Texas PE CE (PDH) Requirements (2026): 15 Hours Every Year

Requirements Overview

The Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (TBPELS) runs a self-administered continuing education program. Active PEs must complete 15 PDH each renewal period, and at least 1 PDH must address the TBPELS Act, Board Rules, and/or ethics under Board Rule 137.17. Licensees over age 65, non-practicing, industry-exempt, and retired PEs are all still bound by the full 15 hours.

Excess credit helps: you may carry over up to 14 PDH into the following year, but the mandatory ethics/Act-and-Rules hour must be earned fresh every period and never carries. Self-study is capped at 5 PDH. TBPELS pre-approves no courses and keeps no approved-course list — any activity with educational, technical, ethical, or managerial engineering content counts. Texas is moving to a two-year cycle requiring 30 PDH (including 2 ethics hours) for affected 2028/2029 renewals.

Mandatory Topics

Renewal Pathways

Exemptions

• ✓
  Inactive Status — Currently in Inactive Status. Must apply for Inactive Status before the renewal is due.

  Simply checking the 'Currently Inactive' box on the renewal form does NOT change status; a form must be submitted before renewal is due
• ✓
  Disability Illness — Experiencing physical disability, illness, or other extenuating circumstances as reviewed and approved by the Board.

  Supporting documentation must be provided

  Subject to Board review and approval
• ✓
  Military Deployment — Deployed Military Service.

  Minimum 120 days of deployment during the year
• ✓
  New Licensee — New license and registration holders are exempt for their first renewal period.

  Only if the licensing or registration exam was taken within 1 calendar year of the license or registration issuance date

How You Can Complete Your CE

Texas CE Rules & Limits

Details specific to Texas that generic CE guides tend to miss:

• Annual minimum — at least 15 hours must be completed each year of the cycle, not just by the renewal deadline.
• Carry-over — Professional engineers can carry over up to 14 hours from one year to the next. The annual ethics/Act-Rules hour cannot be carried over and must be earned each renewal period.
• Self-study is capped at a maximum of 5 PDH per renewal period for professional engineers; it is credited hour-for-hour and this maximum is set by the legislature.
• Free online classes/videos count as full PDH only if you have supporting documentation from the producing entity; without documentation they can only count as self-study (max 5 PDH).
• TBPELS does not pre-approve any courses and has no approved-course list; the program is self-administered.
• PEs over age 65, active licensees who are not practicing engineering, industry-exempt engineers, and retired licensees are NOT exempt from the 15-hour CEP requirement.
• Reactivating an inactive license requires obtaining all delinquent PDH, but the maximum required to become current is capped at 30 hours for engineers.
• PDH may be earned by teaching/instructing, authoring published papers/articles/books or accepted licensing exam items, patents issued, active participation in professional/technical societies, and K-12/higher-education outreach; see Board Rule 137.17(i) for the per-activity PDH limits.
• Texas is transitioning from an annual (1-year) renewal cycle to a two-year renewal cycle; the two-year requirement is 30 PDH including 2 ethics hours (applies to 2028/2029 renewals for licensees whose next renewal is two years or more from their 2026 renewal).
• After renewals a percentage of licensees are audited and must provide continuing education certificates and logs; do not submit documentation with the renewal, but retain records (log sheet retention for audit purposes).
• CPC/PDH activity can optionally be tracked for free through a MyNCEES account (NCEES CE Tracking).

Provider Requirements

Self-administered program: TBPELS does not pre-approve courses and maintains no list of approved courses or activities. Any activity relevant to the practice of engineering that has educational, technical, ethical, or managerial content counts (Board Rule 137.17(f)/(g)). Qualifying activities include college credit courses; continuing education courses offered by professional/trade organizations, universities/colleges, or in-house by a corporation or society; correspondence, on-line, televised, videotaped, and other short courses/tutorials; presenting or attending seminars, workshops, and conference presentations; teaching or instructing; authoring published papers, articles, books, or accepted licensing exam items; active participation in professional/technical societies; patents issued; self-directed study; and K-12 or higher-education outreach.

Tips for Texas PEs

• Earn the mandatory ethics/Act-and-Rules hour every single year — it never carries over, so a carried-forward balance won't cover it. You can satisfy it by reviewing the TBPELS Law and Board Rules or by taking ethics coursework.
• Carry forward up to 14 non-ethics PDH from one year to the next, so front-loading courses in a heavy year can lighten the next renewal.
• Undocumented free online videos count only as self-study, which is capped at 5 PDH; get supporting documentation from the producing entity to claim them as full PDH.
• There is no approved-provider list — you self-select and self-report activities, then retain your logs and certificates because a percentage of licensees are audited after renewal.
• Track PDH for free in a MyNCEES account, and note Texas is shifting to a two-year, 30-PDH (2 ethics) cycle affecting 2028/2029 renewals; verify your own timing with the board.

Sources

Each figure on this page is taken directly from the Texas Board of Professional Engineers and 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.

PE Requirements in Nearby States

Other Professions in Texas