Civil Engineer vs Mechanical Engineer (2026)

Licensure is not required for entry-level civil engineering jobs, and plenty of civil engineers work for years without it. But civil is the discipline where the Professional Engineer licence matters most in practice: civil engineers typically must be licensed if they provide services directly to the public, and only a PE may oversee the work of other engineers, approve design plans and sign off on projects. The licence is granted by a state board, not by NCEES and not nationally; NCEES writes the exams, ABET accredits the degree, and a state board decides whether you get the licence.

Typical entry education (BLS)

Bachelor's degree

Typical program length

About 8 years to a PE licence: 4 years of accredited degree plus about 4 years of qualifying experience

Realistic range

Licensure is not required for entry-level jobs, so the working career starts at four years. The PE adds roughly four more years of verifiable progressive experience under supervision, and considerably longer if your degree is not from an accredited engineering program.

Accreditation: EAC/ABET

ABET accredits programs, not institutions, and does not itself license anyone. Its relevance is that where engineering licensure is regulated at state level, graduation from an ABET-accredited program is almost universally required to validate an applicant's education, and in states that do license non-ABET graduates an additional four to eight years of work experience may be required instead.

Exam: FE

The first exam on the path to a PE, designed for students close to finishing or recent graduates of an EAC/ABET-accredited program. Computer-based, year round, 110 questions in a six-hour appointment that includes a two-minute nondisclosure agreement, an eight-minute tutorial, five hours and 20 minutes of exam and a 25-minute scheduled break. $225 paid directly to NCEES. Seven discipline versions exist, of which FE Civil is the one to take.

Exam: PE Civil

Tests for a minimum level of competency in the discipline and is designed for engineers with a minimum of four years of post-college work experience. Computer-based and offered year round, 80 questions in a nine-hour appointment, $400 paid to NCEES. Split into five depth exams: Construction, Geotechnical, Structural, Transportation, and Water Resources and Environmental. NCEES provides the reference handbook and all specified design standards electronically during the exam and permits no personal copies of any material in the room.

Governing body: NCEES

Develops and administers the FE and PE exams used for engineering licensure across the country, and is a council of the 69 state and territorial licensing boards rather than a licensing body itself. It states the common path as a bachelor's degree from an EAC/ABET-accredited program, the FE exam, four years of acceptable progressive verifiable work experience in most states, and the PE exam, while noting many states provide additional paths.

Governing body: State engineering licensing boards

Grant the licence. They set eligibility, decide what experience counts, may require a separate application and fee before you can sit an NCEES exam, and issue the seal. NCEES publishes a directory of all 69 member boards.

Licensed state by state

Each state issues its own licences and NCEES's members are the 69 engineering and surveying licensing boards of the states, District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. NCEES writes and administers the exams; the state board grants the licence and sets the exact experience, education and application requirements, and many states provide additional paths beyond the common one. Some states require continuing education to keep the licence. Most recognise licensure from other states where requirements meet or exceed their own. States also define what the seal does: Texas requires a licence holder's seal on any plan, specification, plat or report issued for a project to be constructed or used in the state, and bars a public official responsible for enforcing laws affecting engineering practice from accepting such a document unless it bears an engineer's seal.

Keeping the credential

Set by each state. BLS records that some states require continuing education for engineers to keep their licences and others do not, so this is a question for your own board rather than one with a national answer.

Most mechanical engineers never need a licence and never get one, because the work happens inside companies designing products rather than offering services to the public. BLS is blunt about both halves of this: licensure is not required for entry-level positions as a mechanical engineer, and mechanical engineers who sell services publicly must be licensed in all states and the District of Columbia. A PE can oversee the work of other engineers, sign off on projects and provide services directly to the public, and it is a state board that grants it.

Typical entry education (BLS)

Bachelor's degree

Typical program length

4 years to start working; about 8 years to a PE if you want one

Realistic range

Licensure is not required for entry-level positions, so a mechanical engineer can work an entire career without one. The PE route adds the FE exam after graduation, typically at least four years of relevant experience, and the PE exam.

Accreditation: EAC/ABET

A degree from an accredited program is usually necessary to become a licensed professional engineer. Where non-ABET graduates can be licensed at all, an additional four to eight years of work experience may be required instead, which is the practical reason to care about accreditation even if you never intend to seek a licence.

Exam: FE

Generally the first step towards licensure, designed for students close to finishing or recent graduates of an EAC/ABET-accredited program. Computer-based, year round, 110 questions in a six-hour appointment, $225 paid directly to NCEES. Take FE Mechanical.

Exam: PE Mechanical

Designed for engineers with a minimum of four years of post-college work experience in the discipline. Computer-based and offered year round, 80 questions in a nine-hour appointment (eight hours of exam plus a 50-minute scheduled break), $400 paid to NCEES. Choose one of HVAC and Refrigeration, Machine Design and Materials, or Thermal and Fluid Systems. NCEES supplies an electronic reference handbook and all specified design standards during the exam and allows no personal materials in the room.

Governing body: NCEES

Writes and administers the FE and PE exams and offers more than 20 different PE exams across disciplines. It is a council of the 69 state and territorial engineering and surveying licensing boards; it does not issue licences.

Governing body: State engineering licensing boards

Grant the licence, define who must hold one, and write the exemptions that let most mechanical engineers work without one. Some boards require a separate application and fee to qualify you for a seat at an NCEES exam.

Licensed state by state

Each state issues its own licences and sets its own requirements; NCEES writes the exams but the board grants the licence. Two things vary in ways that matter. First, continuing education: several states require engineers to take continuing education to renew their licences every year and others do not. Second, and more consequential for mechanical engineers, the scope of the exemption for employees of manufacturers. Texas construes its Act as not applying to the activities of a private corporation or its full-time employees in connection with the research, development, design, fabrication, production, assembly, integration or service of products manufactured by that entity, and separately exempts most employees of privately owned or cooperative utilities who do not have final authority over designs incorporated into fixed works on the property of others or made available to the public. Anyone who claims such an exemption while representing themselves as legally qualified to practise engineering loses the right to claim it for ten years. Most states recognise licensure from other states where requirements meet or exceed their own.

Keeping the credential

Several states require engineers to take continuing education to renew their licences every year; others do not. Check your own board.