When Do You Need a PE Stamp?

Immediately after graduating with my Mechanical Engineering degree, I took the EIT exam (Engineer in Training). This is the first step to getting your Professional Engineer license. I passed the EIT, but never completed the rest of the requirements to start taking the PE tests. I never worked in a situation where I was working with other PEs, was never required or even requested to have one, so I never pursued it.

A PE license is granted by your state, and is necessary to work on public projects, or projects where there may be significant liability for life or property. Engineers can be licensed in much the same way that lawyers or architects or accountants, and for many of the same reasons: to demonstrate a level of learning on the subject at hand, and to protect against liability.

There is also a social aspect to the license. You have to be part of an existing group of licensed engineers who will vouch for your proficiency and reliability. This is usually handled through an internship involving practical work experience. The license requires maintenance over the years, and some demonstrated level of involvement, curiosity and continued learning.

I helped my wife through her architectural exams, which covered some basic engineering, as well as a lot of other topics. While the details are different, the process is similar. After an undergraduate degree, the process may still take several years.

In the end, it’s to some extent a first level legal CYA, social good ole boys club, and gateway to large scale civil, architectural and infrastructure type design work. It’s a way for you to get some letters after your name without a PhD, and in some cases serves to inflate people who need that kind of thing. Not all engineering work requires a PE, in fact, most doesn’t. If you are designing a municipal waste water system, you need a PE to sign off on that type of project. Structural and HVAC as well as electrical design work for architectural projects requires sign offs and stamps from engineers and architects. Bridge design, inspection, and repair require a PE. As long as you have at least one qualified PE to stamp drawings and sign off on the design, certifying it as safe for public use, that is what a Professional Engineer license is for. There is usually some sort of government regulation involved in these type of projects.

Some types of unregulated product development work like consumer products don’t require a PE, but you may choose to hire a freelance PE to stamp or otherwise certify your design and end product. This might especially be true in cases such as toys or children’s safety products which might be susceptible to lawsuits. A PE has less difficulty establishing credibility, because they are already licensed.

You may need a certification for medical or electrical products, automotive, aviation, anything that emits radio frequency oscillations. Think of groups like UL, ASE, ASME, ANSI, FCC, FAA, FDA, DEA, AMA, etc… If you’re involved with this type of design work already, you know the type of certifications you have to get for a new product, I’m mainly interested in helping to inform people who are outside of the PE and product certification process.

Honestly, there haven’t been many times when I’ve had to use skills tested aside from basic mechanical loading and stress concepts. I’ve used calculus exactly once outside of college, on reconciling empirical tests with theory for the impact forces on a pendulum testing rig. Understanding the behavior of splines is somewhat related to calculus, but I have explained it in my books in such a way that calculus concepts help, but are not required.

If you are a student or a recent graduate wondering about getting a PE license, it is a lot more practical and hands-on than a masters degree, but you can only get certified through some sort of hands on experience, and working under the supervision of existing PEs. A PE license can be a valuable thing to have, but in some lines of work, you may find it unnecessary. If you have the opportunity to get licensed, I would recommend taking advantage of the opportunity. It’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

Best of luck.