What’s the Difference Between a Civil Engineer and a Structural Engineer?
When you look at building homes, infrastructure, or commercial projects, you may hear people use the terms civil engineer and structural engineer interchangeably. While these roles overlap, each has distinct responsibilities, training, and specialties. Understanding the difference can help you know exactly who you need on your team—and how Schembri Engineers can deliver both.
What is a Civil Engineer?
A civil engineer is typically responsible for the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of infrastructure projects. This includes:
- Site development: grading, drainage, utilities, roads, sidewalks
- Infrastructure systems: stormwater management, sewage, flood control, water supply
- Land use planning & transportation engineering
- Public works projects: highways, bridges, airports, dams
- Regulatory compliance: making sure designs meet local, state, and federal codes and permitting requirements
Civil engineers often look at the big picture—how a project fits within its environment, how to prepare a site, how to ensure access, manage water and infrastructure.
What is a Structural Engineer?
A structural engineer focuses more narrowly on the skeleton of buildings or other structures: the parts that carry loads and make sure the structure stands up safely. Core responsibilities include:
- Designing structural elements: beams, columns, foundations, trusses, load-bearing walls
- Load analysis: wind loads, snow loads, seismic loads, dead/live loads
- Material selection: steel, concrete, wood, or composite materials
- Ensuring structural integrity over time: durability, safety, serviceability
- Inspection & evaluation: checking existing structures, analyzing damage, designing repairs
Structural engineering is deeply technical—analysis, modeling, safety factors—all focused on making sure that a structure won’t collapse, deform excessively, or fail in extreme conditions.
How the Roles Overlap (and Why Both Matter)
There is overlap. A civil engineer designing a site must work with drainage and foundation considerations, which involves structural knowledge. Conversely, a structural engineer must understand the site conditions (soil, slope, loads) which often involves civil engineering. Good projects require coordination between both disciplines.
A few examples:
| What is needed | Civil Engineer’s Contribution | Structural Engineer’s Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Building a new commercial building on undeveloped land | Designing the site layout, grading, utility connections, stormwater flow, access roads | Designing the building’s foundations, framing, ensuring safe load-bearing design |
| Renovating an older building | Determining site constraints, utilities, permits | Inspecting load capacity, designing structural reinforcement |
Why Choose a Firm That Offers Both: The Schembri Engineers Advantage
At Schembri Engineers, we pride ourselves on being a full-service engineering & design firm that covers both civils and structural engineering (along with mechanical/plumbing, electrical, and inspection services).
Here are some ways Schembri Engineers stands out:
- Decades of experience: Established in 1985, family-owned and operated. Over 40 years of solving engineering challenges across Arizona and Nevada.
- Comprehensive design services: We perform Civil Design & Analysis and Structural Design & Analysis, so you get both site-/infrastructure-level expertise and structure-level safety and integrity from the same trusted team.
- Inspection & evaluation capabilities: We provide special inspections, defect investigation, construction forensics, etc.—ensuring that structures are built (and maintained) properly.
- Professional credentials: Many of our inspection engineers are board-certified via the Building Inspection Engineering Certification Institute (BIECI); we’re members of NABIE and the NSPE.
- Proven track record: Over 15,000 satisfied clients, recognized locally (2023 Angi Super Service Award).
When you need work that involves both civil and structural engineering—say, a new building, or repairs to an existing one—having a single firm that understands both disciplines means fewer gaps, smoother coordination, lower risk, and better outcomes.
When Do You Need Each (or Both)?
Here are some scenarios:
| Scenario | You Need Civil Engineering | You Need Structural Engineering | Both |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building a new house on a graded lot | ✔️ site grading, utilities | ✔️ foundation & framing | ✔️ |
| Replacing a retaining wall after soil erosion | ✔️ site grading and drainage | ✔️ structural wall design | ✔️ |
| Adding a second story to an existing building | ✔️ permits, site impact | ✔️ load capacity, framing reinforcement | ✔️ |
| Building a road or infrastructure (non-building) | ✔️ primarily civil | — | ✔️ if bridges or structures are involved |
Tips for Working Successfully With Your Engineers
- Clearly define what you want: budget, timeline, functionality (e.g., parking, load-bearing requirements, seismic or wind concerns).
- Ensure you hire licensed professionals: structural engineers should be licensed P.E.s; inspections by certified inspectors. Schembri Engineers provides licensed Professional Engineers for designs and board-certified inspectors for evaluations.
- Talk about soil and site conditions early: poor soil types, steep slopes, expansive soils (common in parts of Arizona) & drainage issues can significantly affect both civil and structural design.
- Plan for inspections & evaluation, not just design: catching issues early (foundation problems, structural issues) saves cost and delays.
Civil engineers and structural engineers are both essential
Civil engineers focus on how a project fits into, impacts, and works with land, infrastructure, and environment; structural engineers ensure the safe, stable skeleton of what is built. When they work together, projects are safer, more efficient, more durable, and cost-effective.
At Schembri Engineers, you don’t have to choose one or the other—you get both. Whether you’re starting from the ground up or reinforcing existing structures, our team has the civil, structural, inspection, and evaluation expertise to guide your project from plan through construction and beyond.
If you’re planning a project in Arizona or Nevada and want engineers who truly understand both civil and structural demands, contact Schembri Engineers today. Let’s make sure whatever you build is safe, sustainable, and built to last.