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Plumbing designer vs engineer

The differences between plumbing designers and engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a plumbing designer and an engineer. Additionally, an engineer has an average salary of $92,077, which is higher than the $61,468 average annual salary of a plumbing designer.

The top three skills for a plumbing designer include revit, plumbing and fire protection. The most important skills for an engineer are python, cloud, and C++.

Plumbing designer vs engineer overview

Plumbing DesignerEngineer
Yearly salary$61,468$92,077
Hourly rate$29.55$44.27
Growth rate2%2%
Number of jobs44,975618,207
Job satisfaction-4.33
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 42%Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Average age4141
Years of experience66

What does a plumbing designer do?

Plumbing Designers are responsible for developing plumbing and drainage systems for residential or commercial areas. Their duties include providing design specifications to clients, producing schematics, achieving key performance metrics, and conducting quality assurance assessments. They contribute technical content for marketing purposes, sourcing equipment, and guiding internal departments on installation procedures. Plumbing Designers also prepare client proposals, supervise junior staff, and provide staff training sessions.

What does an engineer do?

Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.

Plumbing designer vs engineer salary

Plumbing designers and engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Plumbing DesignerEngineer
Average salary$61,468$92,077
Salary rangeBetween $43,000 And $85,000Between $65,000 And $130,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAHuntsville, AL
Highest paying stateConnecticutNew Hampshire
Best paying companyBelcanFort Bend County
Best paying industryConstructionAutomotive

Differences between plumbing designer and engineer education

There are a few differences between a plumbing designer and an engineer in terms of educational background:

Plumbing DesignerEngineer
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 42%Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common majorDrafting And DesignMechanical Engineering
Most common collegeCarnegie Mellon UniversityMichigan Technological University

Plumbing designer vs engineer demographics

Here are the differences between plumbing designers' and engineers' demographics:

Plumbing DesignerEngineer
Average age4141
Gender ratioMale, 87.4% Female, 12.6%Male, 86.3% Female, 13.7%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 10.3% White, 72.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%Black or African American, 3.3% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 15.0% White, 67.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1%
LGBT Percentage5%5%

Differences between plumbing designer and engineer duties and responsibilities

Plumbing designer example responsibilities.

  • Lead the development of BIM modeling content for the architecture team as a direct report to the executive and lead architects.
  • Provide reports, coordination of shop drawings, review between MEP and structural.
  • Create plans from schematic design through construction documents using AutoCad and Revit for all MEP systems.
  • Generate BIM plans for clients, as well as AUTOCADD drawings.
  • Create sketch sheets to answer RFI's and construction conflicts.
  • Update HVAC drawings for reference book used by installers to be hand out at a conference.
  • Show more

Engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage startup, trouble shooting and testing of PLC control equipment.
  • Lead project team to design and FDA validate 10-up extreme accuracy vial dosing system and CIP/SIP automate cleaning equipment.
  • Automate the creation of a WebLogic Admin and manage server deployment scheme within an installer for secure application deployment.
  • Install and test PLC in client own equipment on site - solve some logical and hardware issues to accomplish goal
  • Implement and manage continuous delivery systems and methodologies on AWS.
  • Manage Terraform and refactore from monolithic to application specific components.
  • Show more

Plumbing designer vs engineer skills

Common plumbing designer skills
  • Revit, 20%
  • Plumbing, 18%
  • Fire Protection, 15%
  • MEP, 7%
  • HVAC, 5%
  • Water Systems, 3%
Common engineer skills
  • Python, 8%
  • Cloud, 6%
  • C++, 5%
  • C #, 5%
  • AWS, 5%
  • Java, 4%

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