How to Successfully Submit your PE Exam Application to the State Board

Applying to take your New Jersey professional engineer exam can be a tricky process. Many people don’t realize you can’t just pay the registration fee and show up for the exam. Instead, you must apply to the New Jersey State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors first. This application is very detailed and takes a while to complete, so it is best to start applying at least a month prior to the PE exam registration deadline.

The board is very particular about how things are submitted in the application, so you need to read everything carefully and carve out the necessary time to get things done successfully. If you don’t, the board can deny your application and require you to resubmit it, which will take even more time and may cost you the application fee.

To make sure your application to sit for the New Jersey professional engineer exam is a success, we recommend getting the pieces you need to submit with your application together first. You need to secure the following materials prior to applying to the State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors:

• A two-by-two-inch passport-style photograph of you, including your head and shoulders, taken in the last six months
• Ask your undergraduate university to send your college transcripts directly to the board (124 Halsey Street, 3rd Floor, P.O. Box 45015, Newark, New Jersey 07101)
• Proof of passing the Fundamentals of Engineering exam
• Five references – three must be licensed professional engineers in the United States and one must be a supervisor with knowledge of your four-year career experience (two of those years must be in engineering design)
• USCIS immigration documents, if applicable
• Criminal history documents, if applicable
• A $75 nonrefundable application fee, which should be a check or money order payable to the State of New Jersey

When you have all those materials ready to go, you are in a wonderful spot to actually dig into the application itself. The first part of the application is easy – it requires your name, address, social security number, criminal history, and all the usual personal information. Then, there’s a series of yes or no questions on many different topics, ranging from child support to any disciplinary actions you’ve received as an engineer.

Once you’ve completed all that, you start getting into career specifics. If you are an Engineer in Training, you will need to provide your certificate number and date issued. For your references, you will need each person’s address, license number, and list of states where he or she is licensed. After that, you are on the most writing intensive part of the application: detailed statement of experience. On this section, you must list each engagement you’ve had; your employer; name, address, and license number of your supervisor; and specific engineering and design work you did on each project, including complexity and degree of responsibility.

After the detailed statement of experience, you’re all done! The only thing left it to do is take your application and have it notarized. Package up all your materials and mail them to the State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors at 124 Halsey Street, 3rd Floor, P.O. Box 45015, Newark, New Jersey 07101. The deadline for the October New Jersey professional engineer exam is coming up at the end of August, so download your application and get started now!