Oregon Land Surveyor CE (PDH) Requirements (2026): 30 Hours Every 2 Years
Requirements Overview
The Oregon State Board of Examiners for Engineering & Land Surveying (OSBEELS) requires every registered professional land surveyor to obtain 30 professional development hours (PDH) during each two-year (biennial) registration period as a condition of renewal. Surveyors are held to the same PDH total as engineers.
Oregon keeps the rules flexible: there are no mandatory subject areas — no fixed ethics or laws hours — and OSBEELS does not pre-approve courses or maintain an official provider list. Activities simply have to be pertinent to your license or advance your professional education. Up to 15 excess PDH may be carried forward into the next registration period; anything beyond that is forfeited.
Surveyors licensed for only part of a period (six months or more) receive a prorated requirement rather than the full 30 hours.
Exemptions
- Prorated For Partial Registration Periods — Registrants licensed for part of a registration period of six months or greater obtain a prorated amount of required PDH rather than the full 30. (Those licensed for less than six months of the period may owe no PDH for that period.)
How You Can Complete Your CE
Oregon CE Rules & Limits
Details specific to Oregon that generic CE guides tend to miss:
- Carry-over — Up to 15 excess PDH units may be carried forward into the next registration period. Hours earned beyond that cap are forfeited.
- The requirement is 30 PDH per two-year (biennial) registration period, applied to professional land surveyors the same as to engineers.
- There are no mandatory subject areas (no fixed ethics or laws hours); activities need only be pertinent to your license or professional education.
- OSBEELS does not maintain an approved provider/course list and does not pre-approve courses — the registrant is responsible for choosing qualifying activities.
- Retain PDH documentation for five (5) years. OSBEELS runs random audits each January and July, selecting about 3% of registered land surveyors.
Tips for Oregon PLSs
- Because OSBEELS pre-approves nothing, you are responsible for judging whether an activity is pertinent to land surveying — keep the course description and objectives with your records.
- Retain all PDH documentation for five years. OSBEELS runs random audits every January and July and pulls roughly 3% of registered land surveyors.
- There are no required ethics or laws hours in Oregon, so you have full latitude to choose technical or professional-development content relevant to your practice.
- You can bank up to 15 excess PDH into the next two-year period, so a heavy conference year can lighten the next cycle.
- If you were licensed partway through a period (six months or more), contact OSBEELS to confirm your prorated PDH count before assuming you owe the full 30.
Sources
Each figure on this page is taken directly from the Oregon State Board of Examiners for Engineering & Land Surveying (OSBEELS)'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.