How to become a building and civil engineering technician

Official title: Building and civil engineering technicians

Also called: Technician, Survey technician, Building assistant, Highway technician, Building consultant, Building technician, Drainage technician, Surveying technician, Civil engineering assistant, Building services consultant, Civil engineering technician, Structural engineering technician

Building and civil engineering technicians perform a variety of technical support functions to assist civil and building engineers.

Main tasks

• Sets up apparatus and equipment and undertakes field and laboratory tests of soil and work materials
• Performs calculations and collects, records and interprets data
• Sets out construction site, supervises excavations and marks out position of building work to be undertaken
• Inspects construction materials and supervises work of contractors to ensure compliance with specifications and arranges remedial work as necessary
• Creates and designs plans (using computer aided software)
• Estimates project costs
• Estimates timescales for project delivery

How to become one

Entrants usually possess a relevant BTEC/SQA award, level 3 diploma or HNC/HND. Some entrants may posess a degree. The status of engineering technician is obtained after a period of further training at work and upon gaining the membership of a professional engineering institution.

Ways in

• Apprenticeship (England): Building services engineering technician 2022 (level 3). England. Typically 32 months. Skills England standard ST0063.
• Apprenticeship (England): Civil engineering technician (level 3). England. Typically 36 months. Skills England standard ST0091.
• Apprenticeship (England): Fall protection technician (level 3). England. Typically 12 months. Skills England standard ST0614.
• Apprenticeship (England): Surveying technician (level 3). England. Typically 24 months. Skills England standard ST0332.
• University: Science degrees, Offered by 27 universities in the UK
• University: Computing & IT degrees, Offered by 26 universities in the UK

Pay · Outlook

• Median full-time pay: £37,229 a year The middle half earn £31,467 to null.

Related jobs

• Laboratory technicians
• Electrical and electronics technicians
• Engineering technicians
• Quality assurance technicians
• Planning, process and production technicians

Not sure this is for you? Take the 2-minute career quiz

Questions people ask

How do I become a building and civil engineering technician?

Entrants usually possess a relevant BTEC/SQA award, level 3 diploma or HNC/HND. Some entrants may posess a degree. The status of engineering technician is obtained after a period of further training at work and upon gaining the membership of a professional engineering institution.

How much does a building and civil engineering technician earn in the UK?

Median full-time pay is £37,229 a year (Office for National Statistics).

Do you need a degree to become a building and civil engineering technician?

Not always. 44% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher. Ways in include: Science degrees; Computing & IT degrees; Building services engineering technician 2022 (level 3).

Sources

• Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
• Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
• Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.