Classification

of Engineering
Services and
The Selection
of the Civil
Engineer
 Classification of Engineering Services

2.1 GENERAL
The needs for professional civil engineering services vary,
and the civil engineering firms that meet these needs vary in
organizational structure, size, and capability. Many civil
engineering firms provide comprehensive services to the client,
while other firms provide comprehensive services to the client,
while other firms specialize in areas of engineering, such as
geotechnical or structural, and transportation, water and
construction management, and provide their services to a prime
engineer, architect, or owner.
Services provided by Civil Engineers can be
grouped into five broad categories:
 Consultations, research, investigations, and
reports
 Design services for construction projects
 Construction Services
 Special services for construction projects
 Engineering support services
 Academic services
 Services as Employee
 The types of infrastructure under the domain of civil engineering,
pursuant to RA 544, as amended, include:

 Street, bridges, highways and railroads

 Airports and hangars
 Portworks, canals, river and shore improvements, light houses and dry
docks
 Buildings
 Fixed structures for irrigation, flood protection, drainage, water supply
and sewerage works
 Tunnels
 2.2 CONSULTATIONS, RESEARCH,
INVESTIGATION AND REPORTS
 These services deal primarily with collecting,
interpreting, and reporting information, together
with formulating conclusions and making
recommendations. Typical services in this category
are:
 2.2.1 Preliminary and Feasibility Investigations
and Reports
These services usually precede the authorization
of a capital project and may involve extensive
investigations, analyses of conditions, and comparison
of several possible plans. These studies may include the
impact of a project upon the cycle costs, financing
considerations, and expected revenues as bases for
conclusions and recommendations regarding the
advisability of undertaking a project.
 2.2.2 Planning Studies
These services may include the broad areas of developing
the engineering requirements of master plans for long-range
capital improvement programs; preparation of preliminary
engineering of land development plans, urban plans, and
regional plans; and environmental conditions and preparation of
environmental impact studies with subsequent engineering
planning to improve or maintain existing conditions.
 2.2.3 Appraisals, Valuation and Rate Studies

These services may include investigations and

analyses of existing conditions; capital and operating
costs; overhead costs and costs of financing; and
revenues as needed to evaluate a property or to
recommend establishment of prospective rates.
 2.2.4 Assistance in Financial Matters

The Civil Engineer may be engaged by a client who is

planning to issue bonds, particularly revenue bonds, to
finance a capital project. The scope of services may include
an evaluation of capabilities of existing or proposed
facilities to meet present and projected future needs,
statements of probable construction costs, and an estimate
of annual revenue requirements, with a determination of
appropriate rates to provide this income.
2.2.5 Materials Engineering and Equipment Tests

These services include tests of materials and

equipment under established codes and standards,
specialized examination of equipment and materials
used in construction and industry, and other
inspections and monitoring required by a client.
 2.2.6 Direct Personal Services

This includes services such as assistance in

preparation for legal proceedings. Appearances before
courts or commissions to render expert opinions and
conclusions, and investigation of technical matters
where specialized civil engineering knowledge,
experience, and judgment is required.
 2.2.7 Research and Development

