Deny to seat in NYS P.E. Exam for April, What next? 4

[SGee]

I have received the letter that says because of the experience described in Form 4A, I am denied to seat for the April NYS P.E. Exam. What happens next?
Do I need to re-apply, wait for October, and pay the fee again?
Can I appeal? If I appeal, how much time do I have to appeal, such that I can sit for April exam.

Because I do have the enough years of relevant experience. My experience is in construction, and there are people with construction experience who have been approved before. I am wondering what kind of wording they used for the application. Help please.

 

[IRstuff]

?? You don't know what you wrote on your own application?

TTFN
faq731-376

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[zdas04]

Call the board. Have a conversation. If you can get past the snarky receptionist whose job is is to say "no", then most of the board members that I've talked to have been reasonable individuals. Ask them why your construction experience didn't qualify and ask them to look up what they think you need to accomplish before you can sit for the exam.

David Simpson, PE
MuleShoe Engineering

Law is the common force organized to act as an obstacle of injustice Frédéric Bastiat

 

[SGee]

zdas04 : Thanks. I think that is what I need to do.

 

[racookpe1978]

First, look VERY VERY carefully at "how" you wrote up your own construction experience.

If I got the impression you were pounding hammers on scaffolding, drilling bolt holes in steel, or pouring concrete into rebar, then tried to pass that off as "construction experience" towards a PE license, I too would be skeptical. VERY VERY GOOD towards using your PE license in future employment! But probably not so good towards getting the license.

Did you "design," "analyze", "critique", "inspect", "certify", "accept", "review", "modify", "propose", remedy", "anticipate and correct (design or field service problems)", "supervise craft labor", or "confirm", "reject", "manage" "survey" "draft and modify plans" "schedule and plan" modular construction and steel erection and concrete placement and form fabrication and concrete integrity?

Or were you "just" common labor "doing" it?

The latter ain't gonna fly.

Now, the opposite can also occur. In my first PE application as a nuclear engineer, the state board accepted every month of work I spent UNDER CONSTRUCTION or during maintenance shutdowns and repair planning periods, but rejected every month recorded "merely" operating the same power plants I had been repairing or constructing!

In subsequent PE applications, every state accepted every month I spent as a repair supervisor, planning officer and scheduling manager, and (nuclear) QA and construction inspector reviewing plans for interferences and routing. They did NOT accept months spent doing comparable work on fossil plants. (But by that time, it was all formality anyway, I had many more years experience than was needed ..)

 

[xnuke]

racookPE1978 has a very good point. Here is the language in the laws of NY that define the "practice of engineering":
Definition of practice of engineering
Use the key words found in that definition that are pertinent to define your work experience. If you didn't perform any of the key words found in that definition, the state can't count your experience.

xnuke
"Live and act within the limit of your knowledge and keep expanding it to the limit of your life." Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged.
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips.

 

[SGee]

racookpe1978:

No, I didn't just perform manual construction work. I work in a construction management firm, so I do need to do QA/QC of concrete pouring. I did scheduling, review steel shop drawings, draw up field sketches for field modification, and planning of field work. Of course, estimating and etc.....

Which is why I am confused as to why my experience got rejected.

 

[Maui]

SGee, you need to call the board and find out why your application was rejected. If your degree is not from an ABET-accredited program, then you would need to have more than the minimum of four years of experience listed in the application. Was any of your work performed under the guidance of a PE? If it wasn't, that can also be a sticking point. Your references may have not have all been received by the board within the required time frame for consideration. Any of these things can cause your application to be rejected. Once you find out what the actual problem was, come back here and tell us. We can guide you from there.

Maui

http://www.EngineeringMetallurgy.com

 

[PeterVenkman]

I don't think that it always has to be under the guidance of a PE. I have heard of people getting PE endorsements from clients.

Some of the work history stuff I think can be feenangled if it is just worded properly. I remember someone posting here awhile back about be surprised that they were able to get their surveying and concrete pouring to count as engineering experience and none of it was under a PE. At worst, I suppose you could apply in less restrictive states and then try to get reciprocity.

 

[PeterVenkman]

I am not trying to imply that it shouldn't count. Your experience is probably better than a lot of new engineers that get lost in a large consulting firm.

 

[SGee]

AnthonyHopkins:
Yeah, I did all these under the guidance of a P.E. because my direct manager/project manager is a P.E. himself, and then he just signs off on my experiences.

Yeah, i will try to reach the board. I can't reach them through the phone. Already tried that this morning. Anyone know a better way to try to reach a board member? So I have a better understanding of my application?

 

[Maui]

You can also reach them through email. See the email address that appears below their telephone and FAX numbers in the following link:

http://www.op.nysed.gov/prof/pels/pecontact.htm

Maui

http://www.EngineeringMetallurgy.com

 

[bridgebuster]

Call the board and find out how many.months you are lacking. You don't have to reapply; you send an amendment to your application.

In NY, construction time is often reduced by 50% or more to arrive at an equivalent design time. Also, keep in mind, it's how you word things on the application that counts.