# Civil vs Mechanical PE



## brownie31 (Jun 5, 2008)

Long story short... I took the April '07 PE exam and missed it by 1 point, we had our second kid in May '07 so I did not get a chance to take the Oct '07 or April '08 exam. I am leaning toward the Oct '08 exam but had a quick question.

I have always heard that the Civil exam is easier, I suspect due to fewer subjects than the Mech exam. My question is: Has anyone taken the Mech exam and then the Civil and found this to be true? How difficult would it be for a mostly Machine Design guy to make the switch to the dark side (Civil) and study and pass that exam. My background is mostly machine design and I worked my way through school working construction.

Thanks


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## roadwreck (Jun 5, 2008)

I recommend taking mechanical, my explanation for that can be found in your other post on this topic

http://engineerboards.com/index.php?showtopic=6313&amp;hl=


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## EnvEngineer (Apr 1, 2009)

The Civil is much harder than the mechanical, I have a mechanical license and the problem is you cannot sign anything unless its a HVAC system, I simplify of course. If you want to better your engineering career take the Civil, if you are a HVAC person and need to better your HVAC career go mechanical.


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