Seismic Exam is Pointless for Non-Structural Engineers

[BananaMan11]

I just need to vent about the frustration of having to learn all the seismic material for the exam. Unless you're a structural engineer, you’ll likely never need to know anything about seismic design, so it feels completely pointless that the board continues to make this a licensure requirement in California. It makes no sense for non-structural engineers to have to learn this, especially when most general civil engineers aren’t designing structures in their day-to-day work. I honestly don’t understand what benefit the board sees in keeping this requirement—it just seems unnecessary. Naturally, structural engineers have a strong foundation in this area, so it’s much easier for them to pass the exam compared to non-structural engineers. I can’t be the only one who feels this way… or maybe I am.

 

[sanriogal24k]

I just need to vent about the frustration of having to learn all the seismic material for the exam. Unless you're a structural engineer, you’ll likely never need to know anything about seismic design, so it feels completely pointless that the board continues to make this a licensure requirement in California. It makes no sense for non-structural engineers to have to learn this, especially when most general civil engineers aren’t designing structures in their day-to-day work. I honestly don’t understand what benefit the board sees in keeping this requirement—it just seems unnecessary. Naturally, structural engineers have a strong foundation in this area, so it’s much easier for them to pass the exam compared to non-structural engineers. I can’t be the only one who feels this way… or maybe I am.

I’m with you on this! Third times the charm for me and this seismic exam

 

[crownedking]

I totally agree. no other state in the country mandates additional seismic and surveying exams for civil engineers. This creates an unnecessary burden on California engineers

 

[BananaMan11]

The only reason they haven’t removed it is because the board has a “well, I did it, so you should too” mentality - and because it lets them collect more money. The only way I see the geriatric board dropping this requirement is if enough people petition for it. Until then, they’ll keep stymieing the number of licensed engineers for no justifiable reason.