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Changjiang Zhou, PE. Senior Structural Engineer at BMC Engineering LLC. Senior Licensed Structural Engineering Professional II. Skidmore Owings.
(SE) Licensure ExplainedEngineering professionals of all disciplines (electrical, civil, mechanical, structural, etc) in the United States are charged with “protecting the safety, health and welfare of the general public.” Because of this responsibility, all 50 states currently require a PE licensure to practice engineering within their geographic bounds. In the last decade, there has been a movement across the nation to better the life safety of our structures by requiring a separate licensure for structural engineers.Practicing structural engineering carries an inherently large risk. A failure in a structural system, as evidenced by the recent parking deck failures at South Park Mall and 6100 Fairview, can result in fatalities and incur substantial rehabilitation costs. Over the years, engineers and code officials have learned from these failures and implemented more rigorous structural design procedures.Advances in understanding the impact of natural forces on buildings have also led to more complicated requirements for structural analysis.
The failures of buildings due to earthquakes (i.e. California Northridge earthquake, 1994 and Japan’s Kobe earthquake, 1995), hurricanes, and tornados have resulted in new approaches on how we design buildings to respond to seismic and wind events. Engineers now incorporate these lessons learned in the design of structures to prevent catastrophic failures under extreme events; some structures such as hospitals and police and fire stations must remain operational even after an event.Due to the risk involved and the increased complexity of structural design requirements, ten states (see attached table) have begun to recognize structural engineers separately from professional engineers and increase their licensing requirements. Because each state has its own licensing board, there is a large variation in the requirements to obtain an SE license and the significance an SE license carries.
An effort is underway to develop a national SE certification, but is years away from being implemented.StateLicensing RequirementsLicense ProvisionsCaliforniaPassing NCEES PE & SEII Exams, CA state Civil & Seismic Exams (29hrs)Requires SE license for schools and hospitals.