How To Become A Civil Designer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a civil designer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Ben Giudice Ph.D.

Civil designers are responsible for drafting designs for roadways, piping systems, utilities, land grading specifications, and other infrastructural systems for commercial and residential building sites. They read maps and topographical surveys to note land grading, nearby structures, and other related factors. They ensure compliance with design and building codes. Also, they review drawings and sketches of the proposed design. Additionally, they interpret drawings and building plans to determine where to place necessary structures. Civil designers also work with building and architectural firms, construction companies, governments, and private businesses.

Employers require a minimum of a high school diploma or its equivalent for this role. However, most employers prefer an associate degree in civil engineering, drafting, or a related discipline. Applicants must possess relevant work experience. You must possess troubleshooting, multitasking, time management, computer, and communication skills. You must also be proficient in design software and Microsoft Office. These professionals are paid around $67,841 annually. The salary varies between $48,000 and $95,000.

What general advice would you give to a civil designer?

Ben Giudice Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Civil Engineering, George Fox University

Civil engineers collect and organize data - this could be traffic counts, survey data including elevations, distances, and locations of natural and manmade objects, water quality data, soil characteristics, historical precipitation data - then use that data to design infrastructure or improvements to existing infrastructure to improve public safety, public health, support the economy, provide housing, and so forth. This design can be in the form of performing calculations, developing spreadsheets, developing CAD drawings, using modeling software, and following established codes and standards. Sometimes experiments or pilot projects and studies are designed and conducted. During construction, engineers ensure that the construction is following their specifications. Entry-level civil engineers often work on drawings, data collection and compilation, construction inspection, and in general support more experienced engineers with whatever they need assistance with. As they grow in experience, they take more responsibility in leading projects including the decision making and design.

ScoreCivil DesignerUS Average

Salary

4.6

Avg. Salary $58,421

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.3

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.31%

Asian 11.19%

Black or African American 4.12%

Hispanic or Latino 12.06%

Unknown 4.73%

White 67.60%

Gender

female 17.09%

male 82.91%

Age - 39

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 39

Stress level

7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.1

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a civil designer

Explore civil designer education requirements

Most common civil designer degrees

Bachelor's

43.8 %

Associate

43.1 %

High School Diploma

4.0 %

Start to develop specific civil designer skills

Skills	Percentages
Civil 3D	17.85%
Autocad	15.55%
Civil Engineering	7.62%
Civil Design	4.22%
Site Design	3.71%

Complete relevant civil designer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New civil designers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a civil designer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real civil designer resumes.

Research civil designer duties and responsibilities

Manage production of full sets of contract documents (grading, drainage, water, sewer, paving and SWPPP).
Create and revise detail drawings (MEP).
Deliver as-built MEP schematics and structural details.
Perform the analysis of guy communication towers using CSA-S37/01 and AISC manual guidelines.

Prepare your civil designer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your civil designer resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a civil designer resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable civil designer resume templates

Build a professional civil designer resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your civil designer resume.