Engineer’s Role

To execute any certain construction project, three parties are required: the employer, the contractor, and the engineer. The employer’s relation with the contractor is based on the contracting agreement, whereas the employer’s relationship with the engineer is based on another separate contract, following his appointment under the contract, the engineer shall offer the essential services in planning, design, and implementation on behalf of the employer in order to optimize the contractor’s work in the practical implementation of the contracted project.

Thus, the engineer mediates the relationship between the client and the contractor through his authority to represent the employer, consider and defend his interests, the engineer plays a prominent and essential role in the project workflow, which is inevitably reflected on the completion of the project in the required manner, the engineer is responsible for monitoring and following up on the contractor’s work, ensuring that it is carried out in accordance with the approved and agreed specifications and designs, guaranteeing that the best technical methods approved in the workmanship for the works are followed, as well as adhering to the agreed schedule for each part of the project, which results in a commitment to the schedule, the engineer also ensures that safety, security and public health methods are followed when carrying out the works, as well as keeping special records for the project showing all the project’s details, including the workers’ lists and all the supplies that arrive at the project, signing them after correcting them and referring them to the project manager for disbursement of the receivable from them.

The project manager is aware of any delays that may arise, with an analysis of the causes and a proposal for how to solve them, ensuring the efficiency of all project employees by submitting weekly and monthly periodic updates on the status of work to the project manager, including his notes, alerting  the project manager of any difficulties that may arise during construction, as well as to verify the work on a regular basis, Issuing directions for re-executing any works that do not correspond to specifications or plans, as well as guaranteeing the contractor’s safety and security procedures. He also checks the inventory of quantities for all materials used in the project’s implementation, prepares work progress reports for reference when needed, raises the contractor’s financial claims to the employer after approval, It is always required that the engineer must be of a high level of professionalism and craftsmanship, and that he exercises his control over the role of the contractor and his works with impartiality and professionalism, and that he provides convincing logical justifications for any decision taken, particularly if the contractor’s works or a request for action are not satisfactory in addition to the amendments to the works, his professional opinion must be independent of the employer, so that he delivers his opinion in a way that accomplishes the employer’s objectives in line with the agreed upon and professional standards and without leaving the contract’s terms or the parties’ agreed-upon requirements The contract is the contracting parties’ law. The engineer’s function and impartiality in the performance of his work play a significant role in the management of any project or contracting and its success in bringing this project to safety and completion without a disagreement between the employer and the contractor.

The engineer is the link, the connector, and the achiever of agreement between the parties. It aims, on the one hand, to implement the project in accordance with the agreed specifications and to ensure and guarantee that, and on the other, the employer’s obligation to perform his obligations towards the contractor to ensure that the contractor continues to perform his work to the fullest extent possible in order to complete the project safely within the agreed timetable, In a way that is not burdensome to any of the parties, whether the contractor or the employer,  the most important matter that ensures the progress of the work in the required and necessary way to bring the project to the point where it achieves the interests of all parties is to ensure that the engineer performs his work to the fullest extent, the engineer carries out his specified responsibilities as well as his obligations under the contract he enters with the employer. Thus, his responsibility is contractual, which is realized as soon as he breaches the contract signed with the employer, in addition to the perception of tort liability for any damages that may occur as a result of an engineer’s work outside the scope of the contract signed with the employer.

Authors: Ms. Islam Al-Bayed & Contributor Mr. Mohammad Mufid Ratib Qurashi