ENGINEERING DREAMS AND REALITIES - WHAT THE PUBLIC WANTS

Times are changing for municipal engineers. There was a time when, if you were an engineer in local or national government or the utility services, you knew where you stood. You had a budget. You had projects. All you had to do was to complete your projects within budget. You were professionals. Everyone, or at least most, respected your professional judgment. If you said this is what needed to be done then it was assumed that that was what was needed to be done. After all, you were the experts.

During the 1980's all that began to change. The utility services were privatised and local and national government discovered they had customers. And this has meant a redefinition of the role of the municipal engineer. No longer is he the deliverer of engineering dreams to his colleagues in other departments of government. Now he is there to respond to the consumer. He is no longer there to serve the needs of government but to serve the needs of the customer.