Friedrich Setz was born into a Protestant family of a master builder in Sedmihradsko. He studied at the Polytechnic Institute in Vienna, from where he continued under the name of Samuel Setz to study engineering sciences at the Polytechnic Institute in Munich between 1859 and 1860, and architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna between 1860 and 1862. He worked in Vienna as a freelance architect and builder in 1863–1871. In 1871, he joined the services of the Hungarian Eastern Railways (Ungarische Ostbahn) as a deputy, and later head of department III, designing building constructions for the Construction Directorate in Pest, where he made drawings, “standards” of buildings for the Hungarian Eastern Railways. The “standard”, i.e. typified architectural plan for the construction of a railway service building, was adjusted as required for the given location.
On 1. 9. 1874, Setz joined the services of the General Rail Safety Inspection Office as the chief engineer and architect. In 1876–1885, he was employed with the Directorate of State Railway Constructions (Ředitelství pro státní stavby železniční) as the chief of the building construction design office (he drew up the first drawings – standards for the Rakovník–Protivín, Valšov–Rýmařov, Milotice nad Opavou–Vrbno pod Pradědem railway line, etc.). In 1882, he joined the General Directorate of the Imperial Royal State Railways (kaiserlich-königliche Staatsbahnen, kkStB). He worked there until 1889 as head of department 2/c during the construction of Arlbergbahn. From 1885, he was engaged in the designs of the Galicia Transversal Railway (Haličská transverzální dráha) and the Bohemian-Moravian Transversal Railway (Českomoravská transverzální dráha), with chief engineer Emilian Eysank von Marienfeld as his deputy. In this period, designs were drawn up for the Jihlava-Town (Jihlava-město) railway station and related buildings, such as the station building, waterworks building and staff flats, locomotive rotunda, goods storage and detached and semi-detached guard house.
In 1892, Setz was awarded the title of chief building councillor. In 1890–1895, he worked for the Directorate of State Railway Constructions (Ředitelství pro státní stavby železniční) again, run under the Ministry of Trade, as head of building constructions department. On 1. 7. 1895, he left the railway services, with the honorary title of the Central Inspector of the General Board of Directors at the Ministry of Trade in Vienna. For his engagement in the construction of state railways and the Arlbergbahn railway, he was awarded the Knight's Cross of Franz Joseph on 11. 12. 1889.
In addition to designing railway buildings, chief engineer and chief inspector Friedrich Setz was also involved, as part of civil architecture, in public contracts for the Ministry of Post and Telegraph between 1883 and 1901. He designed 26 post office building in Cisleithania. His architecturally important buildings included the post office buildings for Lviv (Galicia), Olomouc, Graz, Terst, Chernivtsi (Bukovina), Jablonec nad Nisou and Karlovy Vary. In 1901, he designed the remodelling of the general post office in Prague. In 1902, he was awarded the title of court councillor. He retired in 1905.
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