You can change your address and/or name by logging into your My BELS Account. A name change will require you to provide the supporting documentation for the name change. Once it’s reviewed and if there are no further documents needed, your name will be changed.

Monday through Friday, 7:30 – 4:30 CST

We accept credit cards when renewing your license, applications, ALSS exam fees, fines and Board Cost.

Go to Complaints and then File a Complaint. If you do not have a My BELS Account, you’ll create one to start the complaint process.

The Board does not have the authority to settle boundary line disputes. You must go through your local court system for a resolution

Yes.

Check the website under License Search – Individuals or License Search – Firms. If the search finds the name you are searching for, hit the arrow next to their name. Under Disciplinary Action if it shows Yes, there will be a link to the disciplinary action taken. If you have additional questions, Bob Herbert or call (334) 242-5089.

Approximately several months

A letter is sent to the complainant and the subject of the complaint notifying both that a complaint has been received. The subject is allowed approximately 21 days to respond to the complaint. If a site visit is required, one will be made. If the complaint concerns technical issues, the complaint is forwarded to an outside technical advisor. If the technical advisor provides comments, the subject of the complaint is allowed to respond to the comments. A report is then generated on the facts and responses and forwarded to the investigative committee for its recommendations and then presented to the board at a board meeting. The decision of the board at a board meeting. The decision of the board could take up to 30 days from the date of the board meeting your case was presented at.

Only if it was received in a formal co-op program through the school or if it took you 6 years or longer to receive your BS degree and you were working gaining engineering experience if applying for engineering or land surveying experience if applying for land surveying. Either way, the experience must be verified by a PE if for an engineering application or by a PLS if for a land surveying application. You will receive no more than 6 months credit.

Yes, only if that is all you were doing. You would not get credit for working full time and then doing part time work on the side. You would receive approximately less than half credit for the experience and it would need to be verified by a PE for engineering work and LS for land surveying work.

Engineering Experience – If your supervisor is not a PE but is a graduate engineer, when you complete the work history information in the application and indicate they are not licensed, when the verifier completes the form it will ask for their background information. The board would review their background information to determine that when you were working together if this person would have sent in an application to become licensed would they license them. If so, you would get credit for the experience. If not, then you would not. They must have met the requirements for licensure prior to the time they are verifying.

Land Surveying Experience – If your supervisor is not a PLS but is a graduate land surveyor, when you complete the work history information in the application and indicate they are not licensed, when the verifier completes the form it will ask for their background information. The board would review their background information to determine that when you were working together if this person would have sent in an application to become licensed would they license them. If so, you would get credit for the experience. If not, then you would not. They must have met the requirements for licensure prior to the time they are verifying.

If your supervisor dies before you make application, you can get another licensed individual in the company to verify your experience. If there is no one inside the company that is licensed or a graduate engineer if engineering experience or graduate land surveyor if land surveying experience that can be reviewed as substantially equivalent, you can get a licensed individual outside the company who is knowledgeable of your experience. You would also be required to specify how this person has knowledge and how often they have reviewed your work.

A process to procure engineering or land surveying services that first determines the qualifications of the engineer or land surveyor prior to entering into fee negotiations.

The basics of QBS are: (1) An engineer or land surveyor submits a statement of qualification and performance data; (2) a determination is made as to the individuals or firms that meet the qualifications for the project (3), the Client and first qualified individual or firm enter into fee negotiations, (4) if no agreement can be reached, the Client moves on to the second qualified firm to begin fee negotiations and the first firm is disqualified.

Yes. QBS is required for both private and public work.

No. Simultaneous negotiations or solicitation of fee proposals by the client from two or more engineers constitutes “bidding” and participation by a licensee is prohibited.

Yes and No.

QBS does not apply to boundary surveys on private land where the survey is not intended for use as a basis for engineering design at the time of preparation.

QBS is required for surveys that are prepared in accordance with the standards specified by the American Land Title Association (ALTA) and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS).

No. You cannot be reconsidered unless the client disqualifies all individuals or firms and begins a new QBS process.

Yes. The Commissioning of Engineering Works is defined as the practice of engineering.

If your application has to be reviewed by the Board, it will be processed for the next board meeting.

You can check your status by Logging in to your My BELS Account. The requirements will be green if all the requirements have been met.

Comity Applicants Only (we are not accepting NCEES Record for Initial Licensure) – You need to complete only certain questions of the application, $125 application fee and proof of citizenship.

Our law requires that experience be verified by PE’s or by a graduate engineer the board can review to determine if they are substantially equivalent. If the individuals who completed the experience verification form that are contained in your NCEES Record were not PE’s, you may be requested to send additional verification of your experience on Alabama’s experience verification form if there is a deficiency in the experience requirement.

Yes, if you meet Alabama’s requirements such as education, work experience, you have passed the NCEES FE & PE exams and you have a United States Social Security Number.

No. All forms are electronic and must be completed in the online system.

No for the ALSS exam. The FE, FS, PE, PS and SE exams are administered by NCEES and our computer based tests (CBT). You would need to check with them about registration.

We have board meetings approximately every 2 months. Once an application is complete and if there are no anomalies or felonies, a license will be issued in approximately 3-4 weeks. If there are issues with the application, the application will be reviewed at the next board meeting provided everything is in by the deadline.

No for engineering. We would accept a BS in Geomatics/Surveying from Great Basin College or the University of Maine.

Yes, unless you were originally licensed as a PE in another state prior to December 31, 1992 and you are currently licensed in some state and can have at least 8 years of experience prior to December 31, 1992 verified by PE’s or you were originally licensed as a PLS in another state prior to December 31, 2007, and you are currently licensed in some state and you can have at least 8 years of experience prior to December 31, 2007 verified by licensed land surveyors.

Yes or they can be mailed directly to NCEES to be added to your NCEES Account. We cannot accept a transcript from the applicant nor do we accept electronic transcripts.

Yes. Your foreign degree will need to be evaluated by NCEES

Yes. The Board requires that your education be evaluated by National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). Please contact NCEES at www.ncees.org to request an education evaluation packet. There is no waiver to this requirement.

Initial Applicants – Our law changed December 31, 2005. We no longer accept engineering technology or related science degrees unless an ABET accredited MS or PhD in engineering has been received in addition to your BS.

Comity Applicants – If you were originally licensed in another state as a PE prior to December 31, 2005, and you can have at least 8 years of experience prior to December 31, 2005, verified by PE’s and you are currently licensed, you can file an application.

Yes. That is the only method for renewing your license.

No. It is the licensee’s responsibility to determine if the course meets the requirements.

No. The courses must be completed when the renewal is submitted.

Only if you are no longer practicing engineering or land surveying (inactive).

A few exceptions would be: if you are non-career military on active duty for more than 120 consecutive days, overseas job assignment for more than 120 consecutive days or during the past year you had a serious illness or injury that prevents you from obtaining your PDH’s or if this is your first renewal cycle.

No. You must have completed the 30 PDH’s when you renew.

Renewal reminders are normally emailed around the first of October. No paper renewal forms will be available, you are required to renew online.

After you renew online and the renewal has been approved, a simulated pocket card receipt showing your license status and when the license expires can be printed from your My BELS account. Login and under the Professional Engineer or Professional Land Surveyor in the center section of your profile, hit the arrow next to Professional Engineer or Professional Land Surveyor scroll down and you will see Download Pocketcard.

If you wait until after December 31 to renew, you will have to pay a $250 late fee in addition to the $100 renewal fee.

No. After December 31, your license is expired and you cannot practice until you renew your license. If you practice on a expired license, you are subject to enforcement action being taken against you.

If you are expired no longer than 2 years, you must apply for reinstatement. You will be required to earn the PDH’s to get your license reinstated up to the current year and then earn the PDH’s to get you renewed for the current year. There is also a reinstatement fee. The hours and fee would depend on how long your license has been expired. You would be required to provide documentation of your continuing education. Login to your My BELS Account to reinstate.

If you are expired more than 2 years, you are not eligible to reinstate and you must make application for licensure again. That would involve the verification of exams, transcripts, verifications and references. You must meet the requirements of the law at the time of reapplication.

Yes if you are in an inactive status. Being inactive only exempts you from the continuing education.

Inactive – a person who is not engaged in the engineering or land surveying practice which requires licensure in Alabama.

Yes. 30 PDH’s every 2 years.

Yes. New licensees are awarded 30 pdh to be used for their first renewal.

A maximum of 15 PDH hours can be carried from the one year into the next renewal cycle.

No.

For meeting the continuing professional competency requirements through correspondence, video, audio or online courses, the course must require the participant to show evidence of completion.

Self-study courses are not accepted.

