South Dakota PE License: Requirements, Exams, and Renewal

To earn a professional engineer license in South Dakota, you need an ABET-accredited engineering degree, four years of progressive engineering experience under a licensed PE, passing scores on the NCEES Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exams, and an approved application filed with the Board of Technical Professions along with a $100 fee. The South Dakota PE license requirements are set out in SDCL chapter 36-18A and the board’s administrative rules under ARSD 20:38.¹

The Degree

Your engineering degree must come from a program accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET. ARSD 20:38:30:02 sets out the acceptable education pathways, and the board directs applicants to that rule for the specifics.²

If you graduated from an engineering program outside the United States, or from a domestic program that lacks EAC/ABET accreditation, the board will generally require a credentials evaluation through NCEES before it can assess your education. NCEES measures your transcript against its Engineering Education Standard: roughly 32 semester credit hours of higher mathematics and sciences, and 48 semester credit hours of engineering science or engineering design, and the evaluation flags any deficiencies you’ll need to address.³ Contact the board first to confirm what it needs for your situation.

Four Years of Supervised Experience

ARSD 20:38:31:03 requires four years of progressive engineering work completed under the direct supervision of a licensed professional engineer who is actively practicing.⁴ The board interprets qualifying experience as diversified work of increasing difficulty, magnitude, and responsibility, not four years spent on the same narrow task.⁵ Teaching engineering courses at the junior level or above in an accredited program counts toward up to one year of the requirement. Foreign work experience under licensed professionals is evaluated case by case.

The Two NCEES Exams

Under ARSD 20:38:32:03, you must pass both the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam and the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exam.⁶

The FE comes first. You’re eligible to sit for it once you’ve satisfied the education requirement, or during your senior year if you’re within two semesters of graduating from an ABET-accredited program. Passing the FE qualifies you as an engineering intern under SDCL § 36-18A-25, which is the formal designation you hold while accumulating your supervised experience.¹

The PE exam tests competency in a specific engineering discipline. You can register for it after passing the FE and meeting the education requirement, but the board won’t issue your license until you’ve also completed the full four years of qualifying experience. Passing the PE early doesn’t shorten the clock.

Filing the Application

Applications go to the Board of Technical Professions, online or by mail. ARSD 20:38:29:01 requires every application to be complete, accompanied by the fee, and certified as true under penalty of perjury. If anything on a pending application changes, you have ten calendar days to notify the board.⁷

You’ll need to submit:

At least five references, with a minimum of three from licensed engineering professionals in good standing who have personal knowledge of your work experience. A sitting board member cannot serve as a reference.
Official transcripts sent directly from your institution.
Experience documentation showing the engineering tasks you performed and the progressive responsibility you took on.

Pick references who will actually respond. If a reference answers unfavorably, the board may require additional qualifying experience. If a reference simply doesn’t reply, the application can be held until the response arrives or you substitute another name.⁷

Under SDCL § 36-18A-32, the board may call you in for an oral interview if there are questions about the depth or quality of your experience. Failing to appear or to provide requested information within 30 days can lead to disapproval of the application.⁵

Fees

The application fee is $100 under ARSD 20:38:33:02, whether you’re applying for initial licensure or admission to examination. Biennial renewal is $80.⁸ NCEES exam fees are separate and paid directly to NCEES when you register for the FE or PE.

If You’re Already Licensed in Another State

South Dakota’s comity process lets you apply without retaking the FE or PE. The board accepts a verified professional record from NCEES as evidence that you meet comity requirements, which spares you from re-collecting transcripts, exam results, and employment verifications.⁹ An NCEES Record stores your credentials, exam history, employment verifications, and professional references in one place, and NCEES submits the materials to the South Dakota board on your behalf.¹⁰ The application fee is the same $100. You still need to meet the reference requirements and, going forward, South Dakota’s continuing education standards.

Renewal and Continuing Education

Your license expires two years after issuance and becomes invalid on that date unless renewed. SDCL § 36-18A-39 requires you to pay the renewal fee and complete the continuing professional development requirements to keep the license active.¹¹

You need a minimum of 30 professional development hours (PDH) each two-year renewal period. At least 20 must be in technical subjects relevant to your field of practice; the remaining 10 may cover professional management topics such as business practice or ethics. ARSD 20:38:35:06 sets the credit values:

One semester credit hour of college coursework earns 45 PDH; one quarter credit hour earns 30 PDH.
One continuing education unit (CEU) equals 10 PDH.
Seminars and workshops are credited by actual program time, rounded to the nearest half hour.
Teaching or presenting earns 2 PDH per hour.
Published papers or books earn 10 PDH each.
Professional society participation earns 2 PDH per organization per renewal period, up to 6 PDH total.

If you’re selected for an audit, you must submit supporting documentation within 30 calendar days of notification, so keep course certificates, program descriptions, and dates for the full renewal cycle.¹²

Using Your Seal Once Licensed

Once licensed, you’re required to use a professional seal on your work. SDCL § 36-18A-44 specifies that the seal contain the words “South Dakota,” your name, your license number, and the title “Professional Engineer.” The outer circle must be between one and two inches in diameter, with an inner circle five-eighths of that diameter, and the seal may be embossed, a rubber stamp, or computer-generated.¹³ Your signature and the date must appear adjacent to or across the seal on every sealed document.

Under SDCL § 36-18A-45, placing your seal on a document certifies that you either prepared the work or were in responsible charge of it. All final drawings, specifications, reports, and calculations must be sealed before you present them to a client or government agency. Preliminary submittals need a clear notation such as “Not for Construction” or “Preliminary.”¹ Electronic transmittal and digital signatures carry additional technical requirements under SDCL § 36-18A-45 and the board’s seal guidelines, which are worth reviewing before you build your workflow.¹⁴

Practicing Without a License

Until you hold a valid South Dakota PE license, you cannot offer engineering services to the public in the state or use the professional engineer title. SDCL § 36-18A-65 makes practicing engineering, using the title, or presenting someone else’s seal as your own without a valid license a Class 2 misdemeanor. The same classification applies to using an expired, suspended, or revoked license.¹⁵ On the civil side, SDCL § 36-18A-61 authorizes administrative fines of up to $2,000 per offense against an individual licensee, along with injunctions and cease-and-desist orders.¹

1
South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Codified Law 36-18A – Technical Professions
2
South Dakota Board of Technical Professions. Professional Engineers
3
NCEES. Credentials Evaluations
4
Cornell Law Institute. South Dakota Administrative Rule 20:38:31:03 – Engineering
5
South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Codified Law 36-18A-32 – Oral Interview, Failure to Provide Information as Grounds for Disciplinary Action, Interpretation of Experience and Education
6
Legal Information Institute. South Dakota Administrative Rules 20:38:32:03 – Engineering
7
South Dakota Legislature. Administrative Rule 20:38 – Board of Technical Professions
8
South Dakota Board of Technical Professions. South Dakota Board of Technical Professions – Fees
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South Dakota Legislature. Administrative Rule 20:38:34 – Comity Licensure Requirements
10
NCEES. Records Program
11
South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Codified Law 36-18A-39 – Expiration and Biennial Renewal of Licenses, Continuing Professional Education
12
South Dakota Board of Technical Professions. Professional Development Hours
13
South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Codified Law 36-18A-44 – Seal of Licensees, Contents, Signature, Certain Persons Prohibited From Using Seal
14
South Dakota Board of Technical Professions. Seals on Professional Work in South Dakota
15
South Dakota Legislature. South Dakota Codified Laws 36-18A-65 – Prohibited Acts, Violation as Class 2 Misdemeanor