Alabama Professional Engineer Renewal
Alabama professional engineers generally complete 30 professional development hours during each biennial renewal period. Courses must maintain, improve, or expand knowledge and skills relevant to professional engineering.
Complete 30 qualifying PDH per biennial renewal period. Alabama permits up to 15 PDH of carryover, accepts online courses that require evidence of completion, and requires licensees to retain supporting records for four years.
Core Requirement
| Requirement | Alabama PE rule |
|---|---|
| Total education | 30 PDH during a biennial renewal period. The rule also describes the equivalent as 15 PDH for an annual renewal period. |
| Renewal expiration | Individual licenses expire December 31 of the specified renewal year unless timely renewed. |
| Carryover | Up to 15 qualifying PDH may be carried into the next renewal period. |
| Required PE subjects | No separate ethics, Alabama-law, or other subject allocation was identified for PE-only renewal. Education must be relevant to engineering and may include technical, ethical, or managerial content. |
| Provider approval | The Board does not preapprove or endorse CPC activities. The licensee must determine whether the activity satisfies Rule 330-X-13-.02. |
| Other-state compliance | Meeting the continuing-education requirement of a home state does not replace Alabama’s requirement. Alabama licensees must meet Alabama’s 30-PDH rule. |
Qualifying Education
Every claimed activity must be relevant to professional engineering and educational in nature. Regular job duties are not qualifying activities.
Online and Self-Paced Courses
Alabama allows correspondence, video, audio, and online courses when the course requires the participant to demonstrate evidence of completion. A structured course with defined educational content and completion documentation is different from unverified personal reading or informal self-study.
Online-PDH courses provide course materials, a completion assessment, assigned PDH value, and a downloadable certificate. The licensee should still confirm that the selected subject is relevant to the licensee’s professional practice.
Exceptions and Status Changes
The rule identifies limited circumstances involving qualifying active military duty, qualifying work assignment outside the United States, serious illness or injury supported by documentation, and an inactive licensee who certifies that the licensee is not practicing.
A new Alabama licensee is awarded 30 PDH toward the first renewal. The Board’s FAQ describes this as the first-renewal exemption.
The Alabama Board states that it does not provide a continuing-education exemption based solely on age.
Reactivation or reinstatement can require additional PDH and supporting documentation. Confirm the amount directly with the Board before resuming practice.
Documentation and Enforcement
The licensee is responsible for maintaining documents from the sponsoring organization showing course completion or presentation, or completion certificates showing the PDH earned. Alabama requires these records to be retained for four years.
The Board conducts random audits. If selected, the licensee must provide the requested documentation. If claimed credit is disallowed, the licensee must substantiate the original claim or earn replacement credit sufficient to meet the requirement.
Official Sources