Your license will be placed in an expired status for 2 years. If you do not reinstate your license within 2 years, you must go through the application process in order to be licensed again.

If you are selected for audit, you would be required to upload your certificates at the time you are renewing.

If you are NOT selected for audit, you have the option to upload your certificates if you wish.

If you are reinstating your license, you will be required to upload your certificates at the time you are reinstating your license.

No. You can attend company-sponsored courses, engineering or land surveying society meetings, seminars, etc.

In the event you elect to return to an active status, you would be required to earn the PDH’s for each year your license was in inactive status not to exceed the annual requirement for 2 years. You would also have to obtain the required 30 PDH to renew the license in active status for the next renewal year.

No.

No. You must have 30 PDH’s and meet our requirements.

If your corporation, LLC or LLP offers to perform or performs engineering and/or land surveying work, you will be required to have a CA.

If you practice under your name (i.e. John Doe, PE), you do not need a CA. If you practice as John Doe Engineering, you will need a CA.

Login to your My BELS Account (company account, not an individual account) and select the CA amendment and complete within 30 days of the change. There is no charge to amend your CA.

Login to your My BELS Account (company account, not an individual account) and select the CA amendment and complete within 30 days of the office being opened. There is no charge to amend your CA.

Login to your My BELS Account (company account, not an individual account) and select the CA amendment and complete within 30 days of the change. There is no charge to amend your CA. You will also need to contact the Secretary of State’s office to change your company name.

Since NCEES administers the exam for us, you need to contact NCEES at (877) 536-7729 or www.ncees.org.

ALSS Exam – there are no exceptions. Our law does not provide for either.
PE & PLS Exams – you must contact NCEES about their refund policy.

You will be notified that your application is closed and you will be required to file another application and meet the requirements at the time of reapplication.

No. It only counts if you show up and fail.

No. Our law has no provisions to waive either exam.

Yes. NCEES charges to regrade an exam. You must contact NCEES for the regrade within 30 day of your exam results. NCEES will take the scoring template and place it over your answer sheet to ensure the computer scored your exam correctly. There has never been a change in exam scores based on this regrade method.

NCEES and the Alabama Board reserves the right to repeat questions, and the integrity of the questions is compromised by overexposure. If some examinees are allowed to review questions, it may give them an unfair advantage over other examinees.

Go the NCEES’ website – www.ncees.org under “Exams” to answer questions concerning scoring of the exams.

No. We only release the results as pass or fail.

None. It is simply a different name for the same exam.

NCEES will notify you by email approximately 21 days prior to the exam that you can download your admission notice from your NCEES account.

NCEES has study material for the FE, PE, FS, and PS exams on their website. The Alabama History & Law study material can be found on our website under Applications then under ALSS Study Material.

The FE, PE, SE, FS & PS exam results are released by NCEES into your NCEES Account. The ALSS exam is a computer based exam (CBT), the results are immediate.

NCEES has available on the website all the exam content information for the FE, PE, FS, and PS exams. For the ALSS Exam, go to the website under Applications then under ALSS Study Material.

No.

The ALSS exam is a computer based exam.

The FE, PE, SE, FS and PS exams are administered by NCEES and they are computer based tests (CBT). You would need to check with them about where you can sit for the exam. The ALSS exam is a computer based exam.

No. If you had Veteran’s Preference Points added to your exam score to give you a passing grade, we cannot accept that exam. Georgia adds Veteran’s Preference Points to scores. If you are a veteran and took the exam(s) in Georgia, you may need to check with the Georgia Board to see if Veteran’s Preference Points were added to your score.

Is it 21 days prior to the exam? NCEES notifies you by email 21 days prior to the exam to download your admission notice from your NCEES account. Contact NCEES at (877) 536-7729 if you have not received an email. You can also log back into your NCEES Account to see if the admission card is available to be downloaded.

When you register with NCEES, there is an option for Special Accommodations. If you need more information, you would need to contact NCEES directly.

Most local office supply companies provide this service.

The stamp needs to be circular in form and not less than 1 & 5/8 inches nor greater than 2 inches in diameter.

It is not necessary to have the PE or PLS in front of your number as long at the stamp reads Professional Engineer or Professional Land Surveyor.

You may, as long as you put an original signature and date on your documents.

You may, as long as it meets the criteria established by the Board. See Administrative Code 330-X-2-(10)(b) for the criteria.