PE exam · all disciplines · checked Oct 29, 2026
The PE exam, discipline by discipline
The PE (Principles and Practice of Engineering) exam is the second national exam a future professional engineer sits, and it is not one test. NCEES writes a separate PE for each discipline, from Agricultural and Biological to Petroleum, and you sit the one that matches your practice. Civil, Mechanical, Electrical Power, Chemical and Environmental run year-round: 80 questions in 8 h of exam time, $400 per attempt. The other disciplines sit on fixed dates with a longer exam, and PE Structural mixes the two.
Updated Oct 29, 2026 · Not affiliated with NCEES.
- questions, year-round PE80
- exam time8 h
- per attempt$400
- first-time, HVAC&R, Jan–Jun 202671%
Six PE exams, side by side
| Attribute | PE Mechanical HVAC & Refrigeration | PE Civil | PE Mechanical Machine Design & Materials | PE Mechanical Thermal & Fluid Systems | PE Electrical Power | PE Structural | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Questions | 80 questionsIncludes unscored pretest questions that are not marked. | 80 questions | 80 questions | 80 questions | 80 questions | 55 per breadth section, 60 per depth section (four sections)Depth sections drop to 48 questions from April 2027. | [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] | |
| Exam time | 8 hours | 8 hours | 8 hours | 8 hours | 8 hours | 5 hours 30 minutes (breadth) or 6 hours (depth), per section | [1][3] | |
| Units | USCS onlySea-level conditions unless a problem says otherwise. | SI and USCS | SI and USCS | SI and USCS | SI and USCS | USCS only | [2][4][5][6][7][8] | |
| Reference supplied | PE Mechanical reference handbook, on screen as a searchable PDFThe current version is free in your MyNCEES account; NCEES sells no printed copy; on exam day search with the box on the left (Ctrl+F does not work); no personal copies. | NCEES reference handbook, on screen as a searchable PDF | PE Mechanical reference handbook, on screen as a searchable PDF | PE Mechanical reference handbook, on screen as a searchable PDF | NCEES reference handbook, on screen as a searchable PDF | NCEES reference handbook plus the design standards, on screen | [1][3] | |
| Design standards supplied | None | Supplied on screen | None | None | Supplied on screen | Supplied on screen | [3][4][5][6][7] | |
| Exam fee | $400 to NCEESFor each attempt, registrations from January 1, 2024. | $400 to NCEESFor each attempt, registrations from January 1, 2024. | $400 to NCEESFor each attempt, registrations from January 1, 2024. | $400 to NCEESFor each attempt, registrations from January 1, 2024. | $400 to NCEESFor each attempt, registrations from January 1, 2024. | $350 per section, four sections | [1][3][9][10] |
Year-round and fixed-date PE exams
The format depends on the discipline, and the line runs between year-round and fixed-date exams (NCEES Examinee Guide, May 2026, p. 16):
- Year-round, 80 questions, 8 h of exam time in a 9 h appointment: PE Chemical; PE Civil (five modules); PE Electrical and Computer: Power; PE Environmental; PE Mechanical (three modules).
- Fixed date, 85 questions, 8 h 30 min of exam time in a 9 h 30 min appointment: Agricultural and Biological; Architectural; Control Systems; Electrical and Computer: Computer Engineering; Electrical and Computer: Electronics, Controls, and Communications; Fire Protection; Industrial and Systems; Metallurgical and Materials; Mining and Mineral Processing; Naval Architecture and Marine; Nuclear; Petroleum.
- PE Structural: four sections, vertical and lateral, each in a breadth and a depth version; breadth year-round, each depth section twice a year. From April 2027 the depth sections shrink to 48 questions.
The guide lists October 27–28, 2026 for nine of the fixed-date exams and April 13–14, 2027 for Control Systems, Electronics, Controls, and Communications, and Fire Protection. The October 2026 sittings are over; the next date for those nine is announced on each exam's page on ncees.org.
PE Mechanical splits into three exams that share a format and a fee; the PE Mechanical HVAC & Refrigeration pages explain how the HVAC&R module differs from the other two.
Handbooks and design standards
Every PE exam gives you an electronic reference handbook on screen; you bring nothing printed. Eight PE exams also supply the design standards their problems cite: Agricultural and Biological, Architectural, Civil, Control Systems, Electrical and Computer: Power, Fire Protection, Nuclear and Structural. The others, PE Mechanical, Chemical and Environmental among them, supply none (guide, p. 16). How the HVAC&R handbook is organized and searched: PE HVAC&R reference handbook.
Fees, booking and exam day
- Fee: $400 per attempt for the year-round exams; PE Structural is priced per section, $350 × 4. Both are the prices for registrations from January 1, 2024.
- Board approval: some boards want their own application and fee before you can book a PE seat; the amount is theirs to set.
- Sitting before the experience: your board decides, not NCEES (how to become a PE).