 Research is a specialized investigation and gathering of data from

existing resources or through laboratory works and processes
related to the purpose and object of the research. Research and
development may cover the following:
 Development of new construction materials and methods from
concept to commercialization.
 Improvement of construction materials and methods through
exhaustive studies to reduce total construction cost and at the same
time improve quality.
 2.2.8 Special Services
These services can vary to suit special needs of the client and can include such diverse activities
as:
– Value engineering
– Appraisal and valuation
– Load testing
– Environmental evaluations
– Traffic engineering
– Forensic engineering for structural and other failures
– Operational assistance
– Materials process design
– Pilot studies
– Computer modeling
– Safety engineering
– Topographic, sounding and boundary survey engineering
– Toxic and hazardous waste evaluation
– Permit and application services
– Sales and marketing services
– Expert witness
– Representation of municipal or private entities in project proposed for privatization
 2.3 DESIGN SERVICES FOR CONSTRUCTION
PROJECTS
Civil engineering services are required for each of
six typical phases of a construction project. All services
are preferably furnished by the same Civil Engineer for
consistency and efficiency, although at times services in
various phases are furnished by different engineers or
by the client. The services are supplemented by special
services which may be provided by the client, a
specialized engineer, or another Civil Engineer.
 2.3 .1 Study and Report Phase
• This phase involves determination of project scope and economic and technical evaluation of
feasible alternatives. The services performed during this phase may include:
– Reviewing available data and consulting with the client to clarify and define the client’s
requirements for the project.
– Advising the client as to the necessity of providing or obtaining from others additional data or
services and assisting the client in obtaining such data and services
– Identifying and analyzing requirements of governmental authorities having jurisdiction to
approve the design of the project and participating in consultations with such authorities.
– Providing analyses of the clients needs, planning surveys, comparative evaluations of
prospective sites and solutions.
– Providing a general economic analysis of the client’s requirements applicable to various
alternatives.
– Preparing a report and presenting alternative solutions available to the client with the Civil
Engineer’s findings and recommendations.
 2.3.2 Preliminary Design Phase

This phase involves the establishment of the general size and scope of the project and its location on the
selected site. The preliminary design services may include:
– Consulting with the client, reviewing preliminary reports, clarifying and defining project
requirements, reviewing available data, and discussing general scheduling.
– Advising the client as to whether additional data or services of the type described under the
study and report phase above are required and assisting the client in obtaining such data and
services.
– Preparing preliminary design documents consisting of final design criteria, preliminary
drawings, outline specifications, and written descriptions of the project.
– Preparing revised estimates of probable total project costs.
– Providing periodic status reports.
 2.3.3 Final Design Phase
This phase of project development is usually undertaken only after the client has approved the preliminary design phase material. The basic services for the
final design phase may include:
– Preparing construction drawings and specifications showing the character and extent of the project based on the final
accepted preliminary design documents.
– Preparing and furnishing to the client a revised estimate of probable total project costs based on the final drawings
and specifications.
– Furnishing the necessary engineering data and assisting in the application for regulatory permits from local, or
national authorities. This is distinguished from and does not include detailed applications and supporting documents
for government grants-in-aid or planning grants that would be furnished as additional services described later this
section.
– Preparing basic documents related to construction contacts for review and approval by the client (and the client’s legal
and other advisors). These include contact agreement forms, general conditions and supplementary conditions,
invitations to bid, instructions to bidders, insurance and bonding requirements, and other contract-related documents.
– Furnishing to the client specified number of copies of drawings, specifications and other contract documents.
– Providing final design and construction services for design-build contracts. The engineer generally serves as a
subcontractor to a general contractor during the initial planning and design phases. Services provided by the engineer
may extended through the construction phase, as appropriate.
– Providing periodic status reports.
 2.3.4 Bidding or Negotiating Phase

Services under this phase may include:

– Assisting the client in advertising for and obtaining bids or negotiating proposals for each
separate prime construction contract, maintaining a record of prospective bidders to whom
bidding documents have been issued, attending pre-bid conferences, and receiving and
processing deposits for bidding documents.
– Issuing addenda as appropriate to interpret, clarify, expand or amend the bidding documents.
– Assisting the client in determining the qualifications and acceptability of prospective
contractors, subcontractors and materials suppliers.
– Consulting with and advising the client as to the acceptability of alternative materials and
equipment proposed by the prospective construction when substitution prior t the award of
contracts is allowed by the bidding documents.
– Attending the bid opening, preparing bid tabulation sheets and providing assistance to the
client in evaluating bids or proposals and in assembling and awarding contracts for
construction, materials, equipment and services.
 2.3.5 Construction Phase 2.3.6 Operation Phase
Construction phase services may include:  At the completion of construction, the Civil
– Reviewing, for compliance with design concepts, shop and
erection drawings submitted by the constructors. Engineer may as basic service, assist in the
– Reviewing laboratory, shop, and mill test reports on star-up of project operations. The Civil
materials and equipment. Engineer may be commissioned to prepare a
– Visiting the project site at appropriate intervals
– Providing services during construction by a full-time
manual for both operation and maintenance
resident project representative, and by supporting staff as requirements, and may also provide
required assistance in adjusting and balancing
– Issuing instruction from the client to the contractors, issuing
necessary interpretations and clarifications of contract equipment, identifying deficiencies and
documents, preparing change orders, requiring special assisting in obtaining corrections, and
inspections and testing of the work, and making
recommendations as to acceptability of the work. performing inspection prior to the end of the
– Making recommendations to the client on corrective actions project warranty period. The Civil Engineer
or contractual measures that may be exercised by the
owner.
may assist in operator training, setting up job
– Preparing sketches required to resolve problems due to classifications and salaries, organizing the
actual field conditions encountered. purchases of supplies developing charts for
– Determining amounts of progress payments due, based on recording operational date, and observing
degree of completion of the work, and recommending
issuance of such payments by the client. and reporting on project operations.
– Observing and assisting performance tests and initial
operation of the project.
– Preparing record drawings from information submitted by
the contractor.
– Making a final inspection and reporting on completion of
the project
 2.4 Construction Services
 A registered Civil Engineer may engage in construction contracting after being licensed as a
contractor by the Contractors Accreditation Board. It is considered unethical for a civil engineer to
allow his license to be used by any other construction company except his own.
 A registered Civil Engineer may provide the services of a supporting technical employee as required
of a construction company. He shall however, be paid the professional fees, in addition to his
regular salary, for any design work he performs for which he signs as professional Civil Engineer
and/or engineer on record.
 A Civil Engineer may be employed as a construction engineer, resident Civil Engineer, project
engineer, quality control engineer, cost engineer or engineer inspector in a project. In accordance
with Section 23 of RA 544, only registered Civil Engineers can take charge or supervise construction
or alteration of any building or structure and any other civil engineering works mentioned in
Section 2 of the mentioned Republic Act. The Civil Engineer when employed is similarly required to
comply with the code of ethics of the profession as the consulting. Civil Engineer.
 2.5 Special Services For Construction Projects
• Special services required during the study, design, construction, and
operation phases of a construction project may include investigations,
reports, and activities beyond the scope of the basic services.
• Special services that may be provided by the Civil Engineer or negotiated
with other firms or sub-consultants by the Civil Engineer acting on behalf of
the client could include:
– Geotechnical engineering – including test borings, sampling and
analysis, and recommendations.
– Special studies, tests, and process determinations to establish
design criteria or demonstrate compliance.
– Land surveys, establishment of boundaries and monuments,
preparation of easement descriptions, and related computations
and drawings.
– Engineering and topographic surveys for design and construction.
– Mill, shop, or laboratory inspections of the materials and
equipment.
– Additional copies of reports, construction drawings, specifications,
and other documents as required for bidding and construction
beyond the number specified in the Basic Services agreement.
