PE immediately after FE??

[Engineer2017]

I am in Georgia and already have my 4 years of experience but haven’t taken the FE. Can I take the FE and then immediately apply to take the PE since I already have the experience? I have emailed the state several times and haven’t received a response. The NCEES said most states allow that but I haven’t been able to get confirmation from the state.

 

[RBHeadge PE]

I am in Georgia and already have my 4 years of experience but haven’t taken the FE. Can I take the FE and then immediately apply to take the PE since I already have the experience? I have emailed the state several times and haven’t received a response. The NCEES said most states allow that but I haven’t been able to get confirmation from the state.

Georgia's engineering license laws and regulations are an absolute mess. I've looked at the language for more than half of the jurisdictions in the US and its the worst written of all of them. Poorly ordered, ambiguous and inconsistent language. So don't feel bad about any confusion.

Firstly, do you have an ABET accredited engineering degree? Did you get the experience after graduating? Let's assume that you do:
O.C.G.A 45-15-9.(1) would apply. It's ambiguous as written. But the way I read it is that (1)(A) and (1)(B) can happen in parallel, then (1)(c) happens. Because it's written [(get EIT) and (get experience) and (then pass PPE)]. The same pattern is repeated for (2) and (3). The wording in (4) implies that my interpretation is correct as well.

If they were like Pennsylvania, and wanted to experience AFTER the issuance of the EIT, then (1)(B) should have been written "subsequently acquire...."

So it looks to me that you can get the EIT then immediately pass the PE and get licensed in Georgia. Even if it weren't you should still try to pass the FE as soon as possible regardless.

If you go about licensure this way with back-to-back FE and PE, then you may have trouble applying for comity to certain States in the future, like PA and OH. But with the exception of FL, I don't think any of the other southeastern States have particularly strict laws and regs, so it may not be a problem in your region.

 

[steel]

Georgia's engineering license laws and regulations are an absolute mess. I've looked at the language for more than half of the jurisdictions in the US and its the worst written of all of them. Poorly ordered, ambiguous and inconsistent language. So don't feel bad about any confusion.

Firstly, do you have an ABET accredited engineering degree? Did you get the experience after graduating? Let's assume that you do:
O.C.G.A 45-15-9.(1) would apply. It's ambiguous as written. But the way I read it is that (1)(A) and (1)(B) can happen in parallel, then (1)(c) happens. Because it's written [(get EIT) and (get experience) and (then pass PPE)]. The same pattern is repeated for (2) and (3). The wording in (4) implies that my interpretation is correct as well.

If they were like Pennsylvania, and wanted to experience AFTER the issuance of the EIT, then (1)(B) should have been written "subsequently acquire...."

So it looks to me that you can get the EIT then immediately pass the PE and get licensed in Georgia. Even if it weren't you should still try to pass the FE as soon as possible regardless.

If you go about licensure this way with back-to-back FE and PE, then you may have trouble applying for comity to certain States in the future, like PA and OH. But with the exception of FL, I don't think any of the other southeastern States have particularly strict laws and regs, so it may not be a problem in your region.

For what it's worth, PA is currently attempting to pass a bill that would change the rule from gaining experience after the EIT certificate is issued to after the FE exam is passed. So, you'd no longer need to actually register as an EIT in PA, and so that may help future comity applicants here as well.