The technical competency of civil engineers in Malaysia is crucial to the process of ensuring that the necessary standards of quality, cost effectiveness, schedule observance and regulatory compliance are achieved in public infrastructure projects. In this paper, the following literature synthesis combines literature published in the period 2018 to 2024, to critically analyse the prevailing situation of technical competency in the Malaysian public civil engineering workforce. Using 27 peer-reviewed journal articles and standards, the analysis highlights recurrent issues, such as ineffective Continuing Professional Development (CPD) standards, technological lag, misbalance between curriculum and the industry, geographic imbalance, and imperfect regulation enforcement. Although there are formal structures in place like the Construction Industry Transformation Programme (CITP) and the Professional Competency Examination (PCE), gaps in implementation do not facilitate the best experience. The study suggests a unified Malaysian Civil Engineer Competency Framework that incorporates digital literacy, sustainability principles and equal access to professional development opportunities. The framework will bring the Malaysian competencies of the public sector to international standards but concerns itself with the characteristic social-economic and geographical environment of the nation.