Consulting engineers refer to management engineers engaged in various consulting activities. Generally speaking, consulting engineers should have skilled professional skills and management knowledge, rich practical work experience, extensive social contacts and good social reputation. Consulting engineers can provide various forms and contents of consulting services for owners, contractors and other parties at all stages of engineering construction.
Consulting engineer is the general name of engineering technicians and other professionals (such as economics and management) engaged in engineering consulting business.
The international understanding of consulting engineers is quite different from China's customary understanding. According to the international understanding, architects, structural engineers, various professional equipment engineers, supervision engineers, cost engineers and professionals engaged in project bidding in China belong to consulting engineers. Even auditors and accountants engaged in engineering consulting business (for example, they may need to review the contractor's financial books and records when handling claims) belong to consulting engineers.
Therefore, don't understand consulting engineers as "engineers engaged in consulting work". Perhaps because of the above reasons, 1990 International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) has replaced "consulting engineer" with "consultant" in its Standard Service Agreement Conditions for Owners/Consulting Engineers (referred to as "White Paper"). The word Consultant can be translated into consultant or expert, but the translation of China's "white paper" is still translated into consulting engineer according to the original habit.