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Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) Civil: Construction Exam
The PE Civil: Construction exam is the NCEES discipline-specific Principles and Practice of Engineering examination for civil engineers in construction practice seeking licensure: a single 80-question computer-based exam taken in one 9-hour appointment (8 hours of exam time), closed book with the NCEES PE Civil Reference Handbook and supplied design standards (ACI SP-4, AISC Steel Construction Manual, ASCE 37-14, MUTCD Part 6, OSHA 29 CFR), covering eleven construction knowledge areas from soil mechanics and estimating to scheduling, construction operations, and design of support for construction loads.
Official exam siteJump to prep options ↓
Questions80 questions (all questions are worked; no breadth/depth split in the current CBT format)
Testing time9-hour appointment: 8 hours of exam time, plus 2-minute nondisclosure agreement, 8-minute tutorial, and 50-minute scheduled break
ScoringPass/fail only — no numeric score published; failing examinees receive a diagnostic report showing performance by topic
Exam feeUSD 400 payable directly to NCEES (U.S. administrations); some licensing boards require a separate application and fee before registering with NCEES, and the PE exam page lists different amounts for some international administration sites (e.g., USD 425 for the Alberta PE site)
Prep options
Study resources for PE Civil: Construction
Independent prep
Courses and study resources
Exam overview
What to know before choosing your prep
- Who runs it
- NCEES
- Category
- Engineering Licensure
- Current version
- PE Civil CBT exam specifications for the Construction exam, effective beginning April 2024; NCEES has posted a successor edition effective beginning with the April 2027 examination (same 80-question structure and knowledge areas; design standards list updated, e.g., adds ACI 318 and folds ACI 347R into ACI SP-4's appendix)
- Where it applies
- United States — national
- Exam languages
- English
- Testing provider
- Pearson VUE (NCEES-approved Pearson test centers)
- Format
- Computer-based (CBT), closed book with electronic references — the NCEES PE Civil Reference Handbook and the listed design standards (ACI 347R, ACI SP-4, AISC Steel Construction Manual 15th ed., ASCE 37-14, CMWB, PCA EB001, MUTCD Part 6, 29 CFR Parts 1903 and 1926) are supplied in the exam; SI and US Customary units; multiple-choice questions plus alternative item types (AITs)
- Availability
- Administered year-round by appointment at NCEES-approved Pearson test centers (listed as Year Round availability)
- Results
- Results typically available within 7–10 business days, notified by email and viewable in MyNCEES
- Remote testing
- Not available
Exam structure
80 questions across 11 knowledge areas with published ranges: Soil Mechanics (6–9), Site Layout and Development (5–8), Material Properties (5–8), Estimating Quantities and Costs (6–9), Project Planning and Scheduling (7–11), Material, Production, and Execution Quality Control (7–11), Structural Mechanics (7–11), Hydraulics and Hydrology (4–6), Construction Operations and Methods (9–14), Design for Support of Construction Loads (10–15), and Health and Safety (4–6).
Where rules vary
The PE exam is the uniform nationwide second step in U.S. professional engineer licensure, administered by NCEES for U.S. state and territorial licensing boards (the PE exam page carries per-board notices and the PE Civil page advises checking each board's registration procedures because some boards require board approval or a separate application/fee before registering with NCEES); the exam itself is identical nationwide.
Eligibility
Designed for engineers with a minimum of four years of post-college work experience in the discipline; state and territorial licensing boards set final eligibility, and some boards require board approval or a separate application before registering with NCEES
Retake policy
One attempt per testing window and no more than three attempts in a 12-month period