DAPE does not receive any of the fee that you have paid to NCEES. Our staff and Examining Committee still need to review your application to verify that you qualify for licensure in Delaware. 

The application review typically takes 4-6 weeks. If you have an NCEES Record with a “Model Law Engineer” designation, the application review typically takes 2-3 weeks.  

If you do not have an NCEES Record, we verify your personal references and work verification via email from an automated system.  Intended recipients do not always receive our email as corporate filters may send it directly to spam/junk folders.  It’s important for you to follow up directly with your contacts to be sure our forms were delivered.   

Our Examining Committee meets the last Wednesday of each month and will review all applications that were complete as of the Thursday before their meeting (meaning all of your employment verification forms, professional reference forms, official transcripts, and examination verifications have been received).  

Yes. Our experience requirements are calculated based on a complete educational history. 

We review applications on a rolling basis. Our Examining Committee meets the last Wednesday of each month, and will review all applications that were complete as of the Thursday before their meeting (meaning all of your employment verification forms, professional reference forms, official transcripts and examination verifications have been received). You should allow 4-6 weeks for application review. 

An engineering corporation or partnership must have a certificate of authorization in order to practice, or offer to practice, engineering as defined in the Delaware Professional Engineers’ Act. A licensee who practices, or offers to practice, engineering under a name other than that person’s licensed name is required to obtain a Certificate of Authorization or to practice under a Certificate of Authorization. 

We have PE certificates made in batches after applicants are approved for a license. We mail them about 4-6 weeks after the license has been approved. However, you can always access your account and print a wallet card once you are on our active roster. Note: We do not mail out new certificates with each renewal. You can print an updated wallet card and/or verify your active status on our roster. 

Yes. DAPE charges $15 for a replacement certificate. Email office@dape.org, and we’ll invoice you via PayPal. 

An engineering corporation or partnership must have a certificate of authorization in order to practice, or offer to practice, engineering as defined in the Delaware Professional Engineers’ Act. A licensee who practices, or offers to practice, engineering under a name other than that person’s licensed name is required to obtain a Certificate of Authorization or to practice under a Certificate of Authorization. 

Use the links below to verify a license:

Active PEs

Firms

Yes, if they are offering or providing engineering services in Delaware, they need to be licensed.  

In Delaware, the Engineering profession is “self-regulating.” The Delaware Association of Professional Engineers (DAPE) is established by law and consists of all the professional engineers licensed in Delaware. These “members” are selected by voting 12 of the 15 members to the “Council” of DAPE. The remaining 3 seats are public members appointed by the Governor.  The “Council” performs the duties of “The Board of Licensing for Engineers” established in other states. Our objectives are best described in Section 2804 of the Delaware Professional Engineers’ Act :

“There is hereby established the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers, an instrumentality of the State. The objectives of the Association and of this chapter are to: regulate the practice of engineering; to provide for the registration of qualified persons as professional engineers and the certification of engineer interns; to define the terms “engineer”, “professional engineer”, “engineer intern” and “the practice of engineering”; to create an organization to regulate the practice of engineering; to provide and administer qualifying examinations and grant registration to qualified persons as professional engineers; to provide for the appointment and election of members to the governing body of this Association; to define the powers and duties of the Council; to set forth the minimum qualifications and other requirements for registration as a professional engineer; for certification as an engineer intern; the granting of a permit to practice engineering, and the granting of a certificate of authorization; to set rules for the establishment of fees, expiration requirements and renewal requirements; to establish continued professional competency guidelines and requirements; and to provide for the enforcement of this chapter together with penalties for violations of the provisions of this chapter.”

The National Society of Professional Engineers and NSPE-DE mission is to promote the ethical and competent practice of engineering, advocate licensure, and enhance the professional, social, and economic development and well-being of licensed engineers.

For more information about DES, including contacts, visit their website.

The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing professional licensure for engineers and surveyors.

In the United States, engineers and surveyors are licensed at the state and territory level. U.S. licensure began in 1891 when California passed legislation to regulate surveyors. Engineering followed in 1907 when Wyoming began requiring licensure for both engineers and surveyors. As more states enacted similar legislation over the next decade, U.S. licensing boards began to see a need for a national council to help improve the uniformity of laws and to promote mobility of licensure.

NCEES administers the exams required of individual PE applicants. Learn More.

Please find information about Delaware’s Professional Land Surveyor Board here or Delaware’s Board of Architects here.