largely in an urban setting (if you’re employed by a city council, for example), or be based in rural surroundings (with a county council for instance).

When deadlines have to be met or work supervised, you’re likely to work long hours, which may include some evenings and weekends.

Daily Activities

Your precise duties will vary according to where you work - for instance, in a planning department, an engineering department or a highways and transport department. However, your daily tasks could include:

• working with professionals in other departments (such as architects and planners) to identify needs and design effective solutions
• writing specifications for work to be done, paying particular attention to environmental issues
• working out budgets
• inviting contractors to tender for contracts to do the work
• analysing their bids and selecting the most suitable
• scheduling and programming the work
• spending time out on site checking that everything is going smoothly, to plan and to specification
• designing solutions to any snags that may arise
• liaising with contractors to agree alterations to specifications and solve any problems that occur
• dealing with the public - handling queries and complaints when building work disrupts normal services
• planning programmes of continuing maintenance
• organising servicing and emergency repairs.

Throughout the process, you’d have meetings with colleagues, contractors and the rest of your team. IT is a fundamental part of the job nowadays - you would use a specialised computer package for highway designing, for example. Paperwork runs through the job - you’d need to ensure that every stage of your work was carefully documented, schedules met and reports written.

Skills & Interests

You need:

• tenacity - not giving up on a problem until you’ve solved it
• logical and lateral thinking - considering all aspects of an issue, stage by stage
• a creative approach to tackling tasks
• to be able to make clear decisions
• attention to detail - mistakes could be disastrous
• technical and numerical skills
• computer literacy - able to use databases, spreadsheets and CAD tools
• project management ability
• good negotiating skills - when you’re trying to reach a satisfactory solution to a problem
• leadership abilities
• to be able to communicate clearly - both in writing and verbally - with a range of people
• to be a good team worker.

Entry Requirements

Most local authorities ask for a degree (or at least an HNC/HND for technician level jobs) in civil engineering. They often also require two years relevant experience. Some authorities offer opportunities through graduate training schemes.

To become a professionally qualified civil engineer (Chartered) you need an honours degree in Civil Engineering, Civil/Structural Engineering, or Engineering Science from an accredited university or college.

Universities have different entry requirements but most look for two or three A levels or their equivalent in maths and science subjects. Some courses also specify English and chemistry at GCSE/S grade. A BTEC/SQA National Certificate or Diploma in Engineering or Construction may also be acceptable.

Specialist courses may cover traffic and highway engineering, water and waste engineering, construction management, explosives, public health engineering and aesthetic design. But all courses include surveying, design projects and building technology.

Once you’re working as a civil engineer, you can study for the professional qualifications of the Institution of Civil Engineers to become a Chartered or Incorporated Engineer or an Engineering Technician.

Most employers will expect you to be able to drive, with access to a car for work.

Estimated salary range

£19,000 - £23,000
Senior engineers earn £30,000+.

Please note that salary information is a guide only and there may be local agreements in place. For further information about salaries for particular positions, please contact your local council directly.

Future prospects & opportunities

There’s a lot scope for promotion within various local authority departments. You can move ‘vertically’ to a more senior job and ‘laterally’ to gain experience in a different department (planning, transport, environment, traffic management, etc), or to a specialty such as waste management, sea defences or bridges. It may also be possible to move to other authorities for a step up the career ladder.

However, civil engineering work is increasingly being undertaken by outside consultants (contractors), gradually leading to fewer opportunities within local authorities.

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