In the United States, each state individually regulates the whole process of licensure of engineers and engineering practice in the state overall. Professional licensure guarantees that engineers practice in a way that protects the interest of public health and safety. To become a licensed professional engineer is to earn your clients’ and employer’s trust as a specialist.
Requirements for licensure are different for each state, so if you are in the state of Alabama and you wish to reach the level of a PE, or you need to search for the credentials of a professional engineer, continue reading this article. When making this license lookup tool, we tried to sum up everything you need to know to arrange the whole procedure of licensure.
In the State of Alabama, engineers are licensed at the state level by the Alabama Board for Engineers and Land Surveyors. The Board’s main mission is to review the applications of the engineers, to administer the licensing examination following state-specific rules, and to regulate the engineering practice of the PEs.
Being a professional engineer means taking another level of responsibility for public safety and health. When you are licensed, you can own an engineering company. You can sign and seal engineering plans and drawings, moreover, you can work as an expert and consultant in engineering. We know it is not an easy process, but we guarantee it is worth it.
According to the State regulatory agency, such as the Alabama Board for Engineers, you can practice engineering in Alabama without being licensed and becoming a professional engineer. At the same time, this will put some restrictions on your practice: you will not be able to own or establish an engineering firm, you can’t seal or sign engineering drawings or plans in the state. You can’t act as an expert and call yourself a consultant.
There are several ways you can become a certified professional engineer in Alabama. Here we describe in detail what you will need to do to get licensed as an engineer in Alabama.
As an educational background, you need to hold an Engineering Degree from an ABET-accredited university after studying for four years. After finishing university, you will need to gain experience for four years. Only after this, you will be able to sit for exams to apply for a license. The first exam is the Fundamentals of Engineering, and the other is the Principles and Practice of Engineering. When you pass the exams with a good score, you can apply to the Alabama Board for Engineers to get licensed.
Another procedure can be completed to get a license: if you have already completed a four-year program at an unaccredited university in Alabama and you hold a Bachelor’s degree in engineering, you will need to gain experience practicing engineering for six years. When you are done, you can apply to take two exams: the Fundamentals of Engineering and the Principles and Practice of Engineering. When you complete these exams with a passing score, you are ready to apply for licensure to the Board for Engineers in Alabama.
The third way you can go to become a PE is here: if you have studied in the university for four years and hold a degree in a related science (math or physics), and you have a Master’s degree from an ABET-accredited university or college, you need a six-year experience in engineering. After this, you can apply to take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) and the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) exams. To continue, you apply for your license to the Alabama Board for Engineers.
If you have studied TAC Engineering Technology for four years and hold an ABET-accredited Master’s degree in Engineering, you have to gain experience in engineering for six years. After that, you will pass the PE and FE exams, and if you get a passing score, you can then apply for licensure to the Board for Engineers in Alabama.
If you are dealing with a professional engineer in Alabama, it is always good to search for his credentials to know if his license is up to date and to get some more data on his practice history as a specialist. That’s why we have made this search tool: just enter the details of an engineer and get the information you need.