– Extra travel and subsistence as defined by the agreement for
engineering services.
– Value engineering
– Redesign to reflect changes requested by the client or
necessitated by the client’s acceptance of substitutions proposed
by the contractor.
– Assistance to the client as an expert witness in litigation in
connection with the project or in hearings before approving
and regulatory agencies.
– Final investigations involving detailed consideration of
operation, maintenance, and overhead expenses;
preparation of final rate schedules, and earning and
expense statements; appraisal, valuations, and material
audits or inventories required for certification of force
account construction performed by the client or for extra
work done by the contractor.
– Preparation of detailed applications and supporting
documents grants or advances for public works projects.
– Plotting, computing, and filing of subdivision plans, staking
of lots, and other land planning and partitioning activities.
– Preparation of environmental assessment and impact
statements and other assistance to the client in connection
with public hearings.
– Additional studies and design efforts to meet special
conditions encountered during construction.
– Assistance to the client in the selection and engagement of
architects, other engineers, contractors and subcontractors,
and observation and approval of their services or work;
contacts with governmental agencies to obtain permits and
documents; and other services related to project
development.
– Assessment of a completed project’s ability to meet its
design intent relative to capacity, maintainability,
operability, or reliability.
– Computer simulation and modeling.
2.6 Engineering Support Services
The engineering support services in general civil
engineering practice may involve drafting, land and
construction surveying, and the other data gathering
activities for specialized purposes. Although persons who
are not Civil Engineers sometimes accomplish some of these
tasks, the procurement of adequate and correct date usually
requires professional Civil Engineering judgment and
guidance. Since soundness of any engineering decision is
dependent upon the accuracy and suitability of data
obtained in field and laboratory investigations these
supporting services must be under the guidance of the Civil
Engineer whose decisions will be based upon those data.
 2.7 Academic Services
• These services involve full or part time teaching or training of prospective professionals and
also the upgrading of knowledge and skills of fellows professionals. Academic services may
include:
– Teaching of civil engineering courses in engineering colleges/universities on part/full
time basis. As per RA 8981, all subjects for licensure examinations shall be taught by
persons who are holders of valid certificates of registration/professional licenses and
professional identification cards, or special temporary permits, or a valid certificate of
competency for the profession issued by the Commission, and who comply with the
other requirements of the CHED.
– Lecturing in Civil Engineering courses designed by the Philippine Institute of Civil
Engineers for practicing engineers who want to obtain CPD credits.
– Conducting tutorials/refresher courses on civil engineering concepts and related
subjects.
– Serving as a Resources Speaker in Technical Session.
– Writing technical articles and pamphlets.
 2.8 Services as Employee
• This is a condition when a Civil Engineer engages to perform work or fulfill duties regularly for wages or salary
being paid by an employer.
• A Civil Engineer may be employed for any position or function in any commercial or institutional organization.
Where he is performing civil engineering functions, he is required to follow the code of ethics for Civil Engineers
and comply with the standards and guidelines of this manual. A licensed Civil Engineer may not allow his licensed
to be used by the company that employs him without the proper agreement for his professional services. Where
the firm he is working for uses his license to sign and seal the plans, specifications and contract document, the
Civil Engineer much charge the professional fee for said services.
• A Civil Engineer in part time employment with a firm is considered to be an employee and at the same time a
consultant of the firm.
• The standards for an employee and an individual consultant as defined in this manual apply to this Civil Engineer.
• Any Civil Engineer employed as an individual consultant of any firm, whether the firm is performing engineering,
commercial, administrative, management or financial services is required to comply with the requirements and
the standards herein established for a consulting Civil Engineering firm or consulting Civil Engineer.
• All Government Civil Engineers employed by the instrumentalities of the Government e.g. national and local, shall
be governed by pertinent existing laws and regularities and particularly to those prescribed by the Civil Service
Commission. In case of any conflict with any of the provisions of this Manual of Practice, such pertinent laws and
regulations shall take precedence and shall govern.
THE SELECTION OF
CIVIL ENGINEER
 THE SELECTION OF CIVIL ENGINEER

