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Why Are Professional Engineers Under Attack?
Weighing the Threats to PE Licenses & Engineering Standards
As a licensed professional engineer, it’s no secret that securing and maintaining the initials “PE” after your name is no walk in the park. It’s a stringent process that requires a commitment to the highest standards of engineering practice and ethics, quality assurance, and continuing education. So why are professional engineers under attack?
For more than a century, professional engineers have played a critical role in protecting public health and safety by ensuring the safe design of everything from the ground we walk on and the water we drink, to the facilities we rely upon and the bridges we drive over. But over the course of the last few years, there’s been an increase in proposed threats against the PE license.
Considering what it takes to be a licensed PE and the value of safe and ethical engineering practices on promoting the best interests of the public, why has there been an increase in attempts to deregulate and eliminate professional engineer licensure? And…how can we ensure the practitioners who are preparing, signing, sealing, and submitting engineering plans for our buildings, roads, urban plans, energy and water efficiency solutions, and the host of our other public and private infrastructure projects and systems are adequately qualified?
Role of Licensed Professional Engineers
By providing quality control and economic analyses of development and maintenance needs and alternatives in terms of performance, life-cycle costs, installation, and other factors, licensed professional engineers are accountable for the design, execution, and review of integrable engineered processes, systems, and facilities—including everything from our roadways and distributed energy networks; to our water, waste, and stormwater management solutions; to even our reconstructive, mitigation, and/or recovery initiatives.
Licensed PEs have historically been responsible for evaluating the engineering design of municipal and private engineered infrastructure and systems. In order to uphold public health and safety, however, upgrades to the PE licensure process and state regulations and specifications (e.g. OSHA, ACI, etc.) have been established as a precaution to ensure the practitioners planning, designing, budgeting, coordinating, supervising, and guaranteeing the long-term performance of the engineered solutions we rely upon are adequately qualified. The PE licensure is a measure of that tall order, representing a commitment to public service, as well as continuing education and safe, ethical engineering.
What Does it Take to Be a Licensed Professional Engineer?
It takes an incredible amount of commitment to be a licensed professional engineer capable of providing essential (and sometimes life-sustaining) services and infrastructure to the public. Although each state handles the PE licensure process differently, most state boards have in part or entirely adopted the rules outlined by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES).
According to NCEES standards, gaining and maintaining a PE license generally requires a 4-year degree from an accredited engineering program, real-life experience under a licensed PE, and continuing education through professional development hours. Oftentimes, once becoming a licensed professional engineer in one state, licensure can be applied to and gained in other states depending on the uniformity of state board requirements.
Engineers vs. Licensed PE’s
Because of the demanding licensing process and continuing education requirements to earn and sustain a professional engineer license, not all engineers become licensed professionals. Many companies also don’t require a PE license for employment. Many engineering professionals however seek PE licensure because it allows you to accelerate your career and earning potential in a variety of ways.
Not only do licensed professional engineers have more authority over engineering work in both the public and private sector, but unlike unlicensed engineers, you can also become a government engineer, engineering educator, and/or independent consultant. Because of the rigorous PE licensing process, however, some fear that regulating professional engineers (and occupational licenses in general) may be narrowing job opportunities.
But at what point do you have to protect licensed professional engineers tasked with protecting the public in the most ethical, conducive, and cost-effective way? Where do we draw the line between putting people to work and ensuring effective (and safe) engineering practices? And…should licensed professional engineers expect threats to the PE license to come to fruition?
Weighing the Odds: Engineered Assets & Life-Cycle Costs
In addition to designing quality engineered infrastructure and systems, the PE licensing process is structured to promote engineering solutions that reduce life-cycle costs, threats to public health and safety, and engineering practices that endanger natural processes.
So when taking into consideration the importance of engineering stewardship in, for example, urban settings, disaster-prone areas, and other high-risk situations, does the deregulation of the Professional Engineer license outweigh the high cost of potential infrastructure and/or systems failure? Is the commitment to the highest engineering standards of practice overruled by the potential job opportunities generated from the proposed elimination of the PE license in states across the U.S.?
Or…should we demand the highest (and most up-to-date) standard of workmanship out of the engineers designing our essential municipal and private infrastructure and systems?
Rethinking the Engineering Standard of Practice
With the evolution of our engineering practices and PE licensing processes, we can now design cost-effective engineered infrastructure and systems to ensure long-term performance, biomimicry, and the protection of public well-being for generations to come. So then why are professional engineers under attack? Is it time to rethink our engineering standards of practice? What does being a licensed professional engineer mean to you?