Texas PE License Requirements: Exams, Application, and Seal

To get a Professional Engineer license in Texas, you need an engineering degree from an ABET-accredited program, passing scores on three exams (the FE, the discipline-specific PE, and the Texas ethics exam), at least four years of qualifying engineering experience, three reference statements from licensed PEs, and a complete application to the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (TBPELS). The Texas PE license requirements are strict about titles as well as practice: you cannot call yourself an engineer or offer engineering services in Texas without a license or a specific exemption.¹

Who Needs a License

Texas law reaches further than many states. You cannot practice engineering, take a fee for engineering work, or use the word “engineer” (or an abbreviation, symbol, or slogan that implies it) as a professional title without a license.¹ Any engineering plans, specifications, or reports for a Texas project must carry a licensed engineer’s seal. Practicing without a license is a Class A misdemeanor.²

There are exemptions. Employees and subordinates working under a licensed PE are covered as long as they don’t independently practice or hold themselves out as engineers, and the Occupations Code exempts certain employees of manufacturing or industrial companies performing engineering tasks solely for their employer’s internal operations. If your role sits near the edge of one of these exemptions, contact TBPELS before assuming you’re covered.

Education Requirements

The cleanest path is an undergraduate or graduate engineering degree from a program accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of ABET. That degree satisfies the education requirement with no further evaluation and puts you on the four-year experience track.³

If your degree isn’t from an ABET-accredited program, you’ll need a formal credential evaluation. Foreign degrees go through the NCEES Credentials Evaluations service, which produces a comparability report against NCEES engineering education criteria.⁴ Other non-accredited domestic programs need a course-by-course evaluation sent directly to TBPELS by a commercial evaluation service.⁵ Applicants without an ABET-accredited degree face an eight-year experience requirement instead of four, so the degree determines the total timeline, not just an admissibility box.⁶

The Three Required Exams

Texas requires three exams. Applicants coming from other states often expect only two.⁷

Fundamentals of Engineering (FE)

The FE is a computer-based NCEES exam given year-round at Pearson test centers, aimed at students finishing an engineering degree or recent graduates. The appointment runs six hours with five hours and twenty minutes of test time.⁸ Passing the FE gives you Engineer-in-Training (EIT) status, which is what you hold while you build your experience.

Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE)

The PE is the discipline-specific exam, also administered by NCEES, and is written for engineers with at least four years of post-college experience.⁹ You choose the discipline that matches your practice area.

Texas Professional Conduct and Ethics Exam

This is the Texas piece. It’s an open-book exam on the Texas Engineering Practice Act and the Board’s rules in the Texas Administrative Code, and you need at least 23 of 25 questions correct (92%) to pass.¹⁰ Open-book doesn’t mean easy: you can miss only two questions, so you need to know where the specific provisions live before you sit down.

Experience and References

You need at least four years of creditable engineering experience with an ABET-accredited degree, or eight years without. Creditable experience means applying engineering principles to solve technical problems: design, analysis, and system evaluation. Administrative work and routine tasks that don’t require engineering judgment don’t count.³

One point that surprises applicants: Texas does not require your experience to be gained under the direct supervision of a licensed PE. The Board recommends it, but it isn’t a legal requirement.³

You do need three confidential reference statements from currently licensed professional engineers. They review your experience record and give the Board their assessment of the quality of your work and your character. The referring PEs can be licensed in any jurisdiction, though non-Texas licensees must include proof of active licensure such as a current pocket card.³ Applicants seeking a PE exam waiver need five PE references instead of three.⁶

The Application Package

The application itself is where most delays happen. Every piece has to arrive from the right source and in the right form.

Official Transcripts

Your university sends official transcripts directly to TBPELS by mail or email. Transcripts forwarded by the applicant are not accepted.¹¹

Supplementary Experience Record

The Supplementary Experience Record (SER) is a first-person narrative describing every engineering engagement you’re claiming, including the specific tasks you performed, the calculations you made, and the decisions you reached.¹² The Board treats the SER as one of the most important parts of the file. Give each engagement enough detail to show engineering judgment, and leave out non-engineering duties; padding weakens the SER rather than strengthening it.

Criminal History Record Check

Every new applicant completes a Criminal History Record Check through fingerprinting. In Texas, you submit fingerprints electronically at an IdentoGO location. From out of state, you use a standard FD-258 ink card from a local law enforcement agency and mail it to IdentoGO. A specific TBPELS routing code must be used so the results reach the Board.¹³

Fee and Timeline

You submit through the TBPELS online portal and pay a non-refundable $75 application fee at submission.¹⁴ The portal is also where you invite your references. Average processing time is about eight weeks, but that depends heavily on how complete the file is when it arrives. Incomplete applications are the single biggest cause of delay, so run through the Board’s PE application checklist before you submit.¹⁵

Your Professional Seal

Once licensed, you must obtain a professional seal. Texas accepts rubber stamps, impression seals, and electronic seals, but each must match the Board-authorized design and be no larger than two inches in diameter. Your name and license number must be clearly legible, and the name has to match what’s on file with the Board. Titles like “Dr.” or “Col.” and the “P.E.” designation itself are not permitted on the seal, and preprinting blank forms with your seal or using decal replicas is prohibited. A noncompliant seal can trigger enforcement.¹⁶

Renewal and Continuing Education

A Texas PE license has to be renewed on schedule, and each renewal cycle requires 15 hours of continuing education, with at least one hour devoted to engineering ethics.¹⁷ Missing a renewal or falling short on continuing education can lapse the license and force you to stop practicing until you complete reinstatement. Track hours through the cycle rather than at the end of it.

Coming from Another State

Texas does not offer true reciprocity. If you hold a PE license elsewhere, you still submit a full application with the SER, ethics exam, transcripts, references, criminal history check, and fee. The Board does accept NCEES results from FE and PE exams passed in another state, so you won’t retake those.⁶

The useful shortcut is the NCEES Record. A current Record can substitute for your SER, official transcripts, PE references, and exam and license verifications, which removes most of the documentation burden. Engineers already licensed in another state may also qualify for a waiver of the PE exam, which requires a written waiver request and five PE references instead of three.⁶

1
Texas Public Law. Texas Occupations Code Section 1001.301 – License Required
2
Texas Public Law. Texas Occupations Code Section 1001.552 – Criminal Penalty
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Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Basic Licensure Requirements
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NCEES. Credentials Evaluations
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Texas Administrative Code. 22 Texas Administrative Code 133.33 – Proof of Educational Qualifications Non-Accredited Non-Approved Programs
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Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Licensing FAQs
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Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Engineering Exams
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NCEES. Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam
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National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying. Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Exam
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Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Texas Engineering Professional Conduct and Ethics Examination
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Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Engineer in Training (EIT)
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Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Instructions for Preparing the Supplementary Experience Record
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Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Criminal History Record Check FAQ
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Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. TBPELS Agency Fees
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Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. P.E. Application Checklist
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Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Seal Vendor Information
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Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. TBPELS Continuing Education Requirements