Colorado PE and architect license renewal: what firms need to track

Last checked Sep 28, 2026. Not yet confirmed with the Colorado State Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors. Confirm anything you act on with the board. Not legal advice.

Engineers: the Colorado PE license renewal and CE page has the next deadline, every CE rule with its source, and what changed recently.

If your firm has engineers or architects licensed in Colorado, you track three kinds of dates: each person’s license expiration, the end of each person’s CE period, and the firm’s own registration. One board, the Colorado State Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors, licenses both engineers and architects in Colorado. Worth knowing up front: Colorado is one of the few places with no PDH hours for PE renewal, so the engineering side is mostly about dates; architect CE runs on its own period, not the license term.

PE license renewal in Colorado

All PE licenses expire October 31 of odd-numbered years and are renewed every two years.

The board: Colorado State Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors. Look up each engineer’s current expiration date on the board’s license lookup rather than trusting the date on an old spreadsheet.

License numbers: DORA shows "PE." + 7 digits with leading zeros; people write the short number. This is how SealBench reads the numbers on an imported roster; it isn’t a board rule.

PE continuing education (PDH)

• Hours: No PDH hours are required to renew a PE license.
• New licensees: Not applicable: Colorado has no CE requirement for professional engineers, so there is nothing to exempt.
• Records: Not applicable: no CE requirement for PEs, so no CE record retention rule.
• Reporting: No CE reporting or CE audit for PEs.

Architect license renewal and CE in Colorado

The architect rules on this page come from our rule tables and haven’t been checked against the architecture board’s rules yet. Check with the board before you rely on them.

Architect licenses expire October 31 of odd-numbered years and renew every two years. No firm renewal (no firm registration). The board: Colorado State Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors; each architect’s date is on the license lookup.

• Hours: 12 hours every year, all in health, safety and welfare (HSW) topics. Calendar year. 12 CEHs in the even year before expiry and 12 in the odd expiry year; odd-year hours may be completed until December 31 (after the October 31 license expiry).
• Carryover: Excess CEHs may not be credited to a past or future renewal period or calendar year (Rule 1.4(I)(3)(a)(2)(g)).
• New licensees: Prorated by table: e.g., licensed by exam Nov 1 of an even year through July 3 of an odd year owes 0 CEHs for that renewal; licensed July 4 - Dec 31 of an odd year is not renewed that year. Endorsement licensees may use the endorsing state's CE for the even year in some cases.
• Records: Six years from the date of award (Rule 1.4(I)(3)(a)(2)(n)).
• Units: An AIA learning unit (LU) is one hour.

Firm registration (COA) and qualifier rules

Engineering firms

Our data shows no separate firm authorization from the Colorado engineering board. Colorado does not license or register engineering firms. Only the individual engineer must hold a Colorado PE license. No firm qualifier rule applies at the state level.

Architecture firms

Our data shows no separate architecture firm registration in Colorado. Colorado does not license or register architecture firms; the board's FAQ says companies need no registration or authorization to provide architecture. Only the individual architect must hold a Colorado license. The law does restrict use of 'Architect' in a company name (details not read). Sealed work must be under the architect's 'responsible control' as defined in Board Rule 1.2. One joint board covers architects, engineers and land surveyors.

Architect in charge: No firm-level rule. Each architect may seal only work under their responsible control (Board Rule 1.2 definition 16; Rule 1.7(A)(5)).

Firms that offer both

Joint board for architects and engineers, but Colorado registers neither architecture nor engineering firms.

Who can seal drawings in Colorado

Colorado issues a PE license without limiting it by discipline; engineers seal only work within their competence, which your firm judges. Colorado has no separate structural engineer license. The NCEES structural exam is only an exam option for the PE license.

Our data doesn’t record whether an engineer may seal architectural sheets in Colorado, so ask the architecture board. The architects part says nothing in it prevents the independent practice of a licensed PE (C.R.S. 12-120-403(5)), and the engineering definition covers 'structures, buildings' (C.R.S. 12-120-202). Whether a PE may design and seal a complete building's architectural sheets was not confirmed. Unlicensed persons may design one- to four-family dwellings and accessory buildings, and one-story (plus basement) garages, industrial, office and farm buildings for up to ten occupants (C.R.S. 12-120-403(1)).

Before a set goes out, every sheet has to pass four checks: a Colorado license, the right discipline, a license still active on the issue date, and the firm’s registration. Compare Colorado with other states on who can seal drawings, by state.

Common mistakes

• Counting architect CