Florida 2020 Professional Engineer License Renewal Deadline!

Florida PEs must now have 18 hours (no longer 8) of continuing education in specific categories

By: Ryan Malone

Discount code is available from PDH Now:

Florida requires 18 hours of continuing education by a Florida approved provider. Within the 18 hours, there is a requirement for one hour on the Law and Rules of the Florida Board of Professional Engineers and one hour on ethics. Also within the 18 hours, Florida requires four hours of continuing education on the licensee’s area of practice, which is defined as an engineering discipline for which a Principles and Practice of Engineering exam is given by NCEES. The remaining 12 hours may relate to any topic pertinent to the practice of engineering.

PDHNow is approved by Florida, FBPE Provider Number 0006408 and License Number 596. Florida requires that providers of continuing education be approved by the Board. The courses on the Florida Law and Ethics must meet the criteria for the courses established by the Board as well as approval by the Board.

There is no provision for carrying over of excess PDHs earned above the required 18 from one biennium to the next and no mention of comity with other jurisdictions for acceptance of continuing education credits to meet requirements for licensees residing in other states.

Florida adopted an audit system to insure compliance in the 2013–2015 biennium so completions are not reported. It should be noted that section 471.0195 F.S., which requires licensees designing buildings or systems under the Florida Building Code to take a specialized or advanced course on the Florida Building Code within one year of the issuance of a new edition of the Florida Building Code. Those courses are required to be approved by the Florida Building Commission as well as the Florida Board of Professional Engineers, and the completion certificate for the course must be submitted to the Florida Board by the licensee. Those courses can also be counted as part of the 12 hours of continuing education as “a topic pertinent to the practice of engineering.”

Following the course, the licensee must provide the Board with a copy of the completion certificate that shows the course number, course hours, Code edition year, and Code or course focus so that your record can be updated. Certificates can be emailed to FBPE at cedesk@fbpe.org. When submitting your certificate to the Board, please include your full name and license number in the email.