FREE HVAC PE EXAM STUDY RESOURCES!

1: Types of Experience

Qualifying engineering experience can usually be described in one or more of the following ways:

• Engineering design
• Engineering calculations
• Planning for engineering works
• Prep and review of engineering plans
• Prep and review of engineering specifications
• Engineering analysis

Furthermore, your experience fits into one of two categories:

• Experience under the direct supervision of a licensed professional engineer
• Experience not under the direct supervision of a licensed professional engineer

Let’s dive a little deeper into each of these categories.

2: Experience Under The Direct Supervision of A Licensed Professional Engineer

Working under the direct supervision of a licensed engineer is the best type of experience.  It is easily understood by all state boards that this type of experience counts toward your time requirement.  Most engineering college graduates get their first job working for an engineering firm and are almost certainly supervised by a professional engineer.  It should go without saying that only engineering type experience counts.  For example, if you were hired as a secretary, don’t try using that as engineering experience.  

Activities that are not considered engineering experience can be, but are not limited to, the following:

• time spent in training (except in recognized rotation programs)
• sub-professional tasks, i.e., drafting, technician work, etc.
• non-professional tasks, i.e., sales, construction, etc.
• overtime (experience which consists of more than 40 hours per week)
• work in a second job (“moonlighting”)
• engineering not in the branch for which the applicant is applying

The supervising engineer should be licensed and have direct involvement in your work.  What does that mean?  Direct involvement means if I called them up and asked what you were working on, they would be able to give me a good answer.  Someone who lives in another state on the opposite side of the country and you speak with over the phone once a month does not count as direct involvement.  Direct involvement also means that they review your work and have direct input on your activities.  

3: Experience Not Under The Direct Supervision of A Licensed Professional Engineer

Sometimes the experience that you have obtained is not so cut and dry and easily categorized.  For instance, what about if you work for an older gentleman who has had decades of experience and knows the industry inside and out, but is not licensed?  Does that count as experience?  What about if you were working in a different industry doing fire sprinkler design for an owner who is not licensed nor has licensed engineers on staff, but hires out a professional engineer to review his drawings when needed?

In these cases, it’s not so clear what constitutes qualifying experience and what doesn’t.  The rule you need to remember is this:

If you can describe your activities with the words “I designed” or “I analyzed” then you can likely use it as engineering experience.

One of the most common types of qualifying experience is design. Design involves the selection and use of recognized engineering principles and methods to solve engineering problems. The end result of design work is usually plans or specifications for use in creating a finished product.

Another common type of qualifying engineering experience is analysis. Analysis usually entails  the use of mathematical modeling and acceptable data collection techniques to assess a problem, and the act of making a learned recommendation based on analytical findings. An analysis activity will almost always result in a conclusive report or recommendation.

3.0.1 Other Activities

Many other types of activities could also be acceptable if your participation in those activities can be described in terms of design or analysis. By asking yourself if you can describe your activity in terms such as “I calculated…, I designed…, I analyzed…, I recommended…,” you can almost assure yourself that you are describing design and analysis, even if it was not under the direct supervision of a licensed engineer.  

I know this because the fire sprinkler example happened to me.  For 8 months I designed fire sprinkler systems after graduating college before being hired by an engineering firm.  I learned from other sprinkler designers, none of whom were licensed engineers.  When it came time for me to apply for my PE, I called up to the Texas state board and asked if that experience counted.  The said it did and that I was able to use it, even though their website indicated that only experience obtained under the direct supervision of a licensed engineer counted.  

They told me that since I could describe the work as designing or analyzing, that it was valid engineering experience. Those eight months allowed me to obtain my license a cycle earlier than if I didn’t (since each HVAC and Refrigeration exam is given every six months).  Don’t short change yourself by not counting any and all appropriate experience.

That brings me to my next rule:

The absolute best way to know if your experience counts is to call your state board and ask!

They are the authorities so find out straight from the horse’s mouth.  They are usually very friendly and receptive to answering these types of questions.  Once you receive word from them, you can rest easy knowing that your experience is golden.

4: Documenting Your Experience

While gaining experience over the years, it is critical that you document it so that you are able to utilize it for your Experience Record. I recommend keeping a log of your activities.  An ideal log entry would have the following information:

• the starting and ending dates of the project(s) on which you worked
• name and address of each employer
• job title(s)
• the name, present addresses and phone numbers of the engineers and other persons with which you personally worked who can serve as a reference to substantiate your experience
• identification of the project
• the scope of the project
• the engineering activities that you personally performed.

When the time comes to create your Experience Record and find references, the above information will be worth it’s weight in gold to you and make the process go much more smoothly.

5: Other Considerations

Your experience must be progressive and of increasing difficulty over time, requiring greater responsibility, and demonstrating maturation of engineering judgment and increased depth of technical knowledge.

It’s important to know that you must have obtained the proper amount of experience before applying.  You cannot anticipate experience.  In other words, if you meet your minimum experience in October, you can’t apply for the October exam by submitting your application in July because you haven’t met your experience requirement as of July.

Engineering work only begins after graduation date or degree conferral date.  If you are an intern your last year of school, you don’t get to count that year since it’s part of the four years you get to count for your degree. Otherwise you would be double counting time.

If you worked for an engineering firm in any other capacity than an engineering role, that time does not count toward your engineering experience.  Therefore, the total months of qualifying experience accepted by the board may be less than the total number of months you have worked there.

6: Final Thoughts

You’ll need to determining what kind of experience qualifies for your PE license in order to know when you’ve met the minimum requirement for licensure.  If you worked under the direct supervision of an engineer, then that experience easily qualifies.  If you haven’t worked directly under the supervision of a licensed engineer, then ask yourself if you can describe your activities using the terms “I designed” or “I analyzed”.  You can likely use that as experience if so.  If in doubt call and ask you state board.  They are the ultimate authority on the issue.