Professional development hours Civil Engineering

Civil engineers’ work has a direct and powerful impact on the lives of people, each and every day. Well designed and executed projects provide services to the community, while ensuring safety for everyone. Of course, the opposite is true, in that poorly designed and executed projects can create a high risk to the community, and even cause disasters which can cost many lives.

Since so many lives are affected by the work of civil engineers, professional certifications are required in order to provide engineering services to the public. These certifications guarantee the professional knowledge and skills of practicing civil engineers.

There are three basic levels of required engineering certification; with some newer, higher level certifications which are not required. These basic certifications are:

• Graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering from an accredited university
• Pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) written examination
• Pass the Principles and Practices in Engineering (PE) written examination

Testing and certification of civil engineers is done on a state by state basis. Therefore, there is some variance in requirements, depending upon the state in which one is practicing engineering. The requirements we are giving here are what are required in most states. However, you should check on the requirements for your own state, as some have certain waivers or different time requirements.

Civil Engineering Degree
The first step on the road to becoming a fully certified civil engineering is to graduate from an accredited university which offers Bachelor’s of Science or Bachelor’s of Engineering degree in civil engineering. It is important to study at an accredited university, as any degree from a non-accredited university would not be accepted as a precursor to taking the FE examination.

University accreditation simply means that the institution has been examined by an accrediting body, who verifies that the quality of instructors, scope of courses given and school administration meets certain requirements. Some universities even have multiple accreditation, having been examined by more than one accrediting body. There are only a limited number of these accrediting agencies in the country; all of which work to basically the same standards. Fundamentals of Engineering Examination (FE)

Upon graduation, before an individual can work as a civil engineer in any capacity, they need to take and pass the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination. This eight hour written test covers the breath of the candidate’s grasp of basic engineering principles. In some cases, there may be some elements of specialized knowledge, based upon the candidate’s stated specialty discipline.