Civil Engineering Senior Technician - Higher Apprenticeship (Level 4)

• Assistant engineer
• Civil engineering senior technician
• Civil engineering site technician
• Civil engineering supervisor
• Civil infrastructure senior technician
• Construction site engineering technician
• Junior site engineer
• Senior construction technician
• Senior design technician
• Senior engineering technician
• Senior highways senior technician
• Site manager
• Structural engineering senior technician
• Transport engineering design technician

This occupation is found in the construction, built environment and engineering sectors, with civil engineering senior technicians employed in a variety of organisation types and sizes.  

The broad purpose of the occupation is coordinate, manage and provide the technical planning, design, building, management, maintenance or dismantling of the built environment (such as buildings, structures, parks and public spaces, schools, offices, museums, hospitals) and infrastructure, such as transportation (road, rail, bridges, tunnels, ports and airports), water and waste management, marine and coastal engineering (irrigation systems, sustainable drainage systems (SuDS), flood, river and coastal defences), water and power supplies (utilities, hydropower, power stations, nuclear plants, on and offshore wind farms).

Civil engineering senior technicians use and apply their technical knowledge, underpinned by scientific principles and theories, propose numerous suitable techniques, procedures and methods to undertake and deliver civil engineering solutions. They need to source, review, analyse and evaluate a range of data and information, perform advanced calculations, and analyse civil engineering problems to reach proven solutions.

Senior technicians prepare, produce and present civil engineering information, designs and documentation, with regard for the practical need to deliver, manage, assess and improve civil engineering solutions to relevant codes of practice and industry standards (for example, Construction Design and Management (CDM), the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB), or managing information over the whole life cycle of a built asset using Building Information Modelling (BIM) via ISO 19650), to statutory and regulatory requirements (such as the Building Safety Act), and in compliance with health, safety and wellbeing requirements.

They use appropriate analytical and computational software, including engineering analysis software (for example, CAD) or digital data modelling processes, to prepare, produce, and communicate civil engineering solutions, recognising the limitations of the techniques and outputs produced, and where continuous improvement may be useful. Some senior technicians will also select appropriate materials and perform tests on these.

With the need to mitigate the detrimental effects on the environment and an increased drive for sustainability, senior technicians will need to consider the whole life cycle of a built asset, ensuring the civil engineering solutions and projects they are engaged with, align with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG), respond to net-zero carbon emissions targets and are compliant with climate change acts, and environmental and sustainability policies and legislation. 

Civil engineering senior technicians also inform and manage tasks, team members and resources within their allocation, but also contribute to broader and more complex civil engineering solutions, applying appropriate project management knowledge and techniques, use quality systems and risk assessment procedures to mitigate risks, and improve safe systems of work. Senior technicians may also commission, carry out, or review site inspections or surveys, report progress against project plans, or check specified technical aspects of design or site-based activities.  

In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with their line manager, typically a senior civil engineer or site manager, to confirm programmes of work, agree individual and team responsibilities, budgets and resources, which support the delivery of wider plans across civil engineering projects; these teams could include other technicians or specialist contactors for which they may be responsible for, engineers across a range of disciplines from various employer types (e.g. clients, consultancies, contractors), and project managers, where their collective outputs will be used to produce civil engineering solutions that are fit for purpose, safe, secure, environmentally sustainable, and meet customer and industry specifications.

Senior technicians are also exposed to other professional disciplines, such as building services engineers, construction managers, surveyors, architects, planners, environmental practitioners, or legal teams. As well as liaising with internal colleagues, often across a variety of multidisciplinary areas, some senior technicians are also responsible for working with customers, suppliers, manufacturers, and stakeholders or with representatives from appropriate regulatory bodies.

Civil engineering senior technicians, depending on their employer, will spend their time in an office environment, working on site, working remotely or a combination of these. There is also potential for visiting customers, suppliers, or manufacturers.

An employee in this occupation will be responsible for delivering civil engineering technical solutions, ensuring accuracy and quality, for which they are responsible for the technical management of, within agreed time and resource limits, compliant with industry, regulatory and legislative standards, such as the Building Safety Bill, and to broadly defined specifications. Civil engineering technicians must also comply with health and safety regulations, including the Construction (Design and Management) regulation, and environmental and sustainability policies.

Senior technicians also supervise other team members, communicating, agreeing and managing tasks that they and others complete, ensuring these meet appropriate standards and specified outcomes, and that work is carried out in a safe environment and the wellbeing of those involved is safeguarded.

Senior technicians are able to use their own judgement when undertaking the occupational duties and apply their knowledge, skills, and behaviours 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, continuing professional development, and recognising their own obligations to society.

1.     Occupation(s)

The occupation covered by this standard is Construction Site Engineering technician and typical job titles can include: Assistant Site Engineer, Assistant Engineer, Civil Engineering Technician or Construction Site Technician. In the case of SME construction companies the roles are likely to include Site Engineer, Civil Engineer or Project Engineer. They are associated with the dimensional control and application of engineering solutions on construction projects and are based on construction sites with occasional time in offices.

2.     Occupational profile

The main duties and tasks of a Construction Site Engineering Technician are:

• Dimensional control of construction projects
• Assisting design teams with civil engineering solutions on construction projects
• Supervision of specialist contractors
• Contribute to the control of health and safety on construction projects
• Recording, control and reporting of progress on a construction project
• Contribute to the minimisation of the environmental impact of construction projects
• Control the quality of works on a construction project

3.     Requirements: Knowledge, Skills and Behaviours

4. Duration

The typical duration for this Apprenticeship is three years but this will depend upon the previous experience of the apprentice and access to opportunities to gain the full range of competence.

5. Entry requirements

Individual employers will determine their own entry requirements, but the typical entry requirements for this Apprenticeship will be five GCSEs or equivalent, including Maths, English and a Science; or a Level 2 Apprenticeship.

6. Qualifications

The following qualification will be gained:

A Level 4 qualification in Construction and Built Environment that meets the knowledge requirements of the standard and is approved by the Institution of Civil Engineers as meeting the educational requirements for EngTech MICE

7. English and Maths

English and Maths will at Level 2 will need to be achieved before taking the end point assessment and will be included in the Level 4 qualification.

8. Link to professional registration

This Apprenticeship will include the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to achieve Technician status with the Institution of Civil Engineers (EngTech MICE). The Technician Professional Review process for EngTech MICE is included in the end-point assessment process for this Apprenticeship and will lead to the designatory letters EngTech MICE and the status of Engineering Technician.

Level

This Apprenticeship standard is at Level 4.

Review date

This Apprenticeship standard should be reviewed three years after approval of the standard.

• one of the following qualifications: Pearson L4 HNC in Civil Engineering (RQF/2023) qualification number (QN) 610/0935/0 -OR- Pearson BTEC L4 HNC in Construction and the Built Environment (Civil Engineering) qualification number (QN) 603/0465/0 -OR- A HNC or an equivalent qualification in civil engineering approved or accredited by the Joint Board of Moderators (JBM) as meeting the educational requirements for an Engineering Technician and for progression towards IEng registration (Level 4)