# Can you have a PE other than your supervisor verify your work experience?



## ALengineer (Jul 18, 2018)

I work for a very small company that only has one PE . I am in Alabama, which uses NCEES Records for the work experience verification requirement for the PE license. My company is having an outside PE review a project I did . Will NCEES accept a PE that is not my direct supervisor for work experience verification?


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## ruggercsc (Jul 19, 2018)

With outsourcing and matrix organizations, it can be confusing as your direct supervisor my only be an administrator type.  At the time I established my NCEES record, I had a peer verify my experience as a supervisor.  I think it can be done as long as they know your work.  I read somewhere that they can be a "Technical Supervisor" and not necessarily your direct "sold-line" supervisor.


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## NY-Computer-Engineer (Jul 19, 2018)

I believe this may be one of those things that differs in some ways from State to State.  I know in New York the preference is that your direct Supervisor sign the form, to the extent that an additional write-up needs to be attached by the applicant explaining 'exactly' why the Supervisor could not sign it.

Also, in New York, the person signing the form does NOT need to be PE.  This was especially helpful for me since there are very few PE's in Computer Engineering country-wide.


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## RBHeadge PE (Jul 23, 2018)

it's not NCESS that requires it to be a supervisor but rather certain states that require it. My guess is that NCESS will accept it. Whether that counts towards applying to get a license or take a test in a certain state is a whole other question.

As @NY-Computer-Engineer stated above It will vary from state to state. Some states require that it be a supervisor, some will say that it can be done under the guidance or review of a PE who is not a supervisor. Some boards are more forgiving in their definition of "supervisor" than others. You should check your own states regs to be sure.


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## Surf and Snow (Jul 25, 2018)

RBHeadge PE said:


> it's not NCESS that requires it to be a supervisor but rather certain states that require it. My guess is that NCESS will accept it. Whether that counts towards applying to get a license or take a test in a certain state is a whole other question.
> 
> As @NY-Computer-Engineer stated above It will vary from state to state. Some states require that it be a supervisor, some will say that it can be done under the guidance or review of a PE who is not a supervisor. Some boards are more forgiving in their definition of "supervisor" than others. You should check your own states regs to be sure.


I know NCEES will accept it, but the state may be different. *I'm dealing with this right now*. I took and passed the Power PE exam in April 2018 (1st attempt - one and done baby) but now I'm going through all the licence application fuss. Here in Oregon, you take the PE exam first. You do not apply for licence until AFTER you pass the PE exam. So after I passed it, I created an NCEES record. Oregon says they accept NCEES Record rather then filling out all of the entire Oregon forms. I went that route because I also intend to apply for license in WA (I live in Portland, OR, but my office is across the river in Vancouver, WA and my job involves work in both states), so I figured NCEES record would save me time and save my references from having to fill out all the reference paperwork two or three times.. (apparently NOT, but more on that later...)

I listed 5 PE's that I work along side of, as personal references, and my supervisor separately in the work history section. (my supervisor is NOT a licensed PE). NCEES contacted all 5 of my PE personal references, as well as my actual supervisor, and after a few weeks NCEES approved my NCEES Record and marked it verified, complete, and ready for state board submission. I then filled out the required other sections of my Oregon licence app and sent it in, as well as transmitting my NCEES record (the NCEES record cost $100, just FYI).

I _THOUGHT_ that from there I was in the home stretch and the Oregon process would be minimal, since NCEES already contacted, verified and approved my references and work experience. WELL, to my surprise, and my 5 references and supervisor's surprise, my references told me that Oregon state has now been emailing them asking for them to verify my work experience all over again (WTF was the point of the NCEES Record then?!?!  And will WA do the same?) I hate bugging people 3 times to do the same thing and the whole reason I did the NCEES Record was to avoid that hassle and burdening 6 people 3 times each.

*So anyway, that answers that yes, NCEES can accept it, but who knows what your state will do.*

Sidenote: I'm a federal government employee and since there are so few PE's in the FED, there is an exclusion that alloys fed employees to become a PE even if their work experience wasn't under direct supervision of a licensed PE.


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## youngmotivatedengineer (Jul 25, 2018)

Definitely check with the Board to get their official interpretation on the situation.  In terms of using the outside PE, it will ultimately come down to their knowledge of you, and your work. It's one thing if they are directly supervising you the entire project, it's a completely different story if he just reviews/confirms the engineering components at the completion and does not have any interaction with you on a regular basis throughout the project.


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## bsimms89 (Jul 27, 2018)

NY-Computer-Engineer said:


> I believe this may be one of those things that differs in some ways from State to State.  I know in New York the preference is that your direct Supervisor sign the form, to the extent that an additional write-up needs to be attached by the applicant explaining 'exactly' why the Supervisor could not sign it.
> 
> Also, in New York, the person signing the form does NOT need to be PE.  This was especially helpful for me since there are very few PE's in Computer Engineering country-wide.


This is true for New York, my direct supervisor for the last couple years wasn't a PE, although I worked regularly with PE's who also reviewed my work. I had my supervisor sign the form and I checked the box that he was not a PE, I got an email from the state board why I didn't have my experience signed by a PE and I just explained that the form asked for my direct supervisor, I told them all the credentials and licenses that my supervisor does have and that if they would like I could have a PE who is familiar with my work sign it as well, just that they would not be my direct supervisor, they accepted that explanation without asking for the additional signature.


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## NY-Computer-Engineer (Jul 27, 2018)

bsimms89 said:


> This is true for New York, my direct supervisor for the last couple years wasn't a PE, although I worked regularly with PE's who also reviewed my work. I had my supervisor sign the form and I checked the box that he was not a PE, I got an email from the state board why I didn't have my experience signed by a PE and I just explained that the form asked for my direct supervisor, I told them all the credentials and licenses that my supervisor does have and that if they would like I could have a PE who is familiar with my work sign it as well, just that they would not be my direct supervisor, they accepted that explanation without asking for the additional signature.


Yep, very State dependent.


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