This guide is a walkthrough of the requirements to take the PE Exam, obtain a PE license, and maintain your PE license, including Professional Development Hours (PDH’s) in the state of Virginia.
I will update this as often as possible, but to make sure you’ve got the most up-to-date information, always check for the right information from these links:
- Requirements to Take the PE Exam in Virginia. To take the PE exam in Virginia you must apply with the Virginia board. You must have an approved 4-year degree, 4 years of work experience, passed the FE Exam, and filled out all the required forms as well as paid the fee. You also have to pass a board-supplied exam about their regulations, which you’ll get after the board receives your application.
- Requirements to Apply for a PE License in Virginia. The Virginia board’s website does not have clear information about what you need to do to obtain your license after passing the PE Exam. If you have questions, contact the board with their contact information here.
- Requirements to Renew Your PE License in Virginia (see “PE License Renewal Form” under “Professional Engineer (PE) and Engineer-in-Training (EIT). You will need to mail the renewal form in with the $80 renewal feel. You can see the renewal form as of 9/21 here. You will need 16 hours of continuing education (CE) to renew.
This article is meant as a general reference and does not replace the official guidelines from the Virginia state board or NCEES.
Requirements to Take the PE Exam in Virginia
You must fill out an application to take the PE exam in Virginia. You can find the application (current as of 9/21) at this link. You will need the following forms as part of the application to take the exam (links are included to each form current as of 9/21. Go to this link for the most up to date forms):
- PE License Application
- PE Reference Form
- Experience Verification Forms
- Degree Verification Form
- Verification of Examination and Licensure Form
Once you have submitted all the required documentation and the board has received it, they will send you a board-supplied examination that is separate from the PE Exam. This is a test of your knowledge of the board’s regulations and statutes. Once you take that, send it in, and receive notification from the board that you’ve passed and are cleared to apply for the PE Exam, you can take the PE Exam in Virginia.
To register once this is all complete, go to the NCEES website, sign in, and click on “Register for an exam” then follow the steps.
Requirements to Get Your PE License in Virginia
As mentioned earlier, the Virginia Board’s website is unclear what happens after you pass the PE Exam. The first thing to do to clarify this if you’re wondering is to contact the board. Their contact info is on this page on the left panel.
Because the application to take the PE Exam in Virginia is as extensive as the application to get licensed in most other states, however, it’s likely you won’t need to do much else after finding out that you’ve passed the PE Exam.
In some states, the board contacts you a few weeks after NCEES releases scores. This is most likely what happens in Virginia. Again, I’d recommend contacting them to clarify this if you want to know before you go through the whole process and at the very least after you find out you’ve passed the PE Exam.
Professional Development Hours for Virginia PE’s
Per section “18VAC10-20-683 Continuing education requirements for renewal or reinstatement” of the Virginia law, you will need 16 hours of continuing education (CE) to be able to renew your license. You will need to maintain records of those hours as well, but only need to provide them upon request.
To find the application to renew your PE License in Maryland, go to this link, head down to the section titled “Professional Engineer (PE) and Engineer-in-Training (EIT)” and select “PE License Renewal Form.” Or what’s even easier is to just do Command or CTRL + F and search for “PE License Renewal Form” to find it faster.
As of this writing (9/21), you will need the following items to renew:
- The form, which you will need to complete and mail in to the Virginia board. You can see the current form as of 9/21 right here. The form itself is very simple and just has you fill out some basic information and sign.
- An $80 fee, payable by check, money order, or credit card (with the credit card insert).
You will also receive a renewal notice in the mail about 45 days before your license expires. You will need to renew your Virginia PE License every two years on the last day of the month in which you originally received your license.
