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Technicians and associate professionals · code 3112

Civil engineering technicians

Civil engineering technicians perform technical tasks in civil engineering research and in the design, construction, operation, maintenance and repair of buildings and other structures such as water supply and wastewater treatment systems, bridges, roads, dams and airports. Tasks include - (a) performing or assisting with field and laboratory tests of soils and construction materials; (b) providing technical assistance connected with the construction of buildings and other structures, and with surveys or the preparation of survey reports; (c) ensuring compliance with design specifications, relevant legislation and regulations, and maintenance of desired standards of materials and work; (d) applying technical knowledge of building and civil engineering principles and practices in order to identify and solve problems arising; (e) assisting with the preparation of detailed estimates of quantities and costs of materials and labour required for projects, according to the specifications given; (f) organizing maintenance and repairs; (g) inspecting buildings and structures during and after construction to ensure that they comply with building, grading, zoning and safety laws and approved plans, specifications and standards, as well as with other rules concerning quality and safety of buildings; (h) inspecting industrial plant, hotels, cinemas and other buildings and structures to detect fire hazards and advise on how they can be removed; (i) advising on the installation of fire detectors and sprinkler systems and the use of materials in the construction of buildings, and means of transportation to reduce risk of fire and extent of damage and danger if fire occurs. Examples of the occupations classified here: - Building inspector - Building surveyor - Civil engineering technician - Clerk of works - Fire inspector - Fire prevention specialist - Geotechnical technician - Surveying technician Some related occupations classified elsewhere: - Quantity surveyor - 2149 - Marine surveyor - 3115 - Fire investigator - 3119

None of this job's tasks scored high enough to count. It ranks 219 of 427 for holding up against AI.

Also known as

  • corrosion technician
  • energy consultant
  • construction safety inspector
  • construction safety manager
  • energy analyst
  • energy conservation officer
  • railway infrastructure inspector
  • surveying technician
  • civil engineering technician

Job titles from the EU's ESCO list. Search for any of them on the jobs page and you'll end up here.

72.4
Holds up
against AI Not Exposed

AI could take on 27.6 of 100, on average
so it holds up at 100 − 27.6 = 72.4

That's the whole sum, and you can check it against the ILO's study.

48.8
How hands-on
out of 100

From O*NET, averaged across 6 US jobs

33.8
How fiddly
and cramped

finger skill 33.8 · hand skill 31.8 · cramped spaces 35.6 · averaged

Kind of hands-on work · hands-on under 50 Less than half hands-on

Less than half of this job is hands-on. Robots still matter, but for a smaller part of the work, so we don't sort it any further.

estimated O*NET 31.0 BLS occupational crosswalk chain ISCO-08 to 2010 SOC (Aug 2012, rev. Jun 2015); 2010 to 2018 SOC (Nov 2017); O*NET-SOC 2019 taxonomy data 0.7-work-setting measures chosen by Frey & Osborne (2017) · the grouping is a sorting, not a measurement

What this number leaves out This job rates 48.8 out of 100 for how hands-on it is. The score above only looks at AI tools, not robots, but for work this far from the physical that matters less.

The tasks behind the score

The score is the average of these. A job is really a bundle of tasks, and an average can hide how uneven that bundle is.

The task AI could do most of scores 41, while the average is 27.6. A big gap means some of this job is wide open to AI and some of it barely at all. That's quite different from a job where everything sits somewhere in the middle, even when the averages match.

  1. 41

    Assisting with the preparation of detailed estimates of quantities and costs of materials and labour required for projects, according to the specifications given

    Low
  2. 35.8

    Providing technical assistance connected with the construction of buildings and other structures, and with surveys or the preparation of survey reports

    Low
  3. 30.5

    Ensuring compliance with design specifications, relevant legislation and regulations, and maintenance of desired standards of materials and work

    Low
  4. 28.5

    Applying technical knowledge of building and civil engineering principles and practices in order to identify and solve problems arising

    Low
  5. 26.5

    Advising on the installation of fire detectors and sprinkler systems and the use of materials in the construction of buildings, and means of transportation to reduce risk of fire and extent of damage and danger if fire occurs.

    Low
  6. 26

    Inspecting buildings and structures during and after construction to ensure that they comply with building, grading, zoning and safety laws and approved plans, specifications and standards, as well as with other rules concerning quality and safety of buildings

    Low
  7. 24

    Inspecting industrial plant, hotels, cinemas and other buildings and structures to detect fire hazards and advise on how they can be removed

    Very Low
  8. 19.5

    Performing or assisting with field and laboratory tests of soils and construction materials

    Very Low
  9. 17

    Organizing maintenance and repairs

    Very Low

9 tasks · the High to Very Low labels are the ILO's

from the source Working Paper 140, Generative AI and Jobs 2025 index data 0.7-work-setting

Helped, or replaced?

The score above can't tell a tool that makes you faster from one that does the task instead of you. Jobs and Skills Australia looked at those two things separately, and this is their result, matched to this job.

2 Australian jobs match this one, and we've simply averaged them. Treat the numbers as a rough guide.

AI helps you
71.5
AI does it for you
45.5

Helping wins by 26 points.

estimated Our Gen AI Transition (Gen AI Capacity Study) September 2025 detailed data release data 0.7-work-setting matched to Australian jobs 3121, 3122

Compared with similar jobs

There are 82 jobs in the “Technicians and associate professionals” group, averaging 65.3. This one is above that.