The consulting world is complex and full of challenges. This profession demands strong business as well as management skills and the most unfortunate part is that the field of construction and engineering is often meagrely understood by many. Even practitioners in the field are often a bit less aware of the roles and responsibilities. This is probably one of the best self-employment ventures an engineer can choose if he has the entrepreneurial spirit ticking. Despite the importance and challenge, the profession is less recognized and not publicly appreciated much.
Before moving on to the roles and responsibilities, let us first understand who a consulting engineer https://www.csmgroup.net.au/ is and what does his work typically involve? Quite simply put, he is an independent engineer who agrees to provide engineering services and holds a certificate or is registered in this profession by a central governing authority. Further, they are not supposed to have any affiliations with manufacturers, suppliers and so on to create a bias for a certain product in the consumers mind. While the scope of engineering services could be broad it also depends on one’s appetite for a general practice or a specialized niche.
Most consultants choose to be specialized in one field where they gain specialization to be able to guide other engineers. Often you are on the lookout for an experienced and qualified engineer for your house renovation or any fix in electrical or water lines. It is therefore important to be aware of the responsibilities of an engineer in any field. In this article, we discuss some of the key roles and responsibilities of a professional engineer for consultation services.
Consultation
Consultation happens when a client wants to be aware of certain engineering services. A hydraulic engineer is needed to consult for services related to hydraulic systems. It may be brief or lengthy depending on the complexity of the problem and might entail travel as well where the consultant needs to travel to the client’s location to see the issue and assist with expert advice.
Investigate
Consultant may or may not need to travel to investigate the problem at times. While often a simple field visit helps in understanding the issues and finding out a suitable diagnosis, at other times some simple mathematical calculations could be done to analyze the problem.
Feasible solutions
Feasibility reports state few important parameters of the project and is quite similar to a doctor’s prescription. While at the outset it analyzes the feasibility of a project, it also has mention about the issue, alternative options and estimated cost of construction too. While the above are just a few noteworthy roles, there are much more such as engineering design, procurement, legal and other services that come under the responsibilities of a professional engineer.