There is no national PE license in the United States. A PE license lets you practice in the state that issued it. To seal work in another state, you apply to that state's board for a license by comity, which people often call reciprocity. The board checks that your education, exams and experience meet its own rules, and you skip retaking exams you've already passed.

This guide is part of our civil engineering licensing series. State details were checked on each board's site in October 2026.

Plenty of civil postings ask for more than one license: "PE in Texas or ability to obtain within 6 months", "PE licensed in Oregon and Washington", "multi-state licensure preferred". Firms that work across state lines need engineers who can seal drawings wherever the project is. Browse PE civil engineering jobs and you'll see the pattern, especially in transportation, land development and power-delivery work.

What the board checks

A comity application usually asks for the same things as your first license:

  • Education: transcripts showing your degree.
  • Exams: verification that you passed the FE and PE.
  • Experience: verified by the engineers who supervised it.
  • References: often from licensed PEs.
  • Your current licenses: verification from each state that licensed you.
  • State-specific requirements: a law or ethics exam, or extra technical exams.

The catch is that each board judges you by its own rules. A license in one state doesn't guarantee one in the next if its experience or exam rules are stricter.

The NCEES Record

An NCEES Record is an online file that NCEES keeps for you: transcripts, exam results, verified experience and references. Once it's approved, you can have NCEES send it to any state board, so you don't have to collect transcripts and track down former supervisors again for each application. Engineers who expect to work in several states usually start one early, while their supervisors are still easy to reach. Washington, for example, accepts experience verified through an NCEES Record (BRPELS).

States with extra steps

Some boards add their own requirements even for engineers already licensed elsewhere. These come up most:

  • California requires two state exams for a civil license, Civil Seismic Principles and Civil Engineering Surveying, so comity there takes longer (California page).
  • Texas requires its open-book ethics exam on the Texas Engineering Practice Act (Texas page).
  • Washington requires its Engineer Law Review, with an 80% pass mark (Washington page).
  • Montana asks for its Laws & Rules Questionnaire (Montana page).
  • Illinois has not accepted the PE Civil: Structural exam for a PE license since April 2024 (Illinois page).

Keeping several licenses

Each license has its own renewal date and continuing-education rules. Florida asks for 18 hours every two years, including Florida Laws and Rules. New York asks for 36 hours every three years. Colorado asks for none. Some states accept the same course hours, but state-specific laws-and-rules hours usually only count where they were earned. Keep a single log and check each state before renewal.

Where to start

  1. Open an NCEES Record if you don't have one.
  2. Check the target state's page in our licensing guide, or find its board in the NCEES board directory.
  3. Plan for any state exam.
  4. Tell employers your status accurately: "PE (Texas), Florida comity application submitted" is honest and useful.

For the steps before this one, read the PE Civil exam guide and how long it takes to go from EIT to PE. Rules change, so confirm everything with the board you're applying to.