Civil Engineering Certification

Specialty Board Certification

CEC specialty board certification helps you stand out from your peers. It’s your next career step after earning your professional engineer license.

Become a board-certified engineer

Board certification for civil engineers is vital to elevating the level of professionalism needed to meet the challenges facing the nation’s infrastructure. Board certification benefits the public, owners of infrastructure, employers, and practicing civil engineers.

Founded by ASCE, Civil Engineering Certification is the only professional credential developed by civil engineers, for civil engineering. It recognizes civil engineers who have demonstrated advanced knowledge and skills in a specific specialty area, bringing more value to civil engineering stakeholders.

To be certified, you must meet the established qualification criteria for education, licensure, and experience, and pass the certification examination.

Benefits of Specialty Certification

Potential promotion and advancement opportunities.
Better compensation as seen in recent salary surveys.
Reduced professional liability insurance rates.

Board certifications

Take the next step in your career today and get board certified. Select your specialty area to learn more about board certification requirements.

Civil Engineering Certification Inc. (CEC) is expanding board certification to include additional specialties.

Board certification steps

To be certified, you must meet the established qualification criteria for education, licensure, and experience, and pass the certification examination.

Minimum requirements for ASCE's board certifications include:
- P.E. license or foreign equivalent in the current jurisdiction of practice.
- Baccalaureate degree in engineering or other related field (Master’s degree or Ph.D. may be substituted if no engineering BS).
- 10 years post-BS progressive engineering experience, of which 6 years is in a specialty area.
- Certification examination (oral interview or written examination as determined by the specialty area).
Below are the steps to apply for and earn your certification:
1. Select the certification specialty.
2. Submit your application and payment.
3. Application review.
4. Panel exam interview.

Please see specialty certification pages for additional details. For questions on the steps to certification, email [email protected].
All board-certified engineers must recertify their credential on an annual basis.

To recertify, the following are required:
- Active Practice
  You must be actively practicing in your specialty area in civil engineering.
- P.E. License
  Maintain a valid license to practice engineering.
- Annual PDH Requirement
  Attest to attaining 20 PDHs including 2 PDHs in ethics annually.
- Code of Ethics
  Attest to adherence to ASCE Code of Ethics.
- Annual Fee
  Submit annual recertification fee.
- ASCE will notify you via email when your recertification deadline is approaching and provide detailed instructions on how to maintain your certification.
For questions on recertification, email [email protected].

Hire a board-certified engineer

Infrastructure challenges are increasingly complex, with new materials and technologies, a changing climate, and heightened public expectations. Including board-certified specialists on your team assures the most qualified and experienced engineering talent is working on these complex projects, delivering high-performing, future-ready infrastructure for your clients, stakeholders, and the public. Board-certified engineers can help reduce risk and improve project performance, and help you achieve project success.

Vetted through a robust review process to confirm that they have attained advanced expertise and knowledge in a specialty beyond the P.E. license.
Extensive experience contributes to an overall reduction in project risk, liability, and minimizes the risk of delays and cost overruns.
A board-certified engineer’s work in key positions of a project team will improve project execution and ensure the overall success of complex infrastructure projects.

Learn more about the CEC Board of Directors

CESB Accreditation

Civil Engineering Certification Inc. (CEC) certifications are accredited by the Council of Engineering & Scientific Specialty Boards (CESB). The CEC is expanding board certification to include additional specialties.

For more on CESB Accreditation

Testimonials

"The geotech certification has helped me and our company let many of our clients, colleagues, and the public know that we are dedicated geotechnical engineers who are capable of solving a variety of complex geotechnical problems."
Sujan Bhattacharya, Ph.D., P.E., BC.GE

"I can easily say that, right after becoming a licensed professional engineer, getting my certification in water resources was the single most important post-collegiate career advancement move I made."
Rick Van Bruggen, P.E., P.H., CFM, BC.WRE

"The geotech certification demonstrates that I am serious about my chosen profession and confirms that my peers consider me to be an expert in field of geotechnical engineering."
Bob Goehring, P.E., BC.GE

"When our firm submits a statement of qualifications in competition with other firms, the documented qualifications of the project team members is a critical criteria that is considered by the evaluators. This certification makes me more valuable to our firm, and I am sure that is reflected in my compensation."
Terry Winn, P.E., BC.WRE, F.ASCE

"When we hire another chief engineer here at Rembco Engineering, we will give extreme preference to board-certified geotechs over any other applicants."
R. Michael Bivens, P.E., BC.GE

Civil Engineering Certification

Specialty Board Certification

Become a board-certified engineer

Board certifications

Board certification steps

Hire a board-certified engineer

CESB Accreditation

Testimonials

Contact us

For questions on board certification, please contact

Jennifer Hofmann

Director, CEC

Frank Kim

Program Manager, CEC

Civil Engineering Certification

Specialty Board Certification

Become a board-certified engineer

Board certifications

Board certification steps

Eligibility

Certification process

Maintaining your certification

Board-Certified Engineer Directory

Hire a board-certified engineer

CESB Accreditation

Testimonials

Contact us

For questions on board certification, please contact

Jennifer Hofmann

Director, CEC

Frank Kim

Program Manager, CEC