Requirements to become licensed as a Professional Engineer in Delaware (See Section 2817 of Delaware Professional Engineers' Act)

If you are NOT licensed in another state:

You must be qualified in three areas: Education, Experience and Examination.

Education: Applicants must have a bachelor's degree in engineering, engineering technology, or a science-related to engineering program. Otherwise, you are required to have 15 years of verifiable, acceptable engineering experience. Applicants with foreign education are required to submit an NCEES credentials evaluation.

Experience: Graduates from an ABET-accredited engineering educational program or an engineering educational program approved by an accrediting agency that is a signatory to the Washington Accord are required to have four (4) years of acceptable, verifiable engineering experience. All other graduates (non-ABET accredited engineering, engineering technology, or science-related to engineering programs) are required to have eight (8) years of acceptable, verifiable engineering experience.

The award of a Masters degree or PhD may each count towards one year experience credit as long as it is not achieved concurrent with work experience.

Experience must be verified by supervisors or work colleagues (applicants may not self-verify). Additionally, all applicants must provide 5 professional references, including at least 3 that are registered or licensed professional engineers in this or any other state or territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the province or territory of Canada or an IntPE registrant under the IEA.

Examination: All applicants are required to pass both the 6-hour Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination, and one of the 8-hour Principles & Practice of Engineering (PE) examinations (or both parts of the 16-hour Structural Engineering (SE) examinations), prepared by NCEES (National Council of Examiners for Engineering & Surveying). Specifications for each of these examinations are available at www.ncees.org. Examination fees are paid to NCEES. FE and PE exams are computer-based and offered year-round at Pearson VUE testing centers. NCEES is transitioning all SE exams to computer-based format.

Exemptions: If you have earned a PhD from an institution that had an ABET-accredited engineering bachelor's program, and that PhD required a qualifying exam, you may be eligible for a waiver of the Fundamentals of Engineering examination; or

If you have a Council-approved engineering baccalaureate degree and fifteen (15) years of experience you may be eligible for a waiver of the Fundamentals of Engineering examination.

Candidates interested in "Decoupling" the timing of their experience/examination should email office@dape.org for further information before applying.

If you ARE licensed in another state:

Upon application and payment of the required fees, Council may issue a license if:

The applicant's qualifications on the date of licensure would have satisfied the requirements for license in Delaware on that date;

OR

The qualifications of the applicant include a minimum of five (5) years of continuous and verifiable experience as a Professional Engineer, obtained in a state, territory, or possession of the U.S., D.C., or a province or territory of Canada. And, the applicant has not been the subject of any disciplinary action in a licensing jurisdiction.

NOTE: If your firm is planning to offer or provide engineering services in Delaware, the firm will need a Certificate of Authorization (COA). To avoid delays, the COA application can be submitted at the same time as your PE application if you are licensed in another jurisdiction already. When your PE application is ready for review, the COA application will also be reviewed.