Idaho Land Surveyor CE (PDH) Requirements (2026): 30 Hours Every 2 Years
Requirements Overview
The Idaho Board of Licensure of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors (IPELS), within the Division of Occupational and Professional Licenses (DOPL), requires every land surveyor to complete 30 PDH per biennium as a condition of licensure renewal (IDAPA 24.32.01.100.05). Notably, this is higher than the 24 PDH required of professional engineers under the very same rule — so surveyors should not rely on the engineer figure.
Carryover is generous: a licensee may carry forward up to 30 excess hours into the next renewal period. Membership in a professional society counts toward the requirement at 1 PDH per year, capped at 2 PDH per profession per year.
Idaho does not publish a separate mandatory ethics or state-law course requirement for surveyors in this rule; instead, courses that meet Section 3 of the NCEES Continuing Professional Competency (CPC) Guidelines are acceptable, and DOPL posts a PDH guidance document on its website. Always confirm current details with IPELS before assuming an activity qualifies.
How You Can Complete Your CE
Idaho CE Rules & Limits
Details specific to Idaho that generic CE guides tend to miss:
- Carry-over — A licensee may carry forward up to 30 hours of excess continuing education into the next renewal period.
- Idaho land surveyors must earn 30 PDH per biennium — 6 more than the 24 PDH required of professional engineers under the same rule. Do not assume the engineer figure applies to surveyors.
- Up to 30 excess PDH may be carried forward into the next renewal period.
- Membership in a professional society counts as 1 PDH per year, for a maximum of 2 PDH per profession per year.
- Courses that meet Section 3 of the NCEES CPC (Continuing Professional Competency) Guidelines are acceptable; a PDH guidance document is published on the DOPL/IPELS website.
Tips for Idaho PLSs
- Budget for 30 PDH, not 24 — Idaho land surveyors owe six more hours per biennium than professional engineers, a difference that is easy to miss.
- You can carry up to 30 excess PDH into the next cycle, so a heavy course year can effectively pre-fund the following renewal.
- Professional-society membership earns 1 PDH per year (max 2 per profession per year) — a small but automatic credit worth claiming if you belong to a society.
- Use the NCEES CPC guidelines (Section 3) as your test for whether a course qualifies, and check the DOPL/IPELS PDH guidance document for current specifics.
- If you hold both an Idaho PE and PLS license, track the surveyor requirement separately — the two professions carry different hour totals.
Sources
Each figure on this page is taken directly from the Idaho Board of Licensure of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors's official rules and continuing-education sources and recorded with the exact source excerpt. Last verified Jul 2026. Read how we compile and verify this data.