Pe exam discipline

Good morning guys ,

i have one question to all of you , does it really matter which discipline you go for or not ? 

I am asking because I am working in fire protection engineering but I am planning to take the structural depth, why is that ? Because I worked before in seismic design and structural design. 

I am asking because today I woke up really hesitant, I don’t know if I should just stick to what I decided or should I switch to fire protection engineering exam.

please advice.

thanks 

Rawan said:

Good morning guys ,

i have one question to all of you , does it really matter which discipline you go for or not ? 

I am asking because I am working in fire protection engineering but I am planning to take the structural depth, why is that ? Because I worked before in seismic design and structural design. 

I am asking because today I woke up really hesitant, I don’t know if I should just stick to what I decided or should I switch to fire protection engineering exam.

please advice.

thanks 

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Some states are specific to the discipline you take. 

If you take the structural exam you cannot sign fire alarm drawings and so forth.    

FWIW, I don't think that NYS issues license by discipline. Unless you plan on transferring your license to a state where you can only stamp things based on discipline it shouldn't matter. Just take the test you feel you are best prepared to take and pass. Also consider that FPE is only offered once a year but civil/structural is offered twice per year.

RBHeadge PE said:

FWIW, I don't think that NYS issues license by discipline. Unless you plan on transferring your license to a state where you can only stamp things based on discipline it shouldn't matter. Just take the test you feel you are best prepared to take and pass. Also consider that FPE is only offered once a year but civil/structural is offered twice per year.

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Thanks for the information, I forgot about FPE that’s it’s only once a year ! 

Yes I agree with you , since I just passed the fe last March , maybe it’s better just to stick to civil pe exam rather than switching now to FPE. 

Rawan said:

Thanks for the information, I forgot about FPE that’s it’s only once a year ! 

Yes I agree with you , since I just passed the fe last March , maybe it’s better just to stick to civil pe exam rather than switching now to FPE. 

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I am in (lower) New York as well, and I recently sat for, and passed, the 'Electrical and Computer: Computer Engineering' PE exam, rather than doing so with others I have expertise in, including the 'Electrical and Computer: Power', the  'Electrical and Computer: Electronics, Controls, and Communications', or 'Software Engineering', simply because having studied the 'Electrical and Computer' FE exam (which I passed only four months prior to the PE, and very late in my career), covered much more Computer Engineering subject matter than the others, and therefore was freshest in my mind and allowed me to more quickly study for the PE.  I could have taken any of the other three and (eventually) passed, however I may have had to study more or taken a review course (which I did not need to do for CE, even if there was one available).

The way I read the New York State law, and the Professional Engineering ethics guidance, I can stamp documents, schematics and prints for any of those sub-Electrical Engineering or Software topics if I chose to do so, since I can prove I am an 'Expert' in any of them (in court if I need too) since I have graduate-level education and experience in all three.

I believe the key to your questions is in the PE Ethics guidance.  As long as you can demonstrate advanced expertise in a discipline, then you can create, review and stamp engineering documents related to that expertise. Also, according to actual NYS law, a Professional Engineer in NYS is a Professional Engineer who is expected to use their professional judgment.  Once you get your NYS PE Registration Certificate, you will notice that they do NOT specify a specialty, nor is any shown on the PE License 'Look-Up' Webpage maintained by the NYS Department of Education.  It comes down to whether you can show the expertise in everything you put your seal that winds up with a court challenge.