How to Become a Building Engineer

A building engineer, or an architectural engineer, works in both the design and engineering of buildings. They take the design of a building from an architect and make it a reality through their knowledge of engineering.

Building engineers focus on the engineering of a building, particularly the interior systems. They will work with architectural designs to create the building in its entirety. Their job will include creating plans, assessing the safety of buildings, and ensuring that the project is completed as a whole. 

The duties of a building engineer include: 

• Having an active role in the design of buildings, but with a focus on the interior, non-visible parts of buildings rather than the exteriors. 
• Checking the safety of building plans, and once they are built, the building systems. 
• Troubleshooting for any problems in these plans, and solving any issues that come up. 
• Going to site visits. 
• Interpreting technical documents into their work. 

Building engineers should be graduates in an architectural engineering degree. During the degree, they will study the main concepts of architectural engineering, including building systems, structural analysis, electrical engineering and environmental systems. 

Their degree will include a year in industry, where they will be able to gain relevant work experience. It is also beneficial for candidates to acquire other experience, including work shadowing and internships. Building engineers will then need a license before they begin practicing, and potentially other qualifications depending on their country.

Building engineers should demonstrate a variety of soft and hard skills. They should have excellent physics, maths, and technology capabilities – most of these will be taught in their degree. However, they can build on their knowledge by taking some relevant supplementary courses. 

Being a building engineer is highly communicative, so professionals in this vocation should be able to collaborate and work with other construction employees, including other engineers, architects and construction workers. 

They should also exhibit excellent time management skills, as they will have deadlines for specific projects and may need to multitask. 

Building engineers report great pride as they can see the direct products of their labour, and a sense of variety as every job is unique. This is a specialist role, but candidates can advance to become more senior and enjoy pay raises and other benefits.