Work Requiring a PE Stamp

[trchambe]

I'd like to begin this question by stating up front that I have no intention of this turning into a PE vs. non-PE debate, or that I am questioning the necessity of PE stamps or the qualifications or abilities of PEs and non-PEs.


My question does however concern what requires a PE stamp (I am located in the United States)? Is it anything that could endanger the public? If so, does it need to be a big structure that could fall on people, or are there other issues?

Do studies or analyses of existing structures require a PE stamp?

I understand why, for example, civil engineering project would require a stamp, I believe. But what about electrical (specifically power) engineering? Substations and towers require a stamp, if I'm not mistaken. Do load flow studies, contingency studies or similar projects require one?

I'm just trying to get an idea of the type of projects that require one, and why some fields do not (my understanding is that aerospace engineering is an exempt industry, for example). I'm a fairly young engineer, so all of my projects are submitted to mentors for review, regardless of their type. I just don't know which ones go on to get stamped and which do not, or why they do or do not.

 

[KENAT]

One crude answer, is that when selling engineering services to the public you need PE.

When supplying a product, you don't. Aerospace & Automotive engineers work to design products which then get sold.

This really is a crude definition with gaping holes but hopefully starts to give some idea.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[rbulsara]

PE license is minimum qualification required by "laws" of individual states in the USA, if you want to offer engineering services to public. All engineering design documents prepared for structures or systems that require a legal permit by state authorities, require a PE stamp and signature.

This is not different than requiring a driving license to drive or needing a medical registration to practice as a doctor in a given state. It has nothing to do with who is better or worse.

This gives public (including private companies, institutions) a reference to choose their service providers and also assigns a degree of responsibility and liability.

Rafiq Bulsara

http://www.srengineersct.com

 

[rbulsara]

Regarding your other half of the question:
I am not sure why the word "exempt" is used for manufacturing or the like industries. They are not exempt from responsibility to public or meeting applicable safety and industry standards. Often they are the ones who set the bar for quality and safety by their ingenuity and it has to be supported.

Just that they do not need to sign and seal their internal documents for their "products". But they still have the responsibility and if something goes wrong, authorities and public know who to go after and they do!

When even those "exempt" industries are building a building to house their processes or people, those designs still needs to be signed and sealed by PEs.

In end it is just a matter of assuring that unsuspecting public have some assurance of qualifications of their service providers.

Rafiq Bulsara

http://www.srengineersct.com

 

[GregTirevold]

The only things that "require" a PE to stamp/sign off on are spelled out in the legal code of the given jurisdiction. The fields impacted the most by the PE requirements are civil and structural engineers due to the way the construction laws are written. Mechanical engineers who do boiler, HVAC, and power plant work are another group where PEs are common do to the code requirements of the state/city building laws. Besides that, unless you offer design services/consulting to the public you are not going to need a PE.

All that being said most degreed engineers are not PEs. The highest stat I think I recall is something like 70-80% of engineering graduates working as "engineers" are doing so under the so called "exemption clause". The clause boils down to what KENAT mentioned, if you make widgets and then sell those widgets to the public, businesses, governments, etc you don't need a PE, just excellent liability insurance. You often still have to comply with numerous other legalities like the FAA, NHTSA, EPA, DOT, DOE, etc but these do not usually require PEs as far as I know.

At the end of the day it really just boils down to having a chain of responsibility for someone to sue if things go south. Construction related industries are more PE centric due to the the laws and everyone else is more product liability centric with the "corporate veil" and whatnot.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/gregtirevold