S.C. Code Regs. § § 49-200

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 11, November 22, 2024

Section 49-200 - Professional Engineer Licensure Requirements

A. Education Requirements.

(1) The Board will recognize the degrees of Master of Engineering or Master of Science in Engineering in a program accredited by EAC/ABET at either the baccalaureate or master's level as fulfilling the education requirements in satisfaction of the qualifications detailed in Section 40-22-220.

(2) The Board will recognize degrees from an engineering program evaluated as accredited by a foreign accreditation board or other authority recognized by ABET as having accreditation criteria substantially equivalent as that established by EAC/ABET. Engineering degree programs in this category include the following:

(a) Four-year engineering degree accredited by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB).

(b) Four-year engineering degree from an accredited program in other countries listed in the ABET published "Washington Accord" document.

(c) Courses taken for credit and appearing on official college or university transcripts must be evaluated by a Board approved Education Consultant or NCEES Credentials Evaluations. The purpose of such evaluations shall be to determine whether or not the curriculum presented by the applicant complies substantially with accreditation criteria of EAC/ABET. Programs determined by the Board, based upon the evaluations, to be substantially equivalent to those accredited by EAC/ABET will be considered as fulfilling the education requirements.

(3) In addition to transcripts submitted for evaluation by the Education Consultant or NCEES, an applicant shall have the academic institution furnish the Board such supporting documentation as necessary for a proper and sufficient evaluation.

B. Experience Requirements.

(1) General.

(a) An applicant must have completed the qualifying experience required by the Board by the application deadline. Experience cannot be anticipated. Experience gained prior to completion of the qualifying degree requirements will not be accepted as qualifying experience.

(b) Qualifying experience must be progressive and of an increasing standard of quality and responsibility after graduation. Where guidelines for qualifying experience are published by NCEES, such guidelines may be used by the Board to evaluate experience of the applicant.

(2) Engineering Experience.

(a) The applicant should have meaningful design experience under the supervision of a registered professional engineer in designing components or processes that meet a public need. This experience should include but is not limited to exposure to the formation of design problem statements and specifications, consideration of alternative solutions, feasibility considerations, analytical calculations and detailed systems descriptions. If the experience was not gained under the direct supervision of a registered professional engineer, then the indirect supervision should be explained with clarification of the degree of supervision received.

(b) Successful completion of a Master's degree in a Board approved engineering curriculum may be accepted for up to one year of equivalent engineering experience credit. The completion of a PhD in a Board approved engineering curriculum may be accepted for up to two years of equivalent experience credit. However, in no case will more than two years of equivalent engineering experience credit be given for post baccalaureate education. No applicant will be allowed credit of more than 1 year of experience for both work and education during any consecutive 12-month period.

(c) For teaching experience to be considered by the Board, the engineer applicant must have taught design courses acceptable by the Board in an engineering curriculum accredited by ABET.

(d) Military experience must have been spent in engineering and of a character substantially equivalent to that required in the civilian sector for like work.

(e) For sales experience to be considered by the Board, the engineer applicant must demonstrate conclusively that engineering principles and engineering knowledge were actually employed. The mere selection of data or equipment from a company catalogue or a similar publication will not be considered qualifying engineering experience.

(f) Experience in construction supervision must show proficiency in engineering computational and problem-solving skills in assuring compliance with specifications and designs.

(g) The Board will not accept the mere execution as a contractor of work designed by a registered professional engineer, or the supervision of the construction documents, or similar non-engineering tasks as qualifying engineering experience.

(h) Industrial experience should be directed toward the identification and solution of practice problems in the applicant's area of engineering specialization. This experience should include engineering analysis of existing physical systems and the design of new ones.

(i) Work as laboratory or field technicians where such work is merely the conduct of routine explorations or data acquisition activities shall not be considered as qualifying. In order to be qualifying, the experience should show a demonstrated and satisfactory use of basic engineering computational and problem-solving skills.

C. Examination Requirements.

(1) Engineer-in-Training (EIT).

(a) An applicant applying for certification as an engineer-in-training must take and pass one of the written examinations on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE), prepared and graded by the NCEES.

(b) The Board may, at its discretion, exempt an applicant from taking the FE examination. These exemptions include the following:

1. An applicant who has earned a doctorate degree in engineering in which the undergraduate degree in the same field of study is accredited by EAC/ABET, and is otherwise qualified under the provisions of the South Carolina Code of Laws at the time the application is received.

2. An applicant with more than fifteen years of acceptable experience after the date of the accredited degree and is otherwise qualified under the provisions of Section 40-22-220 of the Practice Act, at the time the application is received.

3. An applicant who has been licensed in another jurisdiction for not fewer than 12 years and is otherwise qualified under the provisions of Section 40-22-220 of the Practice Act, at the time the application is received.

(2) Professional Engineer (PE).

(a) An applicant may sit for the Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) examination prior to obtaining the mandatory four years of experience provided that:

1. The applicant has obtained an EAC/ABET undergraduate engineering degree; and

2. The applicant has successfully passed the FE examination.

(b) Upon successfully passing the PE examination and completing the qualifying four years of engineering experience, the applicant may apply for licensure with the Board.

S.C. Code Regs. § 49-200

Added by State Register Volume 16, Issue 4, eff April 24, 1992. Amended by State Register Volume 25, Issue 6, eff June 22, 2001; State Register Volume 33, Issue No. 6, eff June 26, 2009; State Register Volume 36, Issue No. 6, eff June 22, 2012; State Register Volume 46, Issue No. 05, eff. 5/27/2022.