Tennessee PE Renewal: PDH Hours, Deadlines, and Audits

Renewing a Tennessee PE license is a biennial process: complete 24 professional development hours in the two years before your expiration date, submit the renewal through the state’s CORE portal, and pay a $140 fee. The Tennessee Board of Architectural and Engineering Examiners oversees it, and the current cycle no longer allows PDH carryover from a previous renewal.

When Your License Expires

Your certificate expires exactly two years after its issuance or most recent renewal, and it becomes invalid on that date if you have not renewed. Expiration is tied to your individual issuance date, not a uniform statewide deadline, so it varies from engineer to engineer. The Board mails a notice at least one month before expiration, but that mailing should not be your only reminder. You can begin the renewal up to 30 days before the expiration date.¹

Professional Development Hours You Need

Renewal requires 24 PDHs completed during the two-year period immediately before your renewal date. At least 13 of those hours must cover health, safety, and welfare topics or technical competency related to your field of practice.² The remaining hours can come from managerial or ethical content relevant to engineering practice.

Note one important change: PDH carryover has been eliminated. For certificates expiring in 2023 and later, excess hours from a previous cycle cannot be applied to the next one.² Older resources may still reference a 12-hour carryover allowance; that provision no longer applies, and every cycle starts from zero.

As an alternative to the biennial count, you may instead earn 12 PDHs per calendar year, with at least 7 addressing health, safety, and welfare. The calendar-year option also does not permit carryover.²

First Renewal After Initial Registration

If you are renewing for the first time, the requirement drops to 12 PDHs, with at least 7 in health, safety, and welfare. Continuing education is not required before initial registration itself, but those 12 hours must be complete by the time your first renewal comes due.²

Reapplying After a Lapse

Engineers reapplying after letting a license lapse must show 24 PDHs completed in the 24 months immediately before the reapplication, with at least 13 in health, safety, and welfare.² Same hourly total as a standard renewal, but the clock runs from your reapplication date rather than your old expiration date.

What Counts as a Qualifying Activity

The Board grants PDH credit for educational activities that have a clear purpose, organized content, pre-planning, and qualified instructors. Qualifying activities include:

College or university courses taken for credit or audited through an accredited institution.
Seminars, short courses, correspondence courses, televised courses, and internet-based training.
In-house corporate training programs sponsored by your employer or another organization.
Teaching or instructing in the categories above, unless teaching is your regular employment.
Authoring papers, articles, or books, or writing accepted licensing exam questions.
Technical presentations at professional or technical meetings.
Serving as an officer or committee member in a technical or professional organization, or attending Board meetings and legislative events.
Active participation in K-12 or higher education outreach activities.
Patents granted during the renewal period.

Activities must be relevant to engineering practice and may include technical, ethical, or managerial content.³

How Credit Converts

One hour of qualifying professional development equals one PDH. Academic credit converts at higher rates: a single university semester hour equals 15 PDHs, a quarter hour equals 10, and one continuing education unit equals 10 PDHs.⁴ A single college course can satisfy a full cycle’s requirement, so anyone doing graduate work or a technical elective should check whether it already covers them.

Recordkeeping and Audits

Keep records supporting your claimed PDH credits for at least four years. If the Board requests documentation for an audit, you have 30 days to provide it, and failing to comply can be treated as a violation of the Board’s professional conduct rules.⁵

Your records should include a log showing the activity type, sponsoring organization, location, duration, instructor or speaker name, content description, and PDH credits earned. Beyond the log, you need either a transcript or completion certificate, or at least two other forms of attendance documentation such as signed attendance receipts, paid receipts, or a participant listing signed by the person in charge.⁵

NCEES offers a free CPC Tracking tool through its MyNCEES portal that lets you log courses, upload supporting documents, and monitor progress against Tennessee’s requirements. Completed reports can be transmitted electronically to the Board for renewal.⁶

