Pennsylvania Professional Engineer Renewal
Pennsylvania professional engineers complete 24 professional development hours during each biennial renewal period through education relevant to professional practice.
Authority: Pennsylvania State Registration Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors and Geologists | Reviewed: August 3, 2026
Complete 24 PDH every two years by September 30 of each odd-numbered year. Up to 12 excess hours may carry forward. Ethics and professional-law education qualify but are not separately required. Distance-learning credit must relate to professional practice and be verifiable and measurable by actual instructional time.
Core Requirement
| Requirement | Pennsylvania PE rule |
|---|---|
| Total education | Complete 24 PDH during each biennial renewal period. |
| Renewal date | Professional licenses expire September 30 of every odd-numbered year. |
| Relevant subjects | Education should maintain, improve, or expand previously obtained professional knowledge and skills or develop new and relevant professional knowledge. |
| Ethics and law | Ethics and professional-law subjects may qualify, but Pennsylvania does not prescribe a separate minimum number of ethics or law hours for professional engineers. |
| Carryover | Up to 12 excess PDH may carry into the immediately subsequent renewal period. The same credit cannot satisfy more than one biennium. |
| Course approval | The Board does not preapprove continuing education courses, activities, or providers and does not maintain an approved-course list. |
| Multiple licenses | A person holding more than one Board license must satisfy 24 PDH for each profession. An activity applicable to multiple licenses may be credited to each applicable license. |
Acceptable Activities
Pennsylvania recognizes multiple methods of maintaining or developing professional competence. A licensee may not claim more than one presentation of the same course or specific activity during a renewal period.
Distance Learning
Effective August 27, 2024, Pennsylvania law describes qualifying remote education as distance-learning courses that relate to professional practice and award PDH units that are verifiable and measurable by the actual hours of instruction.
The law does not impose a numerical limit on qualifying distance learning and does not expressly require a live instructor or use the phrase “timed and monitored.” Nevertheless, the provider and licensee should be able to document how the awarded hours correspond to actual instruction.
A PDH calculation should not be based solely on page count or successful completion of a short examination. Recorded presentations provide direct program-duration evidence. Text-based courses need a reasonable, documented instructional-time methodology supported by course content, learner participation, assessment, and completion records.
Exemptions and Special Situations
A newly licensed individual is exempt during the licensure period immediately following initial licensure and registration.
A licensee serving more than 120 consecutive days of temporary active duty in a year may be exempt from the hours required during that year.
A licensee may request an exemption for physical disability, illness, or another Board-approved extenuating circumstance. Supporting documentation and an explanation of why the exemption will not harm the public interest are required.
A licensee who certifies that professional practice has ended may request retired status. Returning to active practice requires the hours applicable to exempted years, subject to the statutory maximum.
Documentation and Audit
Each licensee must maintain records verifying completion for five years after the activity. During an audit, the Board may infer that an activity was not completed when the required documentation was not maintained.
An audited licensee must fully respond to each Board information request within 30 days or within another period stated in the request. A cited education deficiency must generally be corrected and documented within six months, in addition to any assessed civil penalty.
Official Sources