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Step 1
Before obtaining your civil PE license in the state of California, you will need to obtain your Engineer-in-Training (EIT) certificate. If you already have your EIT certification, your next step is to rack up your work experience. More information can be found at the Department of Consumers Affair website. Normally, a minimum of two years of progressive responsibility work experience is needed before you can apply for to take the professional engineering license test.
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Step 2
When you are eligible to take the test, your application needs to include recommendation from multiple professional engineer. Submit the application with the $275 application fee and let the studying begin. The PE exam is offered every April and October.
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Step 3
The California PE exam is made up of 4 separate tests, the National 8-hour national exam, surveying, seismic, and a take home ethics exam. Once one portion of the test is passed, you do not have to take that portion again. To start studying for the exam, you need to get the Michael Lindeburg Civil Exam Reference Manual. If you are only purchasing one book, this is the book you need. Study this book thoroughly and you should be able to pass the exam. Make sure you are familiar with the index as you will be looking it up a lot during the exam. The first half of the 8-hour test covers the general topics, and the afternoon section requires you to pick a specific topic, such as transportation, environmental, water resources, and structural. Pick the section that you are most familiar with. However, the structural section tends to be harder than the rest.
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Step 4
The second day of the test covers the Seismic section in the morning and Surveying section in the afternoon. These are state specific exams and some of the other states do not require them to get your license. Once you have taken the test, it takes approximately 13 weeks to get the results. Good Luck!