The Board audits roughly 5% of licensees each cycle. If you are selected, you will receive an audit letter by mail instructing you to complete a summary log and upload your PDH documentation through CORE. If any hours you claimed are questioned, the Board may request additional information. Hours deemed unacceptable do not automatically result in discipline; you get 90 days to complete replacement hours and cure the deficiency.⁷ That 90-day window only applies when the Board finds a shortfall in qualifying content. Failing to respond at all, or failing to produce records within 30 days, is treated as a professional conduct violation that can lead to suspension.⁵

How to Submit the Renewal

Tennessee processes all PE renewals through the Comprehensive Online Regulatory and Enforcement (CORE) system at core.tn.gov.⁸ Log in with your existing credentials, find your license under the dashboard, and select the renewal option. The system walks you through screens where you enter your professional development data for the previous two years and electronically certify that the information is truthful and accurate.

Before starting, have your license number, current contact information, and complete PDH log ready. You will enter the date, sponsoring organization, and hours for each activity. Physical certificates are not uploaded during the application, but they need to be accurate and accessible since audit requests can follow. After the data entry and electronic signature, the portal routes you to a payment screen.

The biennial renewal fee is $140, payable by credit card or electronic check through CORE.⁹ A successful payment generates a confirmation page and an email receipt; keep it with your renewal records. Once the renewal processes, you can verify your updated status and new expiration date through the Board’s public license search tool at search.cloud.commerce.tn.gov, which updates daily.¹⁰

If You Miss Your Deadline

Tennessee provides a six-month grace period after expiration during which you can still renew, but a late fee of $10 per month (or fraction of a month) applies on top of the $140 renewal fee.¹ The dollar amount is modest, but an expired license means you cannot legally seal or sign engineering documents during that gap, which is the real cost for anyone with active projects.

After the six-month grace period, standard renewal is no longer available. You must submit a reinstatement application through CORE instead. The reinstatement fee is $195. If your license expired less than five years ago, you need to show 24 PDHs or hold an active out-of-state license. If more than five years have passed, you also need five professional references in addition to the PDH or out-of-state license requirement.¹¹ The Board may waive additional examination or education beyond what you had at original registration, but that waiver is discretionary rather than guaranteed.¹

Inactive Status as an Alternative

If you plan to stop practicing engineering in Tennessee temporarily, you can place your license on inactive status during a biennial renewal cycle by filing a form with the Board. There is no separate fee to go inactive, but you must still pay the $140 biennial renewal fee to keep the registration from expiring.¹²

While inactive, you cannot practice or offer to practice engineering in Tennessee. To reactivate, you must notify the Board in writing and satisfy the continuing education requirements before resuming practice.¹² Inactive status is worth considering if you are relocating temporarily or transitioning to a non-practice role, since it avoids the more expensive reinstatement process that follows a fully lapsed license.

1
Justia Law. Tennessee Code 62-2-307 – Expiration and Renewal of Certificates
2
Justia Regulations. Tennessee Rules 0120-05-04 – Basic Requirements – Section: Basic Requirements-Engineers
3
Tennessee Secretary of State. Tennessee Rules 0120-05 – Section: Types of Acceptable Professional Development Continuing Education
4
Tennessee Secretary of State. Tennessee Rules 0120-05 – Section: Conversion Table
5
Tennessee Secretary of State. Tennessee Rules 0120-05 – Section: Records
6
NCEES. CPC Tracking
7
Tennessee.gov. Continuing Education for Tennessee Architects and Engineers
8
Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Comprehensive Online Regulatory and Enforcement System
9
Cornell Law Institute. Tennessee Comp. R. and Regs. 0120-01-.25 – Renewal of Registration
10
Tennessee.gov. Tennessee Architects and Engineers Board Help and Support
11
Tennessee.gov. Renewal, Reinstatement, and Other Resources
12
Cornell Law Institute. Tennessee Comp. R. and Regs. 0120-01-.25 – Renewal of Registration – Section: Inactive Status