3.1 GENERAL

The selection and engagement of a Civil Engineer is one of the most important decisions to be made during the
development of an engineering project. No two Civil Engineer have the same training, experience, capabilities,
personnel, workloads, and particular abilities. Selection of the most qualified Civil Engineer for a specific
project will result in a well-planned and designed, economical, and successful project.

This section presents what experience has shown to be the best and, therefore, the recommended procedure
for the engagement of a Civil Engineer.
 3.2 BASIS FOR SELECTION
The client should establish administrative policy and criteria for
the selection of qualified Civil Engineers for particular projects. The
client’s first step is to define the proposed scope of the project. In
some cases, this may be a general statement of the performance
requirements of the project. At other times, the task to be performed
maybe individually identified and defined. By clearly defining the
services which the Civil Engineer is to furnish, the client can accurately
judge whether or not the Civil Engineer is best equipped to provide
them.
Some of the factors that should be considered in the selection
process are:
Some of the factors that should be considered in the selection
process are:
1. The professional and ethical reputation of the Civil Engineer and his staff as
determined by inquiries to previous clients and other references.
2. Responsible Civil Engineers and its employee must be registered professional
Civil Engineers.
3. Civil Engineers should have demonstrated qualifications and expertise,
performing the services required for the project.
4. Civil Engineer should be able to assign qualified engineering staff who will be in
responsible charge of the project and will be able to provide and complete the
required services within the time allotted.
5. The Civil Engineer should have the necessary financial and business resources
to accomplish the assignment and provide continuing service.
The selection procedures described in this manual apply to projects of the private
sector. For government projects, E.O 164 and PD 1594 as amended apply to
procurement of consulting services and selection of contractor for construction,
respectively.
 3.3 CLIENT’S SELECTION COMMITTEE

Within the client’s organization there should be an established

administrative policy for designating the persons authorized to select or recommend
selection of Civil Engineers for specific assignments. The persons appointed should be
familiar with the project requirements and should be kept free of internal or eternal
pressure during the selection process.
One satisfactory procedure is to utilize a selection committee of three or
more individuals, at least one whom is a professional engineer of the appropriate
discipline. For public projects, the client must choose individuals who demonstrate
objectivity in order to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest in the selection of
the Civil Engineer. A least one of the individuals should be thoroughly familiar with the
civil engineering practices. The committee is responsible for making recommendations
after conducting appropriate investigations, interviews, and inquiries. The final
selection is then based upon the selection committee’s recommendations.
 3.4 QUALIFICATION BASED SELECTION (QBS) PROCEDURES

The selection procedure is considerably enhanced when the client is fully

familiar with the purpose and nature of the proposed project, can describe
the project in detail, and can prepare a project scope and outline of services
expected of the Civil Engineer.

The client’s usual steps in the selection procedure are presented below. If the
client has had satisfactory experience with one or more Civil Engineers, it may
not be necessary to follow all of the steps outlined.
1. By invitation or by public notice, state the general nature of the project, the services required,
and request statements of qualifications and experience from Civil Engineers whoa appear to be
capable of meeting the project requirements. The client may issue a “Request for qualification”
(RFQ) or “Request for proposals” (RFP). RFQs are normally used to ascertain the general
qualifications in a selected area of expertise while RFPs are used to seek Civil Engineers for
creating “short lists” for selecting a Civil Engineer for a specific project.
2. Prepare a budget for the staff time and costs can be expected from potential Civil Engineer prior
to receipt of the RFQs or RFPs.
3. Evaluate the statements of qualifications received. Select at least three Civil Engineers or firms
that may appear to be best qualified for the specific project. However, in fairness to those not
selected it is usually best to make a conscientious effort to keep the number selected for further
consideration for realistic minimum in view of the cost and time required to prepare competent
proposals.
4. Write a letter to each Civil Engineer or selected for further consideration describing the
proposed project in details, including a project scope and outline of services required, and
asking for a proposal describing in detail the Civil Engineer’s plan for managing and performing
the required services, the personnel to be assigned, the proposed schedule, experience with
similar projects, office location in which services are to be performed, financial standing, present
workload, and references.
5. On receipt of proposals, invite the Civil Engineers or firms to meet individually with the selection
committee for interviews and discussions of the desired end results of the project and the
engineering services required.
6. Check with recent clients of each Civil Engineer or firm to determine the quality of
their performance. This check need to be limited to references listed by the Civil
Engineer.
7. List the Civil Engineer or firms in the order of preference, taking into account their
approach and understanding of the project, reputation, experience, financial standing,
size, personnel available, quality of references, workload, location, and other factors
pertinent to the project being considered.
8. Invite the Civil Engineer considered to be best qualified to develop a detailed scope.
List of deliverables and schedules, and to negotiate fair compensation for the services.
9. The compensation proposed by the Civil Engineer should be evaluated on the basis of
the clients experience and budget estimate, taking account of the range of charges
reported in Section 4 herein; giving consideration to the project’s special
characteristics and the scope of services agreed upon. Fair and reasonable
compensation to the Civil Engineer is vital to the success of the project since it will
enable the consultant’s expertise to be fully utilized.
10. If satisfactory agreement is not reached with the first Civil Engineer, the negotiations
should be terminated and the Civil Engineer or firm be notified in writing to that effect.
11. When agreement has been reached on scope, schedule and compensation, the client
and selected Civil Engineer should formalize their agreement in a written contract.
3.5 SELECTION PROCEDURE FOR “LEVEL OF EFFORT” CONTRACTS

