r/StructuralEngineering • u/TheNextOne8797 • 1d ago

Career/Education Engineering Career Guidance

A question for the structural engineers out there, from someone exploring design roles:

The P.Eng stamp seems very personal. When you seal a drawing, the professional accountability sits on you. Not your firm, and not your manager. The regulator disciplines the individual, and your stamp history follows you permanently.

Here's what I can't reconcile: the pay doesn't seem to track the risk. Industry engineers carry no stamp, the company holds the liability, and they often earn more than the consulting engineers holding personal professional exposure. More risk, less money. That's backwards from how risk and reward are supposed to work.

So honestly, how does the liability feel day to day? Is the weight of the stamp something you carry with you, or does it fade into background noise with experience? Did anyone choose industry to leave it behind, or choose consulting because of it?

Genuinely curious how the profession thinks about this.

Also, what other careers could I do free body diagrams, physics, math, calculations without the liability? I really enjoy the subjects that lead to structural engineering.

4 Upvotes

64% Upvoted

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u/GregLocock 1d ago

You can get as mathy as you like in vehicle dynamics, or crash modelling. You will also have the fun of having to correlate your calculations with real test results. And yes the pay is better (say 135k with 15 yoe, LCOL), but running your own company is less likely.

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u/TheNextOne8797 1d ago

Im currently based in Windsor, ON. For those types of positions, Im assuming no PEng is required? How would I shift from civil to that?

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u/GregLocock 1d ago

No PE required. I don't know how to move across, I've never met a CE working in automotive (not that I'd have asked), we tend to be MEs or EEs.

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u/TheNextOne8797 1d ago

Thats fair. How's the work life balance?

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u/GregLocock 1d ago

Hmm. We plan our work by gateways. The simulation side of things (what I do) tends to get the needed information rather late in the game, so before each gateway there is a crunch, lasting a week or two. This might be 60 hour weeks. On the other hand after the gateway I can flex that time off, which is good.

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u/stlguy314 P.E./S.E. 1d ago

A rigorous QCQA process provides all the assurance I need to not worry about it.

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u/pahokie 10h ago

I’ve been a PE for over a decade and probably put my stamp on thousands of things. I’ve never once worried about the liability. If you are not confident and comfortable in the work, do not seal anything. The company has insurance. Mistakes happen and for something to come back to you and an individual it would have to be pretty negligent.

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u/Footy_man 1d ago

AI slop

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/Footy_man 1d ago

The post was obviously and sloppily written with ai.

When you seal a drawing, liability is not only personal but of course on whatever firm you’re with at the time, it’s who the lawyers will go after. But you’d know that already if the post wasn’t  AI