What are the PE license basics in Texas, California, Florida, and New York?

Each state or territory board grants its own PE license, so there is no nationwide license covering Texas, California, Florida, and New York. Texas charges $15 for EIT certification and lets EITs take the PE exam before the four years of experience required for licensure. California adds two state exams for civil licensure. Florida requires an ABET-accredited degree and a passed FE before the PE, with no experience required to sit, and New York requires board approval before the PE.

Why your state sets the PE rules

NCEES describes licensure through education, experience, and exams. The most common path is an EAC/ABET bachelor’s degree, the FE exam, about four years of progressive experience the board accepts, and the PE exam, though many states keep additional paths. The license still comes from a state or territory board, so Texas, California, Florida, and New York do not share one set of filing rules.

For the full experience picture, see how much experience you need before the PE exam. Use the board that would grant your license for any filing, since the comparison below is only a starting point taken from those boards’ pages.

What Texas requires for the EIT and the PE

You can register for the FE exam with NCEES without a Texas application or an extra fee. EIT certification comes later, through a separate filing with the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, which asks applicants not to apply until the degree is conferred. A Texas EIT has graduated from a board-approved engineering or related science program, passed the FE, and applied on the board’s EIT form with a $15 fee, as described on the board’s engineer in training certification page. EIT or EI certification explains what that intern credential means from one board to another.

Since May 2, 2016, Texas has decoupled the PE exam from the experience requirement, so EITs may take the PE exam before earning the four years of experience required for licensure. Those four years still count toward licensure itself. On the board’s decoupling page, Texas EITs who have not taken a PE exam before are approved automatically.

NCEES requires new applications for NCEES exam approval to reach the Texas board at least 90 days before the exam date.

What California requires for a PE license

California does not require an application or an extra fee before you register for the FE. After you pass, you apply to the California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists for engineer-in-training certification.

The board licenses engineers under three kinds of authority. Practice acts are the license path for Civil, Electrical, and Mechanical engineering. Title acts name a different set of disciplines: Chemical engineering, Agricultural engineering, Traffic engineering, Petroleum engineering, Nuclear engineering, Metallurgical engineering, Industrial engineering, Fire Protection, and Control Systems. Structural engineering and Geotechnical engineering use title authorities instead. Use the board’s professional engineer application page to match your discipline to the right authority.

Civil engineering follows an extra sequence: the board tells applicants not to apply for licensure until they have passed the FE and the PE Civil and meet the qualifying experience requirements. Civil applicants, including comity applicants seeking a California license based on a license from another board, must also pass Civil Seismic Principles and Civil Engineering Surveying. The board offers both exams every quarter, and you become eligible once your licensure application is approved in technical review. Read the California civil seismic and surveying exams beside the board’s page on applying for licensure as a civil engineer.

What Florida requires for the EI and the PE

Florida does not require an application before you register for the FE with NCEES. After you earn a bachelor’s degree and pass the FE, you can apply to the Florida Board of Professional Engineers for Engineer Intern certification, and the board treats that same combination as making you eligible to take the PE.

The board’s engineering exams page states the conditions for taking the PE: an ABET-accredited degree and a passed FE, with no experience required to sit. The same page notes that NCEES data show first-time examinees with at least four years of experience are more likely to pass, though that note describes pass patterns rather than a sitting requirement; the rule for sitting stays the ABET-accredited degree and the FE.

What New York requires before the FE and the PE

Students and graduates of EAC/ABET engineering bachelor’s programs, and of ETAC/ABET engineering technology bachelor’s programs, can register for the FE with NCEES directly. Everyone else applies first to the New York State Board for Engineering, Land Surveying and Geology, where the application fee is $70.

For the PE, every New York examinee applies to the board and receives approval before sitting, since direct FE registration, where your program allows it, does not approve you for the PE. How you apply for the PE exam describes the general application sequence; in New York, factor in the board’s approval before you treat a PE date as open.

How to confirm the rule with your board

A form or a fee on a board site can change after a summary is written. Match your own record to the board that would grant the license, then verify the live page.

1. Name the board that would issue the license you want.
2. Place your degree in that board’s categories: EAC/ABET, ETAC/ABET, board-approved engineering, related science, or a program outside those groups.
3. Read the FE instructions and the PE instructions as separate checks. In these four states, approval for one exam does not automatically approve the other.
4. Contact the board if your degree, experience, or existing license does not match a category on the page.

Your licensing board decides whether you qualify. Use the links above to reach the page that states the rule, and confirm it there before you pay or schedule.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get a PE license in one state and work in another?

Each board grants its own license, and a license from one state does not automatically authorize practice in another. California still requires civil comity applicants to pass Civil Seismic Principles and Civil Engineering Surveying, even applicants who already hold a license from another board. Contact the board in the state where you want to work and ask how it treats the license you already hold.

Which state is easiest for the PE?

These boards do not publish a ranking of the easiest state for the PE. Texas lets EITs take the PE before the four years of experience required for licensure. Florida lets you sit with an ABET-accredited degree and a passed FE, requires no experience to sit, and notes that first-time examinees with at least four years of experience are more likely to pass. California adds two quarterly civil exams, and New York requires board approval before the PE.

Do I need California's extra exams for a civil license?

Yes. Civil engineering applicants in California, including comity applicants, must pass Civil Seismic Principles and Civil Engineering Surveying. The board offers both exams every quarter, and you become eligible once your licensure application is approved in technical review. It also tells civil applicants not to apply for licensure until they have passed the FE and the PE Civil and meet the qualifying experience requirements.

Can I register for the FE before the state board approves me?

Texas and California do not require a board application or an extra fee before you register for the FE with NCEES, and Florida does not require an application before FE registration either. In New York, students and graduates of EAC/ABET engineering bachelor’s programs and ETAC/ABET engineering technology bachelor’s programs can register directly; everyone else applies to the New York board first and pays $70.

Does Florida require four years of experience before the PE exam?

Florida does not require experience before you sit for the PE. You do need an ABET-accredited degree and a passed FE. The board separately notes that NCEES data show first-time examinees with at least four years of experience are more likely to pass, but that reflects pass patterns rather than an eligibility rule.

Sources

1. Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
2. Texas board: Certification of Engineer in Training (EIT). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
3. Texas board: Decoupling of PE exam and experience requirement. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
4. California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
5. California board: Professional Engineer application. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
6. California board: Applying for licensure as a civil engineer. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
7. Florida Board of Professional Engineers. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
8. Florida board: Engineering exams. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
9. New York State Board for Engineering, Land Surveying and Geology (Office of the Professions). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
10. NCEES: FE exam. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
11. NCEES: International professionals. Retrieved October 3, 2026.