A “level of effort” type of contract for engineering service is a contract

procedure used to supplement a client staff, either by providing and extension
to existing disciplines and capabilities already on board or by adding special
disciplines not available on the client’s staff.
As applied to “level of effort” contracts, the QBS procedure sets forth the
general nature of services to be rendered, the types of specialists required
and the estimated number of hours required during the contract period for
each type and grade specialist, and the requests proposals from qualified
firms.
 3.5.1 Bidding
Professional engineering and architectural societies, recognize QBS as the preferred method for procurement of
professional services. In fact the NEDA Guidelines require the procurement of professional engineering and
architectural services only by a process similar to that described in “Qualification-Based Selection Procedure”,
above.

Selection of Civil Engineers and the related service professionals, including consultants and sub consultants on
construction projects, should result from competition based on the qualifications and resources best suited to
complete a project successfully in terms of performance quality and cost-effectiveness.
There are many reasons why bidding for consulting Civil Engineering services often produces unsatisfactory results for
the client. Principal among these are:
1. Bidding does not recognize professional judgement, which is the key difference between professional services and
the furnishing of products. Judgement is an essential ingredient in quality engineering services.
2. It is virtually impossible to completely detail in advance the scope of services required for an engineering project
especially for the study and preliminary phases, without lengthy discussions and negotiations with the selected
firm. Lacking specifics, the bidding firms must, in order to be competitive, submit a price for the least effort
envisioned.
3. In-depth studies and analyses by the consulting Civil Engineer are not likely to be performed. The consulting Civil
Engineer selected by lowest bid will often provide only the minimum services necessary to satisfy the client’s
scope and services.
4. The consulting Civil Engineer’s ability to be flexible and creative in meeting the client’s requirements is severely
limited.
5. The engineering designs are likely to be minimal in completeness with the details left to the contractor. This
produces a lower first cost design but tends to add to the cost of the completed project. The lack of design-details
also can and frequently does, lead to a greater number of change orders during construction and to contractor
claims at a later date.
For these reasons, bidding for professional services is not recommended.
 3.5.2 Two-Envelope System
The two-envelope system involves submission of a technical proposal in one envelope and a price in a second envelope.
The client then evaluates the technical proposals and selects the best qualified Civil Engineer based on that consulting
Civil Engineer’s technical proposal. At this point in the selection procedure, the client opens the price proposal
submitted in the second envelope and uses this as basis for negotiation of contractual scope and fees. The second
envelope submitter by the unsuccessful proposers are returned unopened.
If the client follows this procedure, the net effect is as outlined in “Qualification-Based Selection procedure,” provided
that the client and the best qualified consulting Civil Engineer have extensive discussions to reach full agreement on the
scope of services.
If both envelopes of all proposers are opened at the same time, a bidding process, as discussed in the section on
“Bidding,” is initiated with attendant disadvantages. Procedures should be established to provide confirmation that the
second envelope is opened for only the successful proposal.
The two-envelope system is not recommended. If used as intended, it is similar to the recommended QBS procedure
except that the added cost to prepare a comprehensive scope and price discourages some consulting Civil Engineers
from participating. The cost to prepare a proper price proposal are considerable to the firms not selected, which
increases the overall business costs of consulting civil engineering and ultimately of the clients.