CA PE for FL civil engineer 1

[jtw5a]

Hi, I am a civil engineer working in South Florida. I passed my FE and currently have 2 years of work experience (1.5 yrs in Maryland, 6 mo in Florida). Like most states, FL requires engineers to work at least 4 years prior to sitting for the PE. I'm considering sitting for the CA PE a year early (April '07) and had TWO questions. Will the FL PE Board allow me to pass the test in '07 and petition for my PE when I have 4 yrs experience in '08? Do I have to pass BOTH the CA NCEES exam and Surveying/Seismic exam, or just the NCEES exam, to become registered in FL?

Thank you for the info,

Jim

 

[JAE]

Why don't you call your Florida board and ask them? I would think you could'nt take the CA 5 hour Seismic/Civil exam unless you have the 4 years experience, or have a PE in another state. But that would also require calling the CA board.

 

[rholder98]

I could be wrong, but I think only the one NCEES exam is all that is required in FL, but the NCEES exam is also required in CA--in addition to the state-specific exam. Thus, you couldn't get licensed early even if you wanted to, short of having a graduate degree.

Again, I haven't researched every state, so I could have it wrong.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

The California Board makes available a "Plan Language Phamphlet of the Professional Engineers Act and Board Rules" (.pdf format at this link)

http://www.dca.ca.gov/pels/e_plppe.pdf

It is very readable and goes thru the entire process, step by step. The discussion for PE requirements begins on page 5.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

 

[jtw5a]

Thanks for the info so far. Obtaining licensure in CA seems preferable to only taking one test in CA and trying to argue for a FL PE. As a follow up question, does anyone know if review courses for the Seismic/surveying exam are offered widely outside of CA? I haven't researched it but would expect little demand for such courses on the East Coast.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

Well... probably the most seismically active area on the East Coast of the US is around Charleston, SC. I have taught the PE review course, in Charleston, for the Civil/Structural exam. We did not cover ANY material on seismic calcs - not required in SC, or nearby states for either PE Civil or Structural I exams. Can't speak for other geographic areas however.

http://www.SlideRuleEra.net

 

[henri2]

There have to be easier routes to obtaining the PE than going the CA route. As you are aware, not only do you have to pass the the national exam, but you must also have to pass the Seismic and Surveying exams in order to obtain the CA PE. What of OH, DC, and Montana? Check pages E3 and E4 of the following document

http://www.ncees.org/licensure/licensing_requirements_2005/survey_e.pdf

 

[JStephen]

If your main interest is in having the FL PE license, I'd just do it and skip the CA license. If you'll actually need both at some point, then that would be a good reason to work the order differently if convenient.

It's been a while, but seems like WA and maybe NV had similar seismic requirements to CA, so structural licenses in those states could get you one in CA as well- unlike many of the other states.

 

[Ron]

The Florida Board of Professional Engineers is not big on waiving any requirements. They will only grant reciprocity if the state of licensure has at least the same requirements as Florida and the person takes/passes the NCEES exam.

I suggest as others have, that you contact the Florida Board (

http://www.fbpe.org

)

 

[SpiderM]

I have a client that is a registered Structural Engineer that can not get his license in Indiana (which I have, hence my client). In his day, you could take the FE your junoir year and the PE your senior year, which he did. Then once you have your 4 years experience, apply for your license.

Indiana and a few other states, take the sequence literally. FE exam, 4 years experience THEN the PE exam. Becuase of this he would have to sit for the exam for the state of Indiana.

I would recommend waiting the four years to prevent future problems, ie 3 years compared to 4 years.

BTW - A rapidly growing number of states are not allowing licensure to individual without an ABET - EAC degree. In the past, an ABET accredited degree, regardless of EAC, TAC, ASAC or CEC, was acceptable. Some of these states are FL,AL,MS,LA,AR,TN,MI, and MO.