SELECTION OF

CIVIL ENGINEERS
A REPORT
 POLICY STATEMENT 304 - QUALIFICATIONS-BASED
SELECTION OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS
Approved by the Engineering Practice Policy
Committee on March 17, 2016
Approved by the Public Policy Committee on May 13, 2016
Adopted by the Board of Direction on July 9, 2016
 POLICY
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) believes that the selection of Professional
Engineers as prime consultants and subcontractors should be based on the qualifications of
the engineering firm. Qualifications including education, training, experience, past-
performance, capabilities, personnel and workloads should be evaluated when selecting an
engineering firm.
Cost of engineering services, while important and meriting careful negotiations, is related to
work to be performed which often is not clearly defined at the time the engineer is selected.
Therefore, selecting consultants based on cost is not recommended.
ASCE supports qualifications-based selection (QBS) procedures such as those specified by
the Brooks Architect-Engineers Act of 1972, 40 U.S.C. 1101 et seq., the numerous similar state
and local laws, and the American Bar Association's Model Procurement Code for State and
Local Governments for the engagement of engineering services. ASCE recommends that
the application of these procedures to the development of a scope of work and the
selection, procurement and administration of contracts for engineering services be the
responsibility of technically qualified staff of the project owner.
 ISSUE
Often an owner may believe that the pivotal issue in the selection of a professional engineer
is the cost of services. Also, an owner may perceive that accepting the low price to perform
the services produces the project with the lowest total cost. In some instances, engineering
services are essentially subject to bids based on the lowest offered fee, regardless of
professional qualifications or anticipated services to be rendered.
Contrary to these beliefs, the relevant experience, ability and specific technical approaches
of the proposing design professionals are far more important to the overall quality, utility and
life-cycle cost of any project than is the initial engineering fee, which is invariably a relatively
small percentage of the total project cost.
 RATIONALE
The QBS procedure is characterized by three basic steps: (1) the owner evaluates and selects
the professional engineer based on demonstrated qualifications and experience in the
required types of services without considering fee; (2) the owner and the selected professional
engineer confer to determine and/or review the scope of work, including contract scheduling;
and (3) a fee for engineering services is negotiated based upon the mutually developed
scope of services. In the event a mutual agreement on scope of services and fee is not
achieved, the owner may negotiate with the next most qualified professional. Thus, cost is
addressed at the appropriate time after the scope of services has been fully defined.
The cost of engineering services, while important and meriting careful negotiations, is generally
a relatively small percentage of the overall cost to plan, design, build, operate and maintain a
project and may be related to work that is not clearly defined at the time the engineer is
selected. Therefore, selecting consulting firm services based solely on cost is not
recommended.
ASCE Policy Statement 304
First Approved in 1985
SELECTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
EXPERTS
To find a qualified professional, it’s important to be familiar with how the area’s sub-disciplines are
different.
The Winter 2016 Litigation Management Magazine, a publication of the Claims and Litigation
Management Alliance (CLM), recently included an article on the selection of multiple experts in
complex fire and explosion claims. The article highlights the importance of retaining different, but
complimentary, experts for the varied facets of more complex claims. The identification of the
key and complimentary skillsets remains a critical exercise when investigating the cause of
complex claims. This article will focus on these competencies and credentials represented by
these skillsets in the arena of civil engineering. To find a qualified professional civil engineer, it is
important to be familiar with how the sub-disciplines of civil engineering are different and how the
different licenses and credentials represent advanced skills and abilities, which can enhance the
effectiveness of forensic investigations and in turn the dispute resolution process. Civil
engineering is a broad discipline that consists of the application of scientific principles to the built
environment. Civil engineering includes the sub-disciplines of water resources engineering, civil-
site engineering, transportation engineering, construction engineering, structural engineering,
and geotechnical engineering. The professional engineering license, the most basic professional
credential, represents that the engineer is minimally competent to practice engineering to
protect the health and safety of the public. The three Es—education, experience, and
examination—are considered the three legs of the stool of licensure for public practice.
The education for each of the disciplines has a basic common core of mathematics,
physics, chemistry, statics, surveying, structural analysis, fluid mechanics, soils mechanics, and
mechanics of materials. It is not until the senior year of college that more advanced classes
in an area of specialty is selected.
The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) has spent considerable time and effort
defining the requirements for an individual entering the practice of civil engineering at the
professional level. Within their Civil Engineering Body of Knowledge for the 21st Century, they
readily admit that this Body of Knowledge is not fulfilled at the Bachelor’s degree level in
engineering, rather, additional education and experience is required.
In addition to formal education, there are two other requirements for licensure: 4 years of
experience in the area of claimed proficiency and passing two examinations. It is during the
first four years of experience after graduation that true application to real life situations really
starts for the engineer in their area of specialization. This is when the requirements of codes
and standards in their specialty are learned and where young engineers start to learn about
the procedures and practices necessary to provide safety.
The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination is the initial, pre-professional examination of the
licensing process. It is an 8-hour exam that tests the basic knowledge core provided by the formal
education. The 8-hour Principles and Practice of Engineering or PE exam is the second of two exams in
the licensing process, and it tests the application of the knowledge to real life scenarios. Both tests are
made up of only multiple choice questions.
