Professional Engineer Licensure Guide

1. All Professional Engineer applicants must have successfully passed the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering examination (FE) and obtained their Engineer in Training Certificate (EIT).  If the state that you sat for the NCEES FE examination does not offer an EIT Certificate, the Board will determine when the EIT would have been issued, using the date of the FE Exam or the conferral date of the ABET-Accredited Bachelor’s degree, whichever is later.
   
   
2. An official state criminal history record check (CHRC) is required from your current state of residence. For applicants living, working, or completing training in Pennsylvania, your CHRC will be generated automatically as part of your application and the required fee will be included at checkout.
   
   
   • In addition to the background check from your current state of residence, you will need to submit official state CHRCs from every state where you have lived, worked, or completed training during the last 5 years. An FBI background check can be submitted in lieu of state checks where you previously lived, worked or trained. No record checks can be dated more than 90 days prior to the date you submit your application.
      
3. You are required to submit a copy of your Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) Accredited Bachelor of Science engineering transcript directly from your University to the Board of Engineering at st-engineer@Pa.gov.
   
   
4. You are required to provide 5 references that have personal knowledge of your work experience and can collectively attest to the entire amount of required engineering work experience.
   
   Three references must be a licensed Professional Engineer.
   
   The other two may be a licensed Professional Geologist, licensed Professional Land Surveyor, or unlicensed engineers who, through education and experience, possess an equivalent level of expertise as that of a professional engineer.
   
   A reference that is not a professional engineer licensed in the United States is required to submit a curriculum vitae. All work experience must be supported by a Reference Information Form submitted by the licensed professional engineer who supervised the work experience.
   
   Your references may email their forms directly to the Board of Engineering at st-engineer@Pa.gov.
   
   
5. To assist the Board in evaluating your engineering work experience, you must submit an Amplified Record of Engineering Work/Design Experience form (Amplified Record) which has been completed in its entirety and provides specific, thorough, and detailed descriptions of your progressive professional experience in engineering work/design that you obtained under the supervision of a licensed professional engineer or similarly qualified engineer, after the issuance of your Engineer in Training (EIT) Certificate and prior to initial licensure.
   
   The amplified record must:
   • clearly describe the supervised engineering work/design that you personally performed;
   • delineate your role in any group engineering activity;
     
   • provide an overall description of the nature of work/design you personally performed,
     specifically indicate how your engineering skills and responsibilities have progressively increased during your years of experience, and
     
   • must demonstrate conclusively the years of progressive professional experience you have obtained (including detailed examples of how engineering knowledge and engineering principles, including the principles of math and science, were actually employed) in engineering work/design of a grade and character to fit you to assume responsible charge of the work involved in the practice of engineering.
      

Please do not attach a resume or curriculum vitae in lieu of an Amplified Record.

Your amplified record should begin after the issue date of your EIT certificate.

Do not list more than one year of work experience per page of the amplified record; however, you may use as many pages as necessary to accurately describe each year of experience.

Please upload your amplified record to the Board through your PALS account using the “Amplified Record” checklist item.

1. Professional Engineer by comity/endorsement applications are processed in the order they are received. Please submit your application as soon as possible.
   
   
2. An official state criminal history record check (CHRC) is required from your current state of residence. For applicants living, working, or completing training in Pennsylvania, your CHRC will be generated automatically as part of your application and the required fee will be included at checkout.
   • In addition to the background check from your current state of residence, you will need to submit official state CHRCs from every state where you have lived, worked, or completed training during the last 5 years. An FBI background check can be submitted in lieu of state checks where you previously lived, worked or trained. No record checks can be dated more than 180 days prior to the date you submit your application.
     
     
3. If you hold an NCEES Council Record, you are still required to complete the online application in its entirety, however you are not required to submit the supplemental documents (Amplified Record, Reference Forms, Verification of Examination/Licensure) since this information will be included in your NCEES Council Record.  Please have NCEES transmit your Council Record directly to the Pennsylvania Board Office.