Civil PE Licensure Questions- Education and Work Experience related to Surveying

[ForestSoul]

I recently passed the PE exam, so now I am on to applying for my license in California. The board does not give me very direct answers and I do not want to waste money applying if I don't fulfill the experience requirements yet. Has anyone received any education credit for an undergrad degree in a major other than Engineering. I did Environmental Science and Management for my undergrad degree and then continued on to obtain a Master's in Environmental Engineering. The fields are clearly related and cover similar coursework, but will I receive any credit for undergrad 4 years?

After getting my bachelor's, I worked at a surveying company for two years as a draftsperson under a licensed Land Surveyor. This is what directed me towards my masters and new job (surveying and civil engineering firm) where I am an Engineering Technician. I do a combination of surveying and engineering work. Will my surveying experience count for anything? Can I use licensed Land Surveyors for my recommendations or should I try to stick to only Civil Engineers and engineering experience?

 

[AdityaG]

Any Luck dude?

 

[CAPLS]

I recently passed the PE exam, so now I am on to applying for my license in California. The board does not give me very direct answers and I do not want to waste money applying if I don't fulfill the experience requirements yet. Has anyone received any education credit for an undergrad degree in a major other than Engineering. I did Environmental Science and Management for my undergrad degree and then continued on to obtain a Master's in Environmental Engineering. The fields are clearly related and cover similar coursework, but will I receive any credit for undergrad 4 years?

After getting my bachelor's, I worked at a surveying company for two years as a draftsperson under a licensed Land Surveyor. This is what directed me towards my masters and new job (surveying and civil engineering firm) where I am an Engineering Technician. I do a combination of surveying and engineering work. Will my surveying experience count for anything? Can I use licensed Land Surveyors for my recommendations or should I try to stick to only Civil Engineers and engineering experience?

I didn't see this question until now. I believe if you visit the California Board's website, you find answers to many of your questions. Flowchart on qualifying as a PE: https://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/applicants/flowchart_for_pe.pdf This chart describes 'engineering' degree, accredited or not. If you review the laws and Board Rules, specifically Board Rule 424 at https://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/laws/boardrules.pdf, you'll see more information on what education credit is accepted.

Generally speaking, land surveying experience would not be accepted towards qualifying experience for a Civil PE in California. The only exception would be for "some" 'engineering surveying' gained under a person licensed to practice civil engineering. References for qualifying experience must be licensed to practice in the discipline for which the applicant is applying for unless specifically exempt - See first FAQ at https://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/applicants/faq_pe-ref.pdf

Hope this helps you understand

 

[ForestSoul]

Any Luck dude?

I ended up only posting Engineering experience because I could not count any experience prior to earning my Master's degree. The one year of experience after my Master's was all engineering anyways, so I didn't include my surveying experience.

 

[squaretaper LIT AF PE]

I believe if you visit the California Board's website, you find answers to many of your questions. Flowchart on qualifying as a PE: https://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/applicants/flowchart_for_pe.pdf This chart describes 'engineering' degree, accredited or not. If you review the laws and Board Rules, specifically Board Rule 424 at https://www.bpelsg.ca.gov/laws/boardrules.pdf, you'll see more information on what education credit is accepted.

@CAPLS Tangentially related to OP's question, I reviewed the board rules and the professional engineer's act and noticed the language does not specify that the education requirements are discipline-specific to the license being applied for.

Here's the situation: I'm currently accruing experience to qualify for the CA Civil PE license. I have a current and valid CA Mechanical PE license wherein I applied the education credit (I have a MS in Mechanical Engineering from an accredited school) and the required one additional year of mechanical project experience post graduation, so that's all well and good.

For the civil license: Can I apply the 12 months qualifying experience requirement (all civil-related project work under a responsible-in-charge supervisor, and all post graduation) even though my graduate degree is in mechanical? I saw no such discipline-specific requirement in the board rules and the flowchart does not call out disciplines either.

 

[CAPLS]

I believe you are correct. The laws only state engineering curriculum and are not discipline specific. As long as the education is ABET (Board) approved. If not, you'll likely only received 2 years credit for that non-approved engineering degree.

 

[jr_inthefog]

I thought it was two years of qualifying Civil experience. I was an ME but they asked me specifically to validate the two years of Civil experience. (I am now a Civil PE, so i recently went through the process)

 

[CaliPE]

I thought it was two years of qualifying Civil experience. I was an ME but they asked me specifically to validate the two years of Civil experience. (I am now a Civil PE, so i recently went through the process)

If you have a Board-approved engineering degree (B.S.), you would need to demonstrate two years of work experience. If you have a Board-approved postgraduate degree (M.S. or PhD), you would need to demonstrate one year of work experience. The work experience must be in the discipline you are applying for but your education does not.