ASCE has three academies wherein certifications are provided for those demonstrating advanced
knowledge and skills in civil engineering: The American Academy of Water Resources Engineers, The
Academy of Coastal, Ocean, Port & Navigation Engineers, and the Academy of Geo-Professionals. The
requirements for certification in these academies include approval of the education and professional
references as well as an oral examination.
In the area of structural engineering, advanced knowledge and skills are represented by passing the
NCEES 16-hour Structural Engineering (SE) Examination in addition to the FE exam. The SE examination
consists of two days of tests. Both days of the exam include 40 multiple choice questions in the morning
and 3 or 4 essay questions in the afternoon. It is clear that the NCEES 16-hour SE Exam sets a higher bar for
structural engineer compared to the 8-hour Principles and Practice exam and therefore represents a
more advanced skillset for tackling more complex problems.
The most qualified engineers have advanced levels of qualifications and proficiency represented by
licenses or certifications in a specialty sub-discipline. These licenses and credentials for forensic civil
engineers represent the advanced abilities of the engineers that will enhance the effectiveness of
forensic investigations.
CHOOSING A CIVIL ENGINEER
 PROVIDING VALUE
Most importantly, civil engineers help commercial development teams maximize the
value of the land while minimizing costs. For example, a company decided to move its
headquarters from the city into a rural area. The company anticipated needing no more
than 50 acres for its new campus; but when an available parcel provided almost double
the space, with first-right options to triple the land purchase at a very low land price,
consulting engineers convinced the company to purchase the land — even though its
wildest projected needs didn't require the parcel's full use. Today the company occupies
more than 2 million square feet of space and recognizes the benefits of not only the
ability to control its own expansion, but also to have control over adjacent developments
that might detract from the campus environment.
 NEW DEVELOPMENTS
On new projects, a civil engineer is part of a design team that typically includes an
architect, specialty engineers, landscape architects, and specialty designers. When
brought in during the site selection and acquisition phase, a civil engineer can identify
many of the technical issues relating to the property such as the topographic,
environmental, or utility constraints. The engineer's explanation of these issues may result
in a different development strategy for the property — one that provides a better project
at a lower cost. For example, civil engineers can suggest methods for preventing flood,
drainage, and soil problems.
As members of design teams on new projects, civil engineers identify and compile all of
the local, state, and federal land requirements, assist in the coordination of elements
external to or penetrating through the building envelope, and complete a set of
accurate design documents that reflect all of the above.
 HIRING FACTORS
Hiring the right civil engineer for a project involves consideration of a number of factors.
Knowledge, experience, and support staff play into the decision.
 Land-Use Knowledge
Unlike other disciplines, the civil engineering profession constantly is affected by new
land development laws. Land-use regulations and review processes used to enforce
those regulations change faster than any other design discipline. Civil engineers
must be up-to-date on the most recent local, state, and federal land regulations. To
help assess a civil engineer's knowledge, ask the local jurisdiction's site plan
department to disclose how many and what type of submissions the engineer has
filed recently. Be wary of firms or civil engineers that haven't filed submissions within
the past two years, as the land-use regulations can change dramatically in that
period of time.
 Experience
The amount and quality of exposure to design teams that the engineer recently has
accumulated also is a sign of experience and knowledge. An aggressive development
team may complete only a few projects each year, but a civil engineer could be
involved with 20 or more projects each quarter from a host of design teams. Each
experience adds to the engineer's expertise and broadens his association with other
design and engineering professionals in the area. Developers also should look for a civil
engineer with diverse experience across a broad spectrum of project types. A civil
engineer with large-scale planning and detailed landscape-design experience blends
skills that cannot be duplicated: A single individual with a grasp of multiple disciplines
often can process design options faster and with more acuity than independent
designers struggling to understand restrictions levied by others.
 Creativity
Although not often thought of as an engineering trait, creativity is a solid skill of quality
civil engineers. In supporting the architect and other design professionals, they constantly
challenge old ideas and push new ideas about how the architecture fits within the site.
Good civil engineers do not sit idly at design meetings, waiting to provide input into just
the infrastructure; they add to the discussion of the intricacies of financial restraint and
often develop site concepts that significantly increase the land's value.
 Organization
An engineering company that has a substantial staff integrated into project teams
instead of departments is likely to provide better and more responsive service. In
terms of technology, engineers today use computer-aided design programs to
increase the speed with which they can produce and modify designs and concepts.
Most engineers also use a variety of Internet-related tools, such as file transfer
protocol sites, to assist in design development and construction administration. Some
tech-savvy engineers are utilizing FTP sites and high-speed Internet access to make
real-time updates to their clients' drawings. In addition, project management
software such as Buzzsaw and Constructware is gaining popularity in the civil
engineering industry because it allows the design team to coordinate documents,
update files, check schedules, and verify receipt of file transfers. These tools also are
used during the construction administration process to view and approve site-work
submittals and respond to requests for information.
END