Delaware Professional Engineer Renewal
Delaware professional engineers generally complete 24 professional development hours during each biennial renewal period, including a defined ethics range and limits on business or project-management credit.
Complete 24 PDH per biennium: 2–6 ethics PDH, no more than 9 business or project-management PDH, and the remaining hours in the licensee’s technical area of practice. Carryover is not permitted.
Core Requirement
| Requirement | Delaware PE rule |
|---|---|
| Total education | 24 PDH during each biennial renewal period, equivalent to 12 PDH per year but earnable at any time within the period. |
| Professional ethics | At least 2 and no more than 6 of the 24 PDH must relate to professional engineering ethics. |
| Business or project management | No more than 9 PDH may be claimed. Business hours are optional, not mandatory. |
| Technical practice | The remaining hours must relate to the licensee’s area of technical engineering practice. |
| Carryover | Not allowed. Excess PDH from one biennium cannot satisfy a later renewal period. |
| Course approval | DAPE does not preapprove courses or providers and has final authority over acceptance and assigned PDH value. |
Qualifying Education
A qualifying course, seminar, or activity must have a clear objective and maintain, improve, or expand skills and knowledge relevant to professional engineering practice. Regular job duties do not qualify.
Distance Education
Delaware expressly recognizes qualifying short courses, tutorials, and distance-education courses offered through correspondence, television, recorded media, or the Internet. The guidelines do not establish a general numerical cap on online PDH.
The course must still fit the ethics, business, or technical category claimed and must generate documentation sufficient to prove participation or completion.
Exemptions and Nonresident Licenses
A new licensee obtaining Delaware licensure by examination is exempt for the first renewal period.
A new comity licensee is responsible for one PDH for each month that has elapsed since the Delaware license was issued.
Qualifying temporary active duty exceeding 120 consecutive days can create an exemption. Disability, illness, or another extenuating circumstance may support a Council-approved exemption or extension with documentation.
Inactive and retired licensees are exempt while in that status. An inactive licensee must satisfy applicable PDH before returning to active engineering practice.
Documentation and Audit
Licensees must maintain a categorized activity log and documentation proving attendance or participation. A log by itself is insufficient. Conference programs and receipts alone are also insufficient proof of attendance.
DAPE accepts a log and supporting documentation through the NCEES CPC Tracking Tool. Records must remain in the licensee’s possession in electronic or paper form and be available to DAPE upon request.
Official Sources