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The civil PE exam

You pick one of five exams: Construction, Geotechnical, Structural, Transportation, or Water Resources and Environmental. Each civil PE exam has 80 questions in 8 hours, runs year-round at Pearson test centers and costs $400. NCEES supplies the PE Civil Reference Handbook and that exam’s design standards on screen.

How to register for the PEFree practice test

Updated October 2026 · Written from official sources, listed at the bottom of this page

The five civil PE exams

Civil PE examBiggest topic areas (questions)
ConstructionSupport of construction loads (10‑15), operations and methods (9‑14)
GeotechnicalRetaining structures (10‑15), deep foundations (10‑15)
StructuralComponent design and detailing (26‑39), forces and load effects (17‑26)
TransportationTraffic engineering (10‑15), horizontal design, vertical design and drainage (8‑12 each)
Water Resources and EnvironmentalProject sitework (9‑14), hydrology (8‑12)

From the April 2024 specifications, which apply until April 2027.

Construction →Geotechnical →Structural →Transportation →Water Resources and Environmental →

How does the civil PE exam work?

It’s one 80-question exam in your chosen area, with no separate breadth part. Questions mix multiple choice and alternative item types, and use both SI and US units.

The design standards open as separate chapters, one at a time. Answers are scored on the editions in the specifications; work based on other editions gets no credit.

New design standards from April 2027

NCEES has posted new specifications for all five civil exams, effective April 2027, with updated design standards. If you’ll test from April 2027, study from the 2027 versions on the PE Civil page.

NCEES: PE Civil exam ↗

Civil PE in California and the FE Civil

California civil engineers also pass two state exams, Seismic Principles and Engineering Surveying. On the usual path you pass the FE before the PE; it has a Civil discipline with 110 questions.

California’s extra civil exams →Civil PE pass rates →
Sources: NCEES and 6 more. Checked October 2026.

Rules and fees can change, so check the official site before your test.

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