He served as the 146th President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) (2010-2011) and succeeded Paul Morrell as the UK government's chief construction adviser in November 2012.

[1] Hansford studied civil engineering at the University of Nottingham, and then worked at Amey Roadstone Construction and Maunsell Consultations Asia in Hong Kong.

He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to innovation in civil engineering.

[5] Involved with the Infrastructure UK cost study, Hansford has also worked on various strategic reviews including ones for the Highways Agency, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Network Rail.

[6][7] In July 2015, the Government announced that "the role of the Chief Construction Adviser will not be continued after the incumbent Peter Hansford’s tenure ends in November 2015.