BY ZANA RAYBON, FBPE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & FEMC PRESIDENT
For those licensed Professional Engineers who find themselves needing to obtain a license in a different jurisdiction, I would like to recommend setting up an NCEES Record.
Applicants with NCEES Records have a head start in applying for licensure. Their official academic transcripts, FE and PE exam results, full employment history, and professional references — all typically required by any state licensing board — will already be verified in their NCEES Record.
It eliminates the hassle of resubmitting all of that information each time you apply for comity licensure. It also saves time and simplifies the application process when you practice in multiple states. In Florida, licensure for applicants with an NCEES Record can take only seven to 10 business days, versus at least 30 days for those without it.
Another perk of having an NCEES Record is obtaining the model law designations — MLE (Model Law Engineer) and MLSE (Model Law Structural Engineer) — that indicate to state licensing boards that your education, experience, and examinations meet the NCEES Model Law requirements.
The NCEES Records program is designed for currently licensed engineers who are looking for an easier and faster way to complete the licensure process in multiple jurisdictions. It is also ideal for engineer interns who have never been licensed in any jurisdiction since most of the information is already in your NCEES account.
If you have an NCEES Record and are seeking licensure in Florida, you must complete only the first five of the 11 pages in Florida’s Application for Licensure as Professional Engineer and submit it along with the appropriate fee. Other state licensing boards may require additional information. However, using the NCEES Record does not guarantee licensure with any state board.
While there is no cost to set up the NCEES Record, there is a fee for transmitting your information to a licensing board. For the first transmittal of a comity or endorsement application, the fee is $175. Each subsequent transmittal is $75. If you are applying for an initial PE license (you have never been licensed before), the fee is $100.
For your education, you will fill in your high school and higher education information, but you must request transcripts from all institutions attended (even if it was for just one course). Transcripts must be sent directly to NCEES by the institution.
If you graduated from a non-ABET-accredited engineering program, you must have your education evaluated to demonstrate that it is substantially equivalent to the ABET degree requirements.
If you need a credentials evaluation, this section will automatically appear within your account. You’ll need to purchase an evaluation (the fee is $350) once all documentation has arrived at NCEES directly from the institution. Typical documentation for the evaluation will include the official transcript, degree verification, and course descriptions. All documentation must be sent directly to NCEES by the institution.
In Florida, non-ABET engineering and engineering technology or foreign degrees must be evaluated by either NCEES or Josef Silny & Associates before applying for your PE license.
Your NCEES Record will also contain your FE and PE exam results, which will have been verified by the licensing board in the state in which you took them.
Work experience is added in order from oldest employment to current. Work experience that you intend to have verified by someone should follow the NCEES guidelines in the Work Experience FAQs. The verifier must be able to receive an email from the NCEES system and respond accordingly.
When you submit your work experience, it will be reviewed by NCEES to ensure that the information provided is sufficient for most state boards. Once the supervisor signs off on work experience, it will show as complete.
Professional references are the final component of an NCEES Record. You need a total of five references to transmit your record. All five references must be current or signed off on within the past 12 months. At least three of the five references must be licensed engineers within the United States. Two can be anyone who can speak to your character as long as they are not related to you.
Florida requires only three references, but they all must be Professional Engineers.
You will be required to review and update your Record each time you transmit to a state licensing board. Some verifications are valid for a short period of time and should not be updated and re-verified until you are ready to transmit. Past work experience verifications do not expire. Current employment should not be verified until just before transmission. If your present employment has been verified within six months before transmission, it will not need to be re-verified to transmit.