Things to Know
Structural exam applicants - You must take and pass both the lateral and vertical portions of the NCEES 16-hour Structural Examination within a 5-year period. If you don't receive acceptable results on both components during this 5-year period, the results of the previous component you've passed will be invalidated. To pass the SE exam in the future, you'd be required to restart the process and take both components of the SE exam.
NCEES policy states: "For the Structural Engineering examination, a candidate may sit for either component in separate exam administrations but must receive acceptable results on both components within a 5-year period in order to pass the examination."
Licensing Requirements
To get your structural engineer license, you must meet all of the following requirements:
- Be currently licensed as a Washington Professional Engineer (PE).
- Have at least 2 years of progressive structural experience (in addition to the 8 years required for a Professional Engineer license).
- Pass the NCEES 16-hour Structural exam (first administered in April 2011). The NCEES SE I and SE II exams (taken prior to April 2011) do not meet the requirements for a structural license in Washington, unless you have also taken and passed a state specific SEIII examination. Please contact us if you've taken a state-specific structural exam.
If you've only passed the NCEES 16-hour lateral & vertical structural examination, you need to take and pass an additional 8-hour NCEES PE exam in another branch of engineering to get your PE license in Washington.
All applicants must complete the experience descriptions and have your experience verified using our forms. NCEES records aren't accepted for structural engineer licensing.
Exam applicants: The Board’s application deadlines for exams is:
- January 15th for the April exam administration
- July 31st for the October exam administration
Please see the NCEES website for information regarding specific engineering disciplines and exam dates
How to Apply
You can apply online or by mail.
Online
- Log in or sign up to apply and pay your application fee online.
- Complete sections 1 and 2 of the Structural Engineering Experience and Verification form for each work experience you are having verified. You must have a minimum of three separate structural projects verified. Send your experience verification to the people who are verifying your work experience. Your verifiers will complete section 3. Verifiers can email the form, but it must come directly from the verifier’s email address or they can complete their part and send both parts of the verification to:
Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
PO Box 9025
Olympia, WA 98507-9025
Email: engineers@brpels.wa.gov
- Send us all of the following:
- Structural Engineer Registration Application.
- A check or money order for the fee, payable to the Department of Licensing ($65 if applying for the exam, $110 if applying by comity)
- Mail your completed application and fee to:
Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
Department of Licensing
PO Box 3777
Seattle, WA 98124-3777
- Complete sections 1 and 2 of the Structural Engineering Experience and Verification form for each work experience you are having verified. You must have a minimum of three separate structural projects verified. Send your experience verification to the people who are verifying your work experience. Your verifiers will complete section 3. Verifiers can email the form, but it must come directly from the verifier’s email address or they can complete their part and send both parts of the verification to:
Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors
PO Box 9025
Olympia, WA 98507-9025
Email: engineers@brpels.wa.gov
- If applying by comity, go to https://account.ncees.org/login and follow the instructions for requesting a license/exam verification.
For Veterans
U.S. Veterans may be eligible for partial reimbursements of costs. For more information: Education and Training | Licensing and Certification