- Booking: the same MyNCEES and Pearson VUE steps as the FE, with the same reschedule and refund terms: FE exam registration.
- ID: one current physical photo ID with your signature, in the name on the appointment; a student card or a phone image does not count.
- Accommodations: flag them while registering with NCEES; Pearson VUE rules on them, and a request added later means starting the registration over.
- Calculator: the permitted models are shared with the FE, and an on-screen TI-30XS is there during the exam: FE and PE calculators.
- Retakes: once per quarterly window, three times at most in 12 months, the same as the FE; a board may be stricter.
PE pass rates, Jan–Jun 2026
| Exam | First-time pass rate | First-time takers | Practice | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PE Mechanical HVAC & Refrigeration | 71% | 799 | Practice test Exam facts | [1] | |
| PE Civil | 60–71% | 7,607 | — | [1] | |
| PE Mechanical Machine Design & Materials | 61% | 401 | — | [1] | |
| PE Mechanical Thermal & Fluid Systems | 70% | 578 | — | [1] | |
| PE Electrical Power | 62% | 1,344 | — | [1] | |
| PE Structural | 37–63% | 773 | — | [10] |
On the same half-year exam page, repeat takers of the HVAC&R module passed at 40%, against 71% on a first try. Within PE Civil the spread runs from Construction at 60% to Water Resources and Environmental at 71%; PE Structural sections ran 37–63%.
First and repeat attempts, fiscal year 2024–25
| Exam | First-time pass rate, all takers (FY 2024–25) | Repeat pass rate (FY 2024–25) | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PE Mechanical HVAC & Refrigeration | 74% | 55% | [11] | |
| PE Civil | 59–71% | 40–50% | [1][11] | |
| PE Mechanical Machine Design & Materials | 71% | 48% | [1][11] | |
| PE Mechanical Thermal & Fluid Systems | 77% | 53% | [1][11] | |
| PE Electrical Power | 58% | 41% | [1][11] | |
| PE Structural | 13–48% | 16–60% | [11] |
How hard is the PE? Most PE takers have passed the FE and worked for some years, so similar pass rates in a more experienced group suggest a deeper exam. FE rates count only recent EAC/ABET graduates, which is why they sit in a table of their own. Repeat takers of every year-round PE above did worse than first-timers; the PE Structural sections are too small and uneven to say the same.
Where the PE fits
The PE comes after the FE and, under the NCEES Model Law, after four years of experience following an EAC/ABET bachelor's; some boards let you sit before the experience is complete. The steps and two state examples: how to become a PE. How the FE and the PE differ: FE vs PE.
PE HVAC&R problems, worked out
PE Mechanical HVAC & Refrigeration questions, answers and worked solutions in a study app.
Not affiliated with NCEES.
Source notes
- NCEES: PE Mechanical exams ncees.org · checked Oct 29, 2026
- NCEES: PE Mechanical HVAC and Refrigeration specifications, October 2025 (PDF) ncees.org · checked Oct 29, 2026
- NCEES Examinee Guide, May 2026 (PDF) ncees.org · checked Oct 29, 2026
- NCEES: PE Civil specifications, April 2024 (Water Resources and Environmental module, PDF) ncees.org · checked Oct 29, 2026
- NCEES: PE Mechanical Machine Design and Materials specifications, October 2025 (PDF) ncees.org · checked Oct 29, 2026
- NCEES: PE Mechanical Thermal and Fluid Systems specifications, October 2025 (PDF) ncees.org · checked Oct 29, 2026
- NCEES: PE Electrical and Computer: Power specifications, October 2025 (PDF) ncees.org · checked Oct 29, 2026
- NCEES: PE Structural Vertical Breadth specifications, April 2024 (PDF) ncees.org · checked Oct 29, 2026
- NCEES: new exam prices effective January 1, 2024 ncees.org · checked Oct 29, 2026
- NCEES: PE Structural exam ncees.org · checked Oct 29, 2026
- NCEES Squared 2025: pass rates, fiscal year Oct 2024–Sep 2025 (PDF) ncees.org · checked Oct 29, 2026
PE exam questions
How long is a year-round PE sitting?
For the year-round disciplines, 8 h of exam time in a 9 h appointment, including a 50 min break. The fixed-date exams run 8 h 30 min in a 9 h 30 min appointment, and each PE Structural section is shorter.
Do fixed-date PE exams have more questions?
Yes, five more. 80 in the year-round disciplines, 85 in the fixed-date ones. PE Structural: 55 / 60 per section.
Can I bring my own references to the PE?
No. You get the discipline's reference handbook on screen, and design standards in the exams that use them; no personal books or notes are allowed in the room.
Can I take the PE without passing the FE?
Under the NCEES Model Law the path runs through the FE, and boards write their own exceptions (the Model Rules let a doctorate holder with an EAC/ABET bachelor's skip it). Ask your board before you register.