Professional Engineer

§ 2817. Requirements for registration.

The following requirements shall be considered as the minimum satisfactory evidence that an applicant is qualified for registration as a professional engineer:

1. Graduates from engineering curriculum approved by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) or from an ABET recognized foreign accreditation agency approved curriculum.
   
   
   1. Graduation with a baccalaureate degree from an engineering curriculum accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) or by a foreign curriculum accreditation agency adjudged by ABET to use substantially equivalent accreditation procedures; and
      
      
   2. Professional experience in engineering work of a character satisfactory to the Council in the amount of 4 years or more, such experience indicating that the applicant is competent to practice as a professional engineer; and
      
      
   3. Successful passing of a written examination totaling 16 hours and meeting the additional requirements of §2817(5).
      
      
2. Graduates from non-ABET-accredited engineering, engineering technology or science related to engineering curricula
   
   
   1. Graduation with a baccalaureate degree from a Council approved 4 year curriculum in engineering that is not ABET accredited, in engineering technology or in science related to engineering; and
      
   2. Professional experience in engineering work of a character satisfactory to the Council in the amount of 8 years or more, such experience indicating that the applicant is competent to practice as a professional engineer; and
      
      
   3. Successful passing of written examinations totaling 16 hours, and meeting the additional requirements of §2817(5).
      
      
3. Engineering Experience and Examination.
   
   
   1. Professional experience in engineering work of a character satisfactory to the Council, consisting of 20 years or more of lawful practice and indicating that the applicant is competent to practice as a professional engineer; and
      
      
   2. Successful passing of written examinations totaling 16 hours and meeting the additional requirements of §2817(5); and
      
      
   3. Age of 45 years of more
      
      
4. Comity.
   
   
   1. The Council may, upon application and payment of the required fee and without further examination, issue registration as a professional engineer to any person holding a valid certificate of registration as a professional engineer issued to that person by a proper authority of a state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or a province or territory of Canada, provided the applicant's qualifications meet at least one of the following:
      
      
      1. The professional engineering qualifications of the applicant on the effective date of such certificate of registration would have satisfied the requirements for registration in this State on that date.
         
         
      2. The professional engineering qualifications of the applicant at any time subsequent to the effective date of such certificate of registration would have satisfied the requirements for registration in this State in effect at that time. A personal interview may be required by Council to ascertain the facts in the case.
         
         
      3. The professional engineering qualifications of the applicant include successful passing of written examinations totaling 16 hours, meeting the additional requirements of subsection (5), & section 2817, of this Title, and having a minimum of 10 years of professional experience in engineering work of a character satisfactory to the Council, such experience indicating that the applicant is competent to practice as an engineer. Such experience shall have been obtained in states, territories or possessions of the United States, the District of Columbia, or provinces or territories of Canada, and at least 8 years of it shall have been obtained after the applicant has received the said valid certificate of registration.
         
         
      4. The professional engineering qualifications of the applicant include a minimum of 10 years of continuous and verifiable professional experience in engineering work of a character satisfactory to Council. Such experience shall have been obtained in a state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or a province or territory of Canada. The applicant must meet the additional requirements of subsections (5)a and (7) and must not have been subject to disciplinary action in the current or previous licensing jurisdictions.
         
         
   2. A person holding a valid certificate of registration record issued by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, whose qualifications meet the requirements of this chapter, may be registered by Council as a professional engineer upon receipt from the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying of a certified copy of such registration together with the usual application form and fee from the applicant.
      
      
   3. If the person who has been registered in Delaware pursuant to paragraph a. or b. of this subdivision has his license to practice revoked in the state in which the person was registered at the time registration in Delaware through comity was sought, then the authorization issued in Delaware shall be automatically revoked following 30 days` written notice from the Council unless the person makes application to the Council for consideration for retaining the Delaware authorization and the Council acts favorably on such application.
      
      
5. Additional Requirements.
   
   
   1. Every applicant shall give not less than 5 references, people who state that in their opinion and by their personal knowledge the applicant is qualified to practice as a professional engineer. At least 3 such references shall be registered professional engineers in this or any other state, territory or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the province or territory of Canada.
      
      
   2. An applicant, otherwise qualified, shall not be required to be actively practicing his profession at the time of his application.
      
      
   3. The required 16-hour written examinations shall consist of an 8-hour Fundamentals of Engineering examination and an 8-hour Principles and Practice of Engineering examination furnished by, and scored by, the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying.
      
      
   4. The examination in the Fundamentals of Engineering shall be taken after graduation, except it may be taken by a college or university senior in good academic standing in a curriculum leading to a baccalaureate degree in engineering, related science or engineering technology. The Council may permit other students in such curricula to take the Fundamentals of Engineering examination prior to graduation.
      
      
   5. The examination in Principles and Practice of Engineering shall not be taken until after the completion of the professional experience requirement. The Council may waive this requirement in the case of an applicant who has previously passed the examination in any other state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or province or territory of Canada.
      
      
6. Applicants for registration as a professional engineer shall be exempt from the requirement to pass the written 8 hour Fundamentals of Engineering Examination, if they are qualified as follows:
   
   
   1. An individual holding an earned doctoral degree in engineering from a university, which had an ABET accredited undergraduate program in that discipline at the time that individual earned his/her doctoral degree, providing that doctoral degree required the passing of a Ph.D. qualifying examination from that university; or,
      
   2. An individual holding a baccalaureate degree from a Council-approved 4 year engineering curriculum, who has at least twenty (20) years of professional experience in the lawful practice of engineering of a character satisfactory to the Council, and which indicates that the applicant is competent to practice as a professional engineer.
      
      
7. The Council may refuse an applicant for registration if the Council finds that the applicant has:
   
   
   1. Been convicted of a felony; or
   2. Misstated or misrepresented a fact in connection with his or her application; or
   3. Been found guilty of a violation of the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers' Code of Ethics; or,
   4. Engaged in the practice of engineering in this State without being registered as a professional engineer.
   5. Used improper means to gain information usable by the applicant on or in connection with a written examination taken by the applicant to obtain registration as a professional engineer or certification as an Engineer Intern.
      
      
8. Where an application of a person has been refused or rejected, and such applicant feels that the Council has acted without justification, has imposed higher or different standards for him or her than for other applicants, or has in some other manner contributed to or caused the failure of such application, the applicant may appeal to the Superior Court.

§ 2818. Experience and Educational Equivalence

1. The experience of a full-time faculty member teaching advanced engineering subjects in an ABET-accredited, or CEAB- accredited engineering curriculum may be accepted as part of the professional experience specified in § 28l7(1) or (2) of this title.
   
   
2. The award of a master's degree in engineering involving l year or more of post graduate study in an engineering curriculum approved by the Council may be accepted as l year of professional experience required in §2817 of this title; or
   
   
3. The award of a doctor's degree in science or philosophy, with or without a master's degree, involving full-time post-graduate study in an engineering curriculum approved by the Council may be accepted as two years of professional experience required in §2817 of this Chapter.

www.dape.org

Margaret Abshagen
Executive Director
2005 Concorde Pike
Wilmington, Delaware 19803
302-577-6500
peggy@dape.org

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