Civil engineering is one of the oldest engineering disciplines because it deals with constructed environment[1] including planning, designing, and overseeing construction and maintenance of building structures, and facilities, such as roads, railroads, airports, bridges, harbors, channels, dams, irrigation projects, pipelines, power plants, and water and sewage systems.

[7] Some civil engineers, particularly those working for government agencies, may practice across multiple specializations, particularly when involved in critical infrastructure development or maintenance.

[8] Many spend time outdoors at construction sites so that they can monitor operations or solve problems onsite.

(French: Ingénieur Civil, Dutch: Burgerlijk Ingenieur) is a legally protected title applicable to graduates of the five-year engineering course of one of the six universities and the Royal Military Academy.

Their speciality can be all fields of engineering: civil, structural, electrical, mechanical, chemical, physics and even computer science.

Traditionally, students were required to pass an entrance exam on mathematics to start civil engineering studies.

In Scandinavian countries, "civil engineer" (civilingenjör in Swedish; sivilingeniør in Norwegian; civilingeniør in Danish) is a first professional degree, approximately equivalent to Master of Science in Engineering, and a protected title granted to students by selected institutes of technology.

A noteworthy difference is the mandatory courses in mathematics and physics, regardless of the equivalent master's degree, e.g. computer science.

Although a "college engineer" (högskoleingenjör, diplomingenjör, or mellaningenjör in Swedish; høgskoleingeniør in Norwegian; diplomingeniør in Danish) is roughly equivalent to a Bachelor of Science in Scandinavia, to become a "civil engineer" one often has had to do up to one extra year of overlapping studies compared to attaining a B.Sc./M.Sc.

In Spain, a civil engineering degree can be obtained after four years of study in the various branches of mathematics, physics, mechanics, etc.

This degree is equivalent to a Master of Civil Engineering and is obtained after five or six years of study depending on the school granting the title.

In Spain, a civil engineer has the technical and legal ability to design projects of any branch, so any Spanish civil engineer can oversee projects about structures, buildings (except residential structures which are reserved for architects), foundations, hydraulics, the environment, transportation, urbanism, etc.

In many Eastern European countries, civil engineering does not exist as a distinct degree or profession [citation needed] but its various sub-professions are often studied in separate university faculties and performed as separate professions, whether they are taught in civilian universities or military engineering academies.

Official members of the CSCE must hold a bachelor's degree from an accredited civil engineering program.