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Decisions at the ballot box influence policies that support engineering standards and public safety.May/June 2018
PE Report
Maryland Cuts Continuing Education Requirements
If you’re a PE licensed in Maryland, your continuing education requirements have changed. But now fewer hours, not more, are required for license renewal.
The Maryland Board for Professional Engineers reduced the two-year requirement to 16 hours from 24, beginning January 15. The Maryland Society of Professional Engineers reviewed the proposed regulations and changes to ensure that the requirements wouldn’t be a burden to licensees.
How does Maryland now compare to other jurisdictions? According to NSPE’s report Continuing Education Requirements for the Professional Engineer, 41 states and Puerto Rico require continuing professional development for licensure renewal. Maryland’s requirement is now more similar to those in Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Texas, Florida, and Virginia, which require 15–18 hours per renewal period. New York requires the most hours at 36, while other states require 24- and 30-hour minimums.
Maryland licensees must complete at least 16 PDHs through qualified programs in the following areas:
- Technical, research, analytical, or design aspects of engineering;
- Laws and regulations applicable to the practice of engineering in Maryland;
- Engineering-related computer hardware and software topics;
- Standards of practice or care;
- Professional engineering ethics;
- Project management, risk assessment and management, or emergency and disaster management; or
- Similar topics aimed to maintain, improve, or expand the skills and knowledge relevant to the licensee’s field of practice.
At least one PDH must be earned in areas related to ethics and conflicts in the practice of engineering, laws and regulations, or in the standards of practice or care.
NSPE believes that continuing professional development should be required for renewal of the license to practice engineering. The Society also believes in flexibility and that jurisdictions should accept that a professional engineer licensed in multiple jurisdictions, and who has fulfilled the most stringent continuing professional development requirement of the jurisdictions in which he/she is licensed, will be considered to have satisfied the continuing professional development obligation in all jurisdictions.
