Everything you wanted to know about the CA-Survey/Seismic Civil PE Exams

[Duck2Litty]

Does anyone know when the Seismic exam will transition from the 2019 California Building Code to the 2022 version?

 

[positive_swordfish]

Does anyone know when the Seismic exam will transition from the 2019 California Building Code to the 2022 version?

i've heard that the transition has been pushed out and that they will give a 6 months notice when they do change the codes, so that gives you 2 quarters to prepare for that

 

[Milliontown]

i've heard that the transition has been pushed out and that they will give a 6 months notice when they do change the codes, so that gives you 2 quarters to prepare for that

I heard similar. I was guestimating in August next year. I was worried that if I didn’t pass this quarter I would need all new books and study material, but there’s a few quarters left.

 

[Duck2Litty]

I saw this as well on the Hiner seismic review website:

On the December 8, 2022 Board Meeting, BPELSG approved a new CSP (seismic) Test Plan and CES (surveying) Test Plan which will become effective on January 1, 2024 (i.e., 2024-Q1). All testing quarters of 2023 will continue to use the 2019 California Building Code (CBC) as the building code reference for the CSP (seismic) exam. The 2022 California Building Code (CBC) will become the building code reference effective on January 1, 2024.

Not sure how accurate this info is. But either way, it sounds like there's some time before we can expect a code change!

 

[RSchmidt777]

I heard back on Dec 9th that I passed my seismic exam which was the last step I needed. Still no number or any sort of recognition from the board other than the seismic results email (which said 2-3 weeks). Any others with the same issue?

 

[CAPLS]

I heard back on Dec 9th that I passed my seismic exam which was the last step I needed. Still no number or any sort of recognition from the board other than the seismic results email (which said 2-3 weeks). Any others with the same issue?

Send me a PM with your full name and I can check on it

 

[Thomasn9567]

After passing all exams, how long does it take to receive your paper certificate in the mail?

 

[DerekRChristian]

How much study time do these exams take to prep for? I'm a fairly good test taker and passed both the FE and structural depth PE first try. I'm not the best with seismic, so I planned to hit that harder, but I don't necessarily want to underestimate the survey exam.

 

[positive_swordfish]

How much study time do these exams take to prep for? I'm a fairly good test taker and passed both the FE and structural depth PE first try. I'm not the best with seismic, so I planned to hit that harder, but I don't necessarily want to underestimate the survey exam.

definitely don't underestimate seismic and survey, they are very fast exams compared to FE and PE since you barely have 3 min/question.

im not the best test taker but was able to pass seismic on 1st try and surveying on 2nd try, i know those who were good test takers that took them longer. its different for everyone honestly.

i would say give yourself at least 7-8 weeks to prep for them and take a course if your background isn't in seismic or surveying. I took AEI for seismic and thought they were very thorough and took CPESR & Reza for surveying. best advice i can give is to make yourself thorough cheat sheets and simplify concepts for yourself and put those in a small binder

 

[DerekRChristian]

definitely don't underestimate seismic and survey, they are very fast exams compared to FE and PE since you barely have 3 min/question.

im not the best test taker but was able to pass seismic on 1st try and surveying on 2nd try, i know those who were good test takers that took them longer. its different for everyone honestly.

i would say give yourself at least 7-8 weeks to prep for them and take a course if your background isn't in seismic or surveying. I took AEI for seismic and thought they were very thorough and took CPESR & Reza for surveying. best advice i can give is to make yourself thorough cheat sheets and simplify concepts for yourself and put those in a small binder

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Shnam1]

Does the board no longer provide the attached when you pass? I recently passed and received a congratulatory email and there’s a ‘PASS’ listed under the exam in connect. Just wondering so I can decide what to hand my employer to let them know I passed. I still have survey to pass.

 

[positive_swordfish]

Does the board no longer provide the attached when you pass? I recently passed and received a congratulatory email and there’s a ‘PASS’ listed under the exam in connect. Just wondering so I can decide what to hand my employer to let them know I passed. I still have survey to pass.

not anymore, i was expecting the same thing but it looks like they must've changed it recently so when you pass, it is a congratulatory email with no attachment. that should be sufficient enough for your employer, i just saved the email as a PDF that says I passed.

 

[Hockey Eng]

Send me a PM with your full name and I can check on it

@CAPLS do you have any information on the BPELSG Connect website being down for at least this past week if not longer? It doesn't appear as if there's any way to schedule a re-test as the Connect Portal is the only way to do that as far as I'm aware. I was hoping to schedule a re-test for Q2 but with the site down for the past week and no sign that it will be up anytime soon... just wondering what's going on. Are all re-tests on hold for the foreseeable future?

Edit: DCA says to just keep checking. Fingers crossed.

 

[CAPLS]

The Connect system was down for awhile during maintenance updates. It is back up as of Friday evening March 17 just after 5pm.

 

[user 47513]

Hey guys,

I put a month of effort on seismic and passed using mainly Dr. Ibrahim review book. If anyone interested in the book here is the link. It include all the notes, tricks and tips from their videos as well.

 

[jorgie]

The Connect system was down for awhile during maintenance updates. It is back up as of Friday evening March 17 just after 5pm.

Hi, do you know if the board is still experiencing a surge of applications? I was told through an automated email the goal is if submitted the quarter before then the following quarter should be approved (if no deficiencies). I submitted in March so about a month left now in this 2nd quarter until we are quarter 3. Thinking I may have purchased a course/reference materials to soon if I wont be able to register this year especially with the Seismic codes changing.
Thank you!

 

[Maverick007]

Hi, do you know if the board is still experiencing a surge of applications? I was told through an automated email the goal is if submitted the quarter before then the following quarter should be approved (if no deficiencies). I submitted in March so about a month left now in this 2nd quarter until we are quarter 3. Thinking I may have purchased a course/reference materials to soon if I wont be able to register this year especially with the Seismic codes changing.
Thank you!

Hello
I think it will take around 4 months(best case scenario) which makes it quarter 3. But if you receive deficiency,then it will take around 9 months from the date of your application or maybe even more.
If you receive the deficiency in technical review then it will take long as mentioned above but if the deficiency is only in evaluation, them it will take only 4 months.
You still have 6 months, so don't worry. Keep an eye on boards email and may be check the boards portal once a week to see the status of your info.
I submitted my application on June 12 2022, received the deficiency during technical review on Oct 11 2022, finally approval on March 23, 2023.

 

[jorgie]

Hello
I think it will take around 4 months(best case scenario) which makes it quarter 3. But if you receive deficiency,then it will take around 9 months from the date of your application or maybe even more.
If you receive the deficiency in technical review then it will take long as mentioned above but if the deficiency is only in evaluation, them it will take only 4 months.
You still have 6 months, so don't worry. Keep an eye on boards email and may be check the boards portal once a week to see the status of your info.
I submitted my application on June 12 2022, received the deficiency during technical review on Oct 11 2022, finally approval on March 23, 2023.

Keep this thread alive:
I submitted 03/17/2023
Technical Review Complete 08/01/2023
Authorized to Test for Q3 of 2023 and Q1 of 2024
Took Seismic 12/27/23 results 01/10/24
Took Survey 01/29/24 results 02/24/24 (most likely due to new exam updates for both seismic and survey)
02/24/24 Final Review
02/26/24 Evaluation turned Green Approval still greyed out
03/01/24 (Friday) most likely Approval turns green as every Friday licenses are issued

 

[RD2022]

I took the Surveying exam on 1/16/24 and got the result 2/24/24, passed.

I took the CPESR course which is spot on that Kirk taught you everything you need to know for the test. The lecture and workbook are extremely helpful. The practice questions bank has 448 questions to prepare me from know least about Surveying to be able to pass. The very similar timing exams helped me to get used to the pace of the real exam. It also helped me to control my time by adjusting to the smart time arrangement. I strongly recommend this class. It should prepare you well for the exam.

I also was impressed with Kirk's replying to my e-mails to provide help I needed. He is very kind and knowledgable about the exam. The exam I had actually has lengthy questions that I need to read twice to make sure what they asked. This was in some of the questions in CPESR practice exams. That being said, just keep practicing with the questions bank and you will make it.

 

[drevan2015]

I took the Surveying exam on 1/16/24 and got the result 2/24/24, passed.

I took the CPESR course which is spot on that Kirk taught you everything you need to know for the test. The lecture and workbook are extremely helpful. The practice questions bank has 448 questions to prepare me from know least about Surveying to be able to pass. The very similar timing exams helped me to get used to the pace of the real exam. It also helped me to control my time by adjusting to the smart time arrangement. I strongly recommend this class. It should prepare you well for the exam.

I also was impressed with Kirk's replying to my e-mails to provide help I needed. He is very kind and knowledgable about the exam. The exam I had actually has lengthy questions that I need to read twice to make sure what they asked. This was in some of the questions in CPESR practice exams. That being said, just keep practicing with the questions bank and you will make it.

Did you get through all of the test bank questions before your exam? And how many full-length timed practice exams did you do out of the full test bank?