Engineering and planning with a team in Tunisia
Last updated: 27 October 2026
Many engineering and planning departments have more projects on the table than their team can handle. Some companies therefore split the work between their head office and a dedicated team in Tunisia.
This guide covers which work runs well in Tunisia, who owns what, where the split breaks down and what to settle before you start. It applies to piping, E&I and electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and building services and BIM, and it draws on our work with engineering teams in Tunis and conversations with engineering leads.
What works well in Tunisia and what stays on site
Anything produced in the engineering tool and checkable against clear standards works well. Anything that needs a presence at the plant, on the construction site or at the test bench stays on site. In every discipline, whether the split holds depends on one thing being in place at head office.
| Discipline | Works well from Tunis | On site or at head office | What it depends on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piping design | 3D piping model, isometrics, plant layout, bills of materials, point cloud processing | Site surveys and laser scanning, coordination with process engineering and the operator, installation supervision | Up-to-date as-built data and complete pipe classes |
| E&I and electrical engineering | Instrument lists, datasheets, schematics, terminal and cable schedules, control panel layouts, loop diagrams | Site surveys, factory acceptance tests at the panel builder, loop checks and commissioning | A documented tagging system, for example to KKS or IEC 81346, and manufacturer data for field devices |
| Mechanical engineering | 3D modeling of assemblies, drawing generation, bills of materials, variant engineering, engineering changes | Prototypes, testing, test bench work, coordination with manufacturing and assembly | Documented manufacturing know-how and maintained standard parts libraries |
| Building services and BIM | Modeling for each trade, routing, clash detection, construction drawings | Coordination with architects and site management, site walks, site supervision | A BIM Execution Plan with clear modeling guidelines |
Who owns what
Technical ownership of a plant section, an assembly or a trade can sit entirely with the team in Tunisia. The team handles the engineering, solves technical questions itself and presents its solutions in design reviews.
Three things stay at head office: the overall concept, coordination with the client and the operator, and formal approval of the documents. Approval belongs with the company that signs for its client and carries the liability.
Where the split breaks down
Every company works differently, so there is no standard model. Problems usually start where expectations stay unspoken: which tasks the team takes on, which standards it works to and who answers its questions. Settling that before you start avoids most of the friction.
What to check in a technical interview
You choose the engineers yourself. In a technical interview, walking through real project documents tells you more than general questions.
- Piping design: Ask the candidate to explain an isometric or a section of the 3D model, covering pipe class, slope, supports and access for installation and maintenance.
- E&I and electrical engineering: Go through a schematic or a loop diagram together, including hazardous areas, cable sizing and tagging.
- Mechanical engineering: Discuss a drawing with tolerances and fits, and ask how the part is manufactured and assembled.
- Building services and BIM: Ask to see how clashes are found in the model and resolved with the other trades.
- Working with your documentation: If your drawings and specifications are not in English, clarify how the person works with them: what they read confidently, where they use tools, and which texts your team checks.
What to settle before you start
- Access: The team works in the same project and the same tool, for example AutoCAD Plant 3D, EPLAN, SolidWorks or Revit, with your master data, libraries and templates. With VPN and remote desktop, or your cloud environment, models and drawings stay in your IT.
- Standards: Client specifications, company standards, engineering guidelines, the tagging system and a template project. This documentation also helps every new colleague at head office.
- Contact person: An experienced engineer at head office assigns the packages, answers questions and reviews the results. At the start this role takes noticeable time, later less.
- Review process: Results go through the same review as work from head office. Feedback belongs in writing, in the document or the model.
- First package: A clearly defined scope with a revision and a deadline, for example the isometrics for a plant section, the drawings for an assembly or the routing for one floor. The scope grows from there.
- Meeting in person: If possible, a visit in Tunis or at your head office.
Time zone, public holidays and language
Time zone. Tunisia stays on UTC+1 all year and does not change to summer time. In winter, Tunis is one hour ahead of London and on the same time as Berlin and Paris. In summer, Tunis is on London time and one hour behind Berlin and Paris. The team joins your project meetings.
Public holidays. Tunisia has its own public holidays. Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha follow the Islamic lunar calendar and move about eleven days earlier each year. The exact day is only confirmed shortly before. Add both countries' holidays to the project calendar at the start of the year.
Language. With clients in Germany and the UK, the engineers work in English.
Before the start, we agree with you which documents need to be in German or French and how we handle that.
Scope Merge recruits and employs engineers in Tunisia who work long term in their clients' projects.
