Our database includes details of over 310 of the UK's civil/structural engineering practices, last updated in Spring 2023. It includes a senior contact name for each practice, together with address, telephone number, website and email address. Entries from the Construction Index Top 100 and the Building Top 50 Engineers have been noted. You can download it on the My Account page.
Civil Engineers
In order to simplify the role of the civil engineer, the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) explains that “civil engineers are responsible for virtually all the great structures around us today and throughout history” and for major projects sea ports to airports, roadways to runways and dams to bridges, in which they play a major role in their construction and maintenance.
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The title Civil Engineer is a broad one and includes a range of specific professions (structural engineer, mechanical engineer, etc). The journal New Civil Engineer (NCE) says that they are:
- Clients who buy projects and professional services
- Designers and contractors who specify the products and equipment used to build projects
- Involved in procuring services and goods to manage the maintenance of the finished schemes
- Responsible for making sure the environment is protected and preserved
- Involved when projects are decommissioned, ensuring minimum damage and inconvenience to the local ecology and community
Needless to say, they play an important role in the selection of building products, materials and services, and the major players are often larger construction services groups offering a range of activities including design, project management, construction, engineering services, and FM.
Structural Engineers
The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) explains the role, saying, "If we think of a structure as a human body then structural engineers design and maintain the skeleton. They are the guardians of public safety, ensuring that buildings and bridges are strong enough to withstand all kinds of stresses and strains.
"They are a key part of the design and construction team, working alongside architects to create and maintain all kinds of structure - from houses and skyscrapers to sports stadia and oil rigs.
"They are creative, trustworthy problem solvers who shape all aspects of our built environment, developing innovative solutions to allow construction in the most challenging environments."
Marketing
Direct promotions and social media aside, specific targeting of the sector by construction product and service providers is possible through focused media. The Construction Media Index has indicated that the way engineers sourced product information was evolving, but the use of product directories and readership of trade journals remained strong. Also, it found that both printed and digitally produced brochures were still in demand. Interestingly, when looking for technical support, the Index found that sample specifications were important and, although The NBS is intended primarily for architects, it was regularly used by a quarter of civil engineers.
Journals
The journal New Civil Engineer (NCE) provides advertising opportunities, has an international net circulation in excess of 46,000, and is distributed to all members of the Institution of Civil Engineers. In addition to the journal, NCE offers a range of other promotional opportunities, such as advertising on the NCE website and in its daily e-newsletter, solus emails and content support for webinars and white papers.
Structural Engineer is the house journal of the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE). Published monthly and distributed to more than 17,000 structural engineering professionals, it showcases both civil and structural engineering products and services.
Other journals specifically focused on this sector, and offering advertising opportunities, include Construction & Civil Engineering Magazine, Rail Construction News, Infrastructure Intelligence and Plant & Civil Engineer. This directory includes a database containing information on these and over 330+ other construction industry journals (details include circulation data and named editorial and sales contacts with email addresses). In order to find those which include construction engineers cited in their readership profiles, download the database, select the 'main readership' column and enter the term "engineer" in the search box.
Our Forward Features Planner provides a month-by-month summary of upcoming topics scheduled in some of the industry’s key journals.
Exhibitions
There are over 280 construction exhibitions detailed in our UK Construction Exhibition Calendar; however, Civils* (part of UK Construction Week), The Concrete Show, and Infrarail are amongst a number of dedicated events in the sector's calendar.
(* Construct UK is a media partner for this event)
Other Events and Awards
The Institution of Civil Engineers supports over 91,000 members across the world through regular communications, training, networking and events. Manufacturers, suppliers and service providers can reach the ICE membership by promoting their brands through a range of events and other activities. See ICE advertising information here.
The Association for Consultancy and Engineering (ACE) and the Institution of Structural Engineers also offer sponsorship opportunities for their events.
A number of awards ceremonies cover the sector and can offer sponsorship and promotional opportunities – examples are the British Construction Industry Awards (BCIA) and The Structural Awards. A comprehensive index of over 170 construction industry award programmes, offering sponsorship and other promotional opportunities, can be found here.
CPD
As is the case with many other professional disciplines in construction, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a mandatory requirement for construction engineers. Both the ICE and the IStructE require members to comply.
By providing independently certified CPD material and presentations, manufacturers and suppliers can increase their brand recognition, develop new contacts and foster networking opportunities. Such material can take the form of electronic or hard copy documentation, formal seminars and conferences, roadshows, webinars or presentations given by invitation professionals in their own offices.
Our feature on CPD Certification and Marketing provides information for product manufacturers and suppliers seeking to achieve CPD accreditation.
Sales Leads and Research
Infrastructure project leads are available from a number of organisations such as Barbour ABI (our Sourcing Project Leads section details over 30 firms). Barbour ABI also collate and publish the data for the UK Government's Construction & Infrastructure Pipeline, which, at the time of writing, sets out plans for over £400bn worth of public and private investment into Britain’s economic and social infrastructure and includes over 700 projects and programmes across the country.
Infrastructure-specific reports are available from BMI Research (now part of Fitch Solutions Group), AMA Research and Mintel.
(Specialist Contractors - we have also compiled a supplementary database containing details for over 350 contractors and consultants including engineering disciplines, such as M&E, BSE, etc. This database includes named contacts and email addresses and is available for subscribers only. It may be downloaded here.)