Civil PE Registration

Hello Everyone, I am new here, as matter of fact I am new in US too, I am Civil Engineer, I have about 13-year experience in civil engineering, I called Texas Board for registration for PE exam, and they told me I have to have FE and after three years and recommendation from 3 PE engineers, I will be able to take the exam.

I passed the FE exam a few weeks ago.

Now I want to take the PE exam, but the problem is that, I don't have three-year experience here in US, and I don't know any PE engineers.

Any recommendations? I will appreciate any guidance.

Thanks in advance

Hamno

Not what you want to hear but I'd recommend you obtain the experience.  Passing the exam is only one element of becoming a PE.  Experience is also an integral part of being qualified to be licensed.  Good luck. 

Are you employed as a Civil in the US right now?

In most states, you're going to have to have worked with a licensed PE in order to be able to sit for the exam as well.  You might want to look into which states do not have that requirement and see if you can take their exam.  Likewise, there are a few states that do not have the experience requirement.  It is possible to take the exam to be licensed in a state where you do not live and work.

Audi driver said:

ptatohed said:

Not what you want to hear but I'd recommend you obtain the experience.  Passing the exam is only one element of becoming a PE.  Experience is also an integral part of being qualified to be licensed.  Good luck. 

Are you employed as a Civil in the US right now?

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The reality is that I have a good experience, and many different fields of Civil Engineering. I worked as Regional Manager for a company outside the US for about 8 years, I know that to have an experience in a different country may be some way is not the same as here in US, but for the most projects we were using American Codes and IBC codes.

No I am here (in Texas) in about a two months now, and I was working on the FE exam, I did not start working yet. Hopefully start soon.

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Audi driver said:

In most states, you're going to have to have worked with a licensed PE in order to be able to sit for the exam as well.  You might want to look into which states do not have that requirement and see if you can take their exam.  Likewise, there are a few states that do not have the experience requirement.  It is possible to take the exam to be licensed in a state where you do not live and work.

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Do you know any state would not require experience?

I don't know of any state where experience is not required before you get your license.  A few let you take the exam and then get experience.  Is there a rush to get your license? 

I am thinking it will help with finding a job, and it is a good way to show your knowledge of the material, or may be I am wrong?

Hamno said:

I am thinking it will help with finding a job, and it is a good way to show your knowledge of the material, or may be I am wrong?

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You are probably right but I think you'll have to do it like the rest of us.  I know you already have some experience of US engineering but I still think it will be beneficial for you to work for a few years as an EI in the US before applying for/taking the PE exam. 

With the US engineering work you did, did you work under PEs with US licenses that could be your references? 

ptatohed said:

With the US engineering work you did, did you work under PEs with US licenses that could be your references? 

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Most of them were US engineers, but I don't recall any of them had PE license. I think I have to do it your way, work for a while and gain some experience here, this might turn out a good thing. Thank you for answers.

Hamno said:

Do you know any state would not require experience?

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@Hamno I had the same problem. I worked as a Marine Engineer (in the US and abroad) but I never had any superiors who were PEs. I realized in hindsight those jobs were kind of a waste of my time. Anyway, the State of California only requires 1 year of experience to apply to take the PE exam. For that reason, many people take the exam in CA and apply for comity in their state of residence after they have achieved their state's level of experience. 

I would recommend finding a position with a firm that has someone with a PE and working under them for one year. I'm not sure they need to have a California license, someone on this forum or the CA state licensing board may be able to help you with the details.

Hamno,

This is from California's PELS  "FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS REGARDING ENGINEERING CERTIFICATION/LICENSURE" : Section 7

 Q: Must an applicant's references be licensed in the same engineering branch that the applicant is seeking licensure?

 A: That depends. If the applicant is applying for licensure as a civil engineer, and the experience offered has taken place in the United States, all references must be licensed engineers authorized to practice civil engineering, or federal employees (see Question 26). If a civil engineer applicant has had qualifying work experience outside of the United States, the references for that experience must be from persons authorized to practice civil engineering in accordance with the laws of the country in which the experience took place. If such references are not licensed civil engineers, they must provide information, which indicates by what authority they are authorized to practice civil engineering. 

 I too was new to the US bout 5 years ago and had not worked here, however I applied on the basis of Section 7. All my qualifying working experience was in the UK  and all my required references came from UK based Chartered Engineers (persons authorized to practice civil engineering in accordance with the laws of the country in which the experience took place), My application to sit the PE in CA was accepted and I passed the exams.  I'm now  a CA registered PE.  You may try applying in CA if TX doesn't offer a similar path.

egdad4 said:

 You may try applying in CA if TX doesn't offer a similar path.

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I searched the TX Board's website, it looks TX does not offer this, unfortunately.

jnuengr said:

the State of California only requires 1 year of experience to apply to take the PE exam.

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I did not know this, that is something worth a try.

Thank You very much guys, these are valuable information and it is very helpful, I appreciate it.

It is not correct that CA only requires 1 year of experience.  In fact, they require 6 years.  But, 4 can be substituted with a bachelors degree from an accredited university.  This leaves 2 (not 1) year of experience.  But, with a Masters degree, you can substitute an additional year, leaving only 1 year of required experience.  However, you would need a Masters. 

Secondly, not mentioned is the requirement in CA to pass two separate additional exams along with the NCEES 8hr exam.  These are not fun to take (if you don't have to).  Also, keep in mind, while you could conceivably pass all three in one administration, the two exams, for the average examinee, take two separate additional administrations to pass, possibly adding a year to your clock right there. 

I've never been a big fan of trying to bypass one state's PE requirements by taking the exam in another state and then applying for reciprocity in another.  It seems like more trouble than it is worth in my opinion.     

ptatohed said:

It is not correct that CA only requires 1 year of experience.  In fact, they require 6 years.  But, 4 can be substituted with a bachelors degree from an accredited university.  This leaves 2 (not 1) year of experience.  But, with a Masters degree, you can substitute an additional year, leaving only 1 year of required experience.  However, you would need a Masters. 

Secondly, not mentioned is the requirement in CA to pass two separate additional exams along with the NCEES 8hr exam.

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Yeah, you are right about this. I forgot. Sorry to lead you astray Hamno! 

The good thing about those two extra exams is they can be taken at a different time from the NCEES exam... but then that further delays actually being registered...

ptatohed said:

I've never been a big fan of trying to bypass one state's PE requirements by taking the exam in another state and then applying for reciprocity in another.  It seems like more trouble than it is worth in my opinion.     

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Ah, yes, but you live in the state of convenience!  

It actually didn't work out so hot for me. I could sit for the NCEES exam early in CA and then failed it! So, it was a very expensive learning experience. 

Plus, let's say you got your PE in CA just to get it sooner, with the hopes of getting reciprocity in another state where you really intend to practice.  Well, what do you do with your CA license?  From what I have heard (I could be wrong), there is no easy "on-hold" option for the CA license.  So, you either let it lapse (which I hear is a pain in the b to reinstate should you need to), or you keep it active by paying $125 every two years (which is actually a new reduced rate) on the "if" chance you may need it one day.  I say take the exam in the state you intend to practice in. 

ptatohed said:

It is not correct that CA only requires 1 year of experience.  In fact, they require 6 years.  But, 4 can be substituted with a bachelors degree from an accredited university.  This leaves 2 (not 1) year of experience.  But, with a Masters degree, you can substitute an additional year, leaving only 1 year of required experience.  However, you would need a Masters. 

Secondly, not mentioned is the requirement in CA to pass two separate additional exams along with the NCEES 8hr exam.  These are not fun to take (if you don't have to).  Also, keep in mind, while you could conceivably pass all three in one administration, the two exams, for the average examinee, take two separate additional administrations to pass, possibly adding a year to your clock right there. 

I've never been a big fan of trying to bypass one state's PE requirements by taking the exam in another state and then applying for reciprocity in another.  It seems like more trouble than it is worth in my opinion.     

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I think bypassing one state's PE requirements comes in handy for certain situations. I work in VA, but my license is in PA. Why? Because PA only requires me to have 4 years of experience instead of 6 (Civil Eng Tech Degree). I'd rather take it to get it over with and it actually costed me an additional $200, but I have peace of mind that I can transfer it when I get the rest of my experience in. 

I thought Texas decoupled the experience from taking the PE? I think it goes into effect on May 2nd (may want to double check that). Regardless, it sounds like if you don't have the experience you will be allowed to sit for the October 2016 exam.

You will still have to wait to gain your experience until they grant you a license, but you'll be able to take the exam. Unless I'm missing something.

and just hope you never need to get your license in a state with a strict requirement experience before the test, even with a license in hand from another state they don't have to grant one.  There are a couple out there I don't remember off the top of my head though  

ptatohed said:

Plus, let's say you got your PE in CA just to get it sooner, with the hopes of getting reciprocity in another state where you really intend to practice.  Well, what do you do with your CA license?  From what I have heard (I could be wrong), there is no easy "on-hold" option for the CA license.  So, you either let it lapse (which I hear is a pain in the b to reinstate should you need to), or you keep it active by paying $125 every two years (which is actually a new reduced rate) on the "if" chance you may need it one day.  I say take the exam in the state you intend to practice in. 

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My company does a lot of work all over the country, so a CA license wouldn't be completely useless. Better for marketing for jobs in that state.

ptatohed said:

Is there a rush to get your license? 

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The rush to get the license in my company is 1) the cash bonus and 2) jumping into the higher "licensed engineer" payscale sooner. It doesn't matter to my company where I got my PE, it's more that I have one and can be advertised as such. 

The way corporate state licensing laws work in Alaska, my company only has an engineer in each discipline who can actually, legally stamp drawings/documents. I'm not sure if it's that way in other states. Even if I had a PE license in AK, I would only be the "second stamp" (a moot/redundant stamp) on drawings. 

W9TWJ said:

I thought Texas decoupled the experience from taking the PE? I think it goes into effect on May 2nd (may want to double check that). Regardless, it sounds like if you don't have the experience you will be allowed to sit for the October 2016 exam.

You will still have to wait to gain your experience until they grant you a license, but you'll be able to take the exam. Unless I'm missing something.

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But even in states that have waived the experience prior to the exam, experience is still needed prior to licensing. 

Thank you all, I decided to be and EIT for while, and get some good experience here in the US, I really appreciate all of you. Thanks again.