Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
(OP)
Is there any one state who's P.E./S.E. license is recognized by all others? I am in the process of obtaining civil and structural licensure in Arizona, but if I do any work in other states in the future, it would be nice not to have to take their exams, and just obtain licensure via reciprocity.






RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
I had a fiend of mine who was licensed as SE in Florida (took structural exam). He had difficult time in CA because their did not recognize his SE since their SE is a higher category. CA SE usually comes after few years being a PE plus additional exams. CA SE signs and seals certain types of facilities or building such as schools. CA SE requires additional experience and testing over and above the NCEES PE exam and their 5-hour exams. Although my friend has degree from MIT in civil, he had to do extra paper work to demonstrate that FL 8 hours SE were equivalent to the civil exam. That was a mess.
I think NCEES offers a tabulated form comparison all states regarding their PE requirements. I suggest that you consult that web site. Here is the link:
http://
Regards
Lutfi
www.cdeco.com
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
I also wasn't aware that FL had a SE license.
Regards,

Qshake
Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
No, I did not imply that. He still had to take the 5-hour exams, which he hated because he knew zilch about surveying. But that is another story for another day.
To get his CA civil PE by reciprocity, he had to show that he took NCEES 8 hour civil PE, which he did not. He took the SE-1 exam. That was the problem he had. Of course all was rectified after several letters and phone calls.
By the way, the story behind the 5-hour exams is interesting. A civil engineer who became a state congressman in CA thought it would be a good idea to require all civil engineers in CA to have tested knowledge in surveying and seismic due to their relevance in civil engineering. He pushed the legislation through and here we are.
Lutfi
www.cdeco.com
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
When you start on your CA license, get a "Council Record Book" from NCEES. This will vastly simplify the process elsewhere, and lets you use one set of references for multiple states.
Lufti, you mention certain things that CA SE seals. What I found in dealing with engineers there, is that there are a few things (buildings over 200' high, for example) that were required to be sealed by SE's. But in practice, it seemed that most owners expected any structural or semi-structural work to be sealed by SE's, regardless of whether they fell under the requirements of the law. I could have gotten my ME license there, and legally designed storage tanks, but most owners wanted a SE seal even on tanks. This was similar in WA and NV, as I recall, and not so in OR. It's kind of a mess out there.
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
This noted in not so many words on the registration application documentation and seems to be geared toward limiting the amount of out-state practicing SEs. I guess that if I lived in that state, I would be a proponent of that process too.
My company has headquarters in CA and it is still difficult to have supervisor input on the application unless you work directly under them.
Regards,

Qshake
Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
FROM THE CALIFORNIA SE APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
"Personal Reference Alternatives for Structural Engineering Applicants It has come to the Board’s attention that applicants for authority to use the title “Structural Engineer” in California may have trouble obtaining appropriate references to meet the Board’s requirements. It is the Board’s desire to assist such applicants by providing information on how to obtain references from qualified persons who are a California licensed Structural Engineer or licensed in a state with which California has a comity agreement regarding structural licensing (Idaho, Hawaii, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon, depending on the year). It is also the Board’s desire to make it clear that an applicant for the structural license need not have worked for any of the structural engineers who are providing the references. In order to assist applicants in securing the required references, here are some suggestions, which are offered for consideration. Specifically, the following cases represent situations which may have yielded contacts with appropriately licensed structural engineers who could be used as possible references:
• A structural engineer associated with or employed by a client firm for which the applicant’s firm has performed structural engineering work.
• A structural engineer associated with or employed by another engineering firm with which the applicant’s firm has engaged in a joint venture on a structural engineering project.
• A structural engineer associated with or employed by a building department to which the applicant has submitted plans and/or calculations for a plan check review.
• One or more California licensed structural engineers who are willing to review an adequate sample of the applicant’s work in order to evaluate his/her qualifying experience. (Our website contains a “License Lookup” feature that can list the structural engineers that live in your area).
• The Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) has agreed to provide a panel of licensed structural engineers, at no cost to the applicant, to examine samples of the applicant’s work, to conduct an in-depth review and discussion with the applicant concerning those work samples, and based on that review and discussion, to serve as references on behalf of the applicant. The applicant may contact SEAOC directly. The name and address of the contact person is Lee Adler Executive Director 1730 I Street, Suite 240 Sacramento CA 95814-3017 916-447-1198"
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
I use the title myname, P.E., S.E. on my correspondence. This is due to my licenses as a PE in my main state (and many others) and my license as an SE in Illinois.
Despite the fact that I am not an SE in California, or technically, in most of my other states, I am an SE in a single state(Illinois). So I use that designation.
Now if I were to write a letter to a client in California, regarding a project in the midwest, I think I'd still use that designation after my name, even though I'm not licensed in CA as an SE. This is because I'm not specifically marketing my services for a project IN California.
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
Thanks for the clarification. Admittedly it has been a long time since I've looked at the official requirements and what advice is available. I should have looked before I leaped!
I stand corrected. Apparently CA and other entities such as SEAOC are willing and able to help out of state structural engineers obtain licensing in CA.
Regards,

Qshake
Eng-Tips Forums:Real Solutions for Real Problems Really Quick.
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
i only know this becasue i am in the process of getting a ca pe so i can get a ca se in a couple of years. i don't know if this process actually works or if it is impossible to do.
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
RE: Best State for P.E. Reciprocity
I think the origins of the CA surveying requirements are more muddy than that. The "engineering lore" I was told was that California Surveyors complained that their livelihood was being taken away by Professional Engineers. At the time, CA Civil PE's could perfrom all the legal duties of a Licensed Surveyor: Corner Records, Plat Maps, Record Of Survey, you name it.
The Surveyors (apparently sucessfully) argued that no one would ever hire a surveyor on an engineering project, since the Civil PE could handle those responsibilites as well. So, through CA legislation, engineers were not longer entitled to practice surveying as of January 1, 1982.
One of the main purposes to the CA Civil PE exam is to educate engineers on what "surveying" they can and cannnot do as PEs. Engineers licensed prior to this regulation were "grandfathered" as to the duties they could perform, and that is why examinees are expected to know the last registration number issued to a civil engineer prior to Jan. 1, 1982 (33965).