Minnesota PE License Renewal

Professional engineers in Minnesota must renew their license on June 30th of even numbered years (biennially). The Board requires engineers to submit a renewal form along with verification they have completed the requisite 24 PDH continuing education courses, including 2 hours in Ethics. The completed renewal form, $180 fee and all other required documentation must be mailed to the Minnesota State Board. Minnesota does not have an online renewal process and payments must be by either check or money order.

The Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience, and Interior Design

In Minnesota, the Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience, and Interior Design, also known as AELSLAGID, regulates the profession of engineering.

The Board is comprised of an Executive Committee that includes a Board Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer, and Immediate Past Chair. The Board also includes five Professional Engineer members, three Architect members, two Land Surveyor members, two Landscape Architect members, one Professional Geologist member, one Professional Soil Scientist member, two Certified Interior Designer members, and five public members.

The permanent mailing address for the Board is:

Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience and Interior Design (AELSLAGID)
85 E. 7th Place Suite 160
St. Paul MN 55101

Rules and Regulations Governing Engineering in Minnesota

The State statutes governing the practice of engineering in Minnesota are Chapter 1800 and MN Statute 326.

License Renewal Process for MN Engineers

The professional engineer license renewal process for Minnesota engineers is very straightforward. The Board lists all of the requirements on their website with detailed explanations of each step and links to the required forms.

ALL professional engineering licenses and certificates expire on June 30 of even numbered years. This date applies to everyone, regardless of when in the biennium the individual license was issued (MN Statute 326.10 Subd. 8).

The Board does not provide a grace period for license or certificate expiration. It is extremely important that you provide all of the required information, completed forms, and fees before this date to keep your license current.

Here is the step-by-step process for renewing a professional engineering license in Minnesota.

• Complete the license renewal form (link). The Board recommends that you save the form to your computer, and complete if offline rather than using your web browser.
• You will need the required continuing education information for the biennial renewal period. Any carryover from the last renewal will be displayed automatically once you log in. You must have completed 2 hours of ethics courses during the biennial renewal cycle.
• Fees can be paid by either check or money order. Cash and credit cards are not accepted. Payment must be sent in with the renewal form. The current fee for PE license renewal is $180. If you renew late, there is a $60 late fee.
• The Board requires you to mail the form and payment along with any other documents to the Board office.

Reinstating an Expired Engineering License in Minnesota

If your professional engineering license expires or lapses, you must renew it before you can practice in the state. The Board requests that licensees send an email to: leama.sather@state.mn.us requesting reinstatement. The Board will send instructions explaining the reinstatement process.

Once the Board has reviewed your request for reinstatement, they will send you

1. a reinstatement form
2. required fees
3. continuing education requirements

Reinstatement requirements are codified in MN Statute 326.10 Subd.9.

How to Check the Status of Your PE License

To check the status of their PE license or certificate, have PE renewal questions answered or if their PE license or certificate expired on or before June 30, 2016, PEs need to send an email to leama.sather@state.mn.us to request reinstatement instructions. Once the request has been received, the Board will send a customized reinstatement form with the PEs continuing education requirements and fees.

Change of Address for MN Engineers

Professional engineers in Minnesota are required to notify the Board of a change of address within 30 days. This is a statutory requirement (MN Rule 1800.0120). It is important to keep your address up to date because the Board sends renewal and other important notices to you via US mail.

Change of Name for Minnesota Engineers

State law requires a professional engineer to notify the board of a legal name change within 30 days of any change in name. This must be done in writing. You can email the board or submit the change via US Postal service.

Retirement for Engineers in Minnesota

Retired engineers who don’t wish to have their PE license renewed, but would like their name listed as ‘retired’ on the Board’s roster rather than “expired”, should send an email to leama.sather@state.mn.us requesting that change be made. Engineers can continue to use the Professional Engineer title with the term ‘Retired’ preceding it. However, they cannot legally practice engineering or provide any type of engineering services that requires a current PE license.

Continuing Education (CE) Requirements

To renewing their PE license, engineers must meet the state-mandated Continuing Education (CE) requirements. PE licensees or certificate holders doing their biennial renewal for the first time are automatically exempt from doing CE reporting. Engineers interested in requesting a CE exemption have to request it prior to beginning the renewal process. If the exemption has been approved, the engineers must include the board’s “Letter of Acceptance” along with their renewal form and any other required documents in the renewal package they send in.

General Information on PE Continuing Education Classes

The State Board doesn’t list specific continuing education activities or programs that are available for engineers to fulfill their required continuing education (CE) or professional development hours (PDH) to complete their CE requirement for PE license renewal.

Basic Requirements for CE

To renew their licenses PE license or certificate holders must complete 24 hours of continuing education classes. Professional ethics classes must make up two of those hours. Licensed professional engineers must earn the ethics hours during the proper time period and they may not be carried forward from an earlier period. Licensed PEs generally have to satisfy the continuing education requirements during the two-year period before the biennial renewal. However, there are some rare cases when there is some permitted carryover.

Continuing Education Carryover Hours

Carryover of PDH from the prior renewal period as general PDH credits is permitted for certain types of PDH. However, carryover is limited to only 12 hours or 50% of the requisite biennial requirement of PDH. All of the carryover is considered to be “general” PDH. The professional ethics hours cannot be carried over. They have to be earned during the biennium they are being applied to in order to meet the state-mandated requirement. Even if a licensed PE earned four hours of professional ethics training in a prior renewal period, the two extra hour can only be carried over as “general hours”.

Continuing Education Tools and Forms

Licensed professional engineers have access to an optional tool to help determine what meets the continuing education statutory requirements. The optional tool can be used to make an accurate tally of the number of PDH the engineer has during the reporting period. It should be kept as part of the continuing education record. The PE can also have an optional checklist that can be used for helping keep track of the documentation the PE need to retain.

Exemption Request Form

This is a required form a licensed PE needs if they want to request a continuing education requirement exemption due to illness, injury, military service, or any other extenuating circumstance. Supporting documentation must also be provided when the exemption request form is filed.

Exceptions for CE Requirements

There are several acceptable reasons a licensed PE can be exempt from continuing education reporting. Three of them are:

1. Dual Licensure
2. New Licensee
3. Hardship

Dual Licensure Continuing Education

Professional engineers who hold dual licenses or certificates have to meet the exact same CE requirements as licensed PEs with a single license or certificate with the following exception. PEs who have dual licensure must obtain a minimum of one-third the total PDH each profession requires. They can obtain the remaining one-third in either profession at their sole discretion. A certified interior designer who also has an architect license can earn 8 hours of CE as an architect, 8 hours of certified interior designer CE and 8 hours of personal development divided between the two professions.

New Licensee CEU Exemption

PEs who are new licensees or certificate holders don’t have to do continuing education reporting when it’s time for them to do their first biennial renewal. This is an automatic exemption. PEs renewing for the very first time, don’t have to apply in order to receive this exemption.

Hardship Exemption

A PE who holds a license or a certificate and has experienced a serious injury or illness, was called by the military service for active duty for 120 or more consecutive days or was prevented by any other type of extenuating circumstance from completing the required CE during the biennial renewal period, map apply for a CE reporting exemption. The request will be reviewed by the Board and approved if the PE’s circumstances restricted CE requirements compliance. The Board will give the PE a “Letter of Acceptance”. It must be submitted with the PE’s license renewal application.

Qualifying Programs and Activities

Continuing education must be a collection of learning experiences which help to improve and add to the abilities, skillset, knowledgebase and abilities of PEs that enable them to remain current and deliver excellent professional services to their clients. PEs may focus on ethical, technical, regulatory and business practice updates that create a more well-rounded education. That education must directly benefit the public’s safety, health or welfare. Continuing education activities able to satisfy CE requirements include the following:

• completing or auditing college courses;
• completing college or non-college courses which end with an exam or a pass/fail grade;
• participation in tutorials, seminars and televised or videotaped short courses;
• attending in-house educational programs;
• completing structured programs where a PE licensee delivers a visual or written presentation;
• preparing, presenting or instructing qualifying seminars or courses counts as PDH;
• preparing, authoring and presenting published articles, papers or books;
• participating in writing or grading professional examinations;
• non-work-related volunteer service like serving on urban renewal and building code advisory boards, planning commissions and other committees, commissions or public boards that requires the PE licensee’s professional expertise;
• patents granted to the PE licensee during the biennium prior to license renewal.

Criteria for Continuing Education Acceptance by the Board

In order for continuing education activities and courses to count towards PDH, they must meet certain criteria. They include:

• Having clear objectives and purposes, maintain, expand or improve existing professional knowledge and skills or develop new, relevant skills and knowledge.
• Have well organized content presented in sequential order.
• Display evidence of preplanning including the opportunity for the group targeted to receive service to provide input.
• The presenter must have education or experience that makes them well qualified.
• Reporting and recordkeeping by the creator of the course or activity must provide appropriate documentation that the PE participated.

Pre-Approval of CE Activities or Courses

Pre-approval for CE activities and courses is determined through the use of a tool the Board created for use by licensees and certificate holders called a Continuing Education Assessment Form. The form determines if an activity or course meets the necessary statutory requirements for continuing education. Licensees and certificate holders must become familiar with the form’s statutory requirements so they can determine whether an activity or course meets those requirements.

Recordkeeping for Continuing Education in MN

Licensees and certificate holders have to keep records of their activities and courses. Those records have to include all the following data:

• subjects
• dates
• sponsoring organization
• duration of programs
• professional development hours earned
• registration receipts if applicable
• other pertinent documentation

PEs must keep those records for four years after the period of licensure/certification to which the hours apply ends. Should the Board receive a complaint alleging noncompliance or while conducting a random audit, they may require the PE to produce this information for verification of the renewal application. It’s the PE’s responsibility to maintain proper supporting documentation to verify their activities.

Noncompliance with Continuing Education

The Board will notify the PE if it rejects sufficient PDH hours the PE reported to make the accepted hours less than the required 24 PDH. After that initial notification, the PE has 180 days to substantiate the rejected hours validity or earn other qualifying hours and meet the minimum requirement. Failure to do so to the Board’s satisfaction in the time allowed will result in suspension of the licensure or certification.

Signing and Sealing Documents for Minnesota Professional Engineers

Minnesota professional engineers must follow the Board rules and state statutes for certifying plans and other engineering documents. There are very specific requirements for placing a certification and signature on plans, specifications, plats, and reports. State laws are MN Statute 326.12 Subd. 2-3 and MN Rule 1800.4200.

The Board provides examples of the proper way to include the required certification language and signature. There are no specific requirements governing text font, size, or spacing. The Minnesota Board allows the use of a rubber stamp/seal. It is also allowed to simply print the required certification on documents and then sign (a seal is not required).

PE Stamp Language

The image here shows the required certification language. It also depicts how your signature can be presented on documents. This wording must be used by engineers.