Difference Between Architects and Civil Engineers
Whenever you think of giving a physical realization to the idea of a house or building in your mind, you know you need some kind of professional help. The professionals most concerned with construction work are either a civil engineer or architects. Although both professionals work towards one goal, there is a fine line between the natures do my civil engineering term project of both jobs. Civil engineering is a very vast area of engineering and further expands into many other branches which include structural engineering, environmental engineering, water resource engineering, geotechnical engineering, transportation engineering and many more. All of these engineers play a very important part in different phases of construction. For example, a geotechnical engineer is required to analyze the ground properties, soil and rock to determine and evaluate the stability of the project. They are also the ones who evaluate the chances and effect of earthquakes on a particular site.
Architects, however, are more concerned over the design and aesthetics of the structure. Although they require a good technical and mechanical knowledge of building and structures as well, their prime focus is the visual appearance and the feel of the structure. Ever wonder how we differentiate an ancient Egyptian temple from a Chinese temple just by looking at them. The pillars, walls and roofs of both structures serve the same purpose but it is the difference of architecture that sets them apart. The architects also need to be well aware of the functionality and practicality of the design. They need to know that the purpose intended to be served by the structure they are designing. They design everything accordingly. The solution they have to come up with has to be practical, functional as well as aesthetically appealing.
Civil engineers use the drafts made by the architects and analyze the most economical and sometimes innovative way to give it a physical existence. They handle more technical details of the project rather than just the design. There prime focus is the construction of the design in such a way that it can bear the maximum weight and force without collapsing. Aesthetics and functionality is not generally their area of concern as it has to be already defined in the architectural designs.
Although architects are the one who initiate the process of construction through their design. They need to work closely with the engineers to give them a clear idea of their vision. Generally, there is only one architect required on a single project but the number of engineers can vary greatly. As mentioned earlier, there are several different types of civil engineers involved in every step of the construction. The number and type of engineers working on a project also change with the type of project. The project can be a building, a bridge, a stadium, roads, dams or a tunnel.
Although both the civil engineers and architects have their own set of responsibilities and abilities, a good mutual understanding and effort is very important for a successful project. For people who are confused about choosing from the two as their field of study should analyze their natural inclinations towards creative works or more technical aspects.
Civil engineering is quite complicated nowadays, as the many advances in technology have made it possible to implement a variety of ideas that weren’t possible some time ago. It’s actually come to a point where the main discipline is branching off into several sub-fields, each with its own tight specification and purpose. All in all, if you need a civil engineering project completed, you need to find the right experts for the task first. And this requires a little bit of knowledge about the kind of work they do.
Generally though, you should be able to easily find the right kind of expert for your needs by narrowing down your search according to the main type of project you’ve got on your hands. For example, electrical works are separate from road works and constructions, and so on. In many cases, a single civil works firm will be able to offer multiple types of services to you, and it’s a very good idea to familiarize yourself with the options they’re giving you. If you know what your civil contractor can do for you in general, you’ll be able to more efficiently organize your projects in advance.
We should note that when it comes to civil works, it’s a good idea to keep the number of contractors you’re working with to a minimum. You’ll likely need a variety of services implemented into your project, and each of them will be offered by one company or another. You should look through the options you’ve got available on the market and pick the contractors in such a way that you cover all your needs with the smallest number of companies possible.
It’s not just about paying less and getting the job done more quickly – working with a larger number of contractors on a project related to civil works can make the job very difficult from a communicational point of view. There’s often a heavy need for reliable and consistent communication between everyone involved in those projects, and increasing the number of participants can really complicate things, both for you as well as for anyone involved in the project.
Last but not least, keep an eye on the long-term guarantees that your civil contractor can make for you. You should know what you can expect from that company in the long run, whether they can continue servicing you after they’ve implemented your project, and if they can perform any upgrades on their installations afterwards. Support and maintenance are very important as well. You’ll need to know that you can count on your civil contractor to take care of any issues that arise with the projects that they’ve completed, as it’s a bad situation when you have to hire even more contractors to solve something that’s come up.
