What does a civil designer do?
A Civil Designer plans, scales, and drafts drawings and maps for roads, bridges, and other construction projects. They work with engineers and project managers in determining material, labor, and other costs of the assigned projects.
Civil designer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real civil designer resumes:
- 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.
- Use Trimble GPS station to survey projects, upload data into trimble geomatics office3.
- Direct or participate in surveying to lay out installations and establishreference points, grades and elevations to guide construction.
- Conduct traverse, topographic, level circuit, construction and GPS surveying in support of engineering design programs and in-house operations.
- Collaborate with other demilitarization facilities on HVAC modifications.
- Analyze geotechnical reports and design foundations and retaining walls.
- Rank demolition and environmental remediation projects for funding priorities.
- Prepare design change documents and incorporate as-built information into approved drawing set.
- Generate GIS studies, conduct field verification, provide quality assurance and client and municipal interaction.
- Prepare soil boring plans and coordinate drilling with geotechnical engineering firms for determination of governing soil parameters in foundation design.
- Design and produce plans for commercial and residential projects using Autodesk Autocad/Civil3d, interacting with clients, subcontractors and project managers.
- Design double containment pipeline for the conveyance of hazardous material as part of the remediation project.
Civil designer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Civil Designers are proficient in Civil 3D, Autocad, and Civil Engineering. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Organizational skills, and Speaking skills.
We break down the percentage of Civil Designers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Civil 3D, 18%
Work with the CADD Committee to develop Civil 3D styles and templates following Wood/Patel, NCS, City and Municipality standards.
- Autocad, 16%
Worked directly with engineering teams, and received directions from engineers to generate three-dimensional models and drawings using AutoCAD software.
- Civil Engineering, 8%
Assisted engineers in planning/design of numerous civil engineering projects.
- Civil Design, 4%
Developed and directed multiple training programs for Civil design staff and helped maintained drafting standards between departments.EXPERIENCE
- Site Design, 4%
Created preliminary site design and write-up for construction cost estimates.
- GIS, 3%
Generated GIS studies, conducted field verification, provided quality assurance and client and municipal interaction.
Common skills that a civil designer uses to do their job include "civil 3d," "autocad," and "civil engineering." You can find details on the most important civil designer responsibilities below.
Organizational skills. Many civil designer duties rely on organizational skills. "civil engineers often oversee several projects at the same time and must be able to allocate resources effectively.," so a civil designer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways civil designer responsibilities rely on organizational skills: "developed solid organizational, planning, and problem solving skills associated with project management, and schedule performance. "
Math skills. For certain civil designer responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "math skills." The day-to-day duties of a civil designer rely on this skill, as "civil engineers use calculus, trigonometry, and other mathematics for analysis, design, and troubleshooting." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what civil designers do: "perform mathematical and analytical calculations in support of drawing and detail development. "
Problem-solving skills. A commonly-found skill in civil designer job descriptions, "problem-solving skills" is essential to what civil designers do. Civil designer responsibilities rely on this skill because "civil engineers may encounter problems during each stage of their work." You can also see how civil designer duties rely on problem-solving skills in this resume example: "strengthened the corporation s bottom-line by providing clients with practical engineered solutions driven around proven engineering design principals. "
The three companies that hire the most civil designers are:
- CDM Smith285 civil designers jobs
- Kimley-Horn38 civil designers jobs
- Timmons Group22 civil designers jobs
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Compare different civil designers
Civil designer vs. Structural engineering internship
A structural engineering intern is responsible for supporting the engineering team on construction and structural projects, identifying cost-reduction techniques, and drafting layouts that adhere to clients' specifications, business requirements, and budget limitations. Structural engineering interns join the engineers on area visits, inspecting site foundation, and calculating dimensions and material costing. They also shadow the team's best practices and recommend ways to maximize productivity and efficiency to deliver high-quality outputs within the required deadlines. A structural engineering intern must be highly technical and analytical, especially on designing deliverables that meet quality standards.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a civil designer are more likely to require skills like "civil 3d," "autocad," "civil engineering," and "civil design." On the other hand, a job as a structural engineering internship requires skills like "structural analysis," "revit," "powerpoint," and "structural design." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Structural engineering interns earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $56,459. On the other hand, civil designers are paid more in the construction industry with an average salary of $74,665.On average, structural engineering interns reach higher levels of education than civil designers. Structural engineering interns are 15.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Civil designer vs. Representative projects
Field engineers are engineering professionals who work on-site in a different setting to direct workers and report to the management about the status of different projects. These engineers are required to resolve malfunctions or other crises such as construction or machinery problems while overseeing repairs and technical improvements. They must conduct research and studies on-site and installing new systems and technology to ensure smooth operations of machinery. Field engineers must also communicate with clients to discuss and determine the needs and explain complex issues of projects.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that civil designer responsibilities requires skills like "civil 3d," "civil engineering," "civil design," and "site design." But a representative projects might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "construction projects," "infrastructure," "osha," and "construction observation."
Representative projects earn a lower average salary than civil designers. But representative projects earn the highest pay in the technology industry, with an average salary of $64,096. Additionally, civil designers earn the highest salaries in the construction with average pay of $74,665 annually.representative projects earn higher levels of education than civil designers in general. They're 7.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Civil designer vs. Project field engineer
An assistant project engineer performs support tasks to assist project engineers in overseeing and managing engineering projects. Their responsibilities include conducting inspections and assessments, performing research and analyses, processing documents and certifications, managing schedules, liaising with internal and external parties, and providing technical support to staff as necessary. Besides reporting directly to the project engineer, they also work together in implementing policies and monitoring operations to ensure that engineering projects adhere to project guidelines and requirements.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, civil designers are more likely to have skills like "civil 3d," "autocad," "civil engineering," and "civil design." But a project field engineer is more likely to have skills like "shop drawings," "project management," "osha," and "field supervision."
Project field engineers make a very good living in the energy industry with an average annual salary of $73,847. On the other hand, civil designers are paid the highest salary in the construction industry, with average annual pay of $74,665.Most project field engineers achieve a higher degree level compared to civil designers. For example, they're 6.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.3% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Civil designer vs. Assistant project engineer
Types of civil designer
Updated January 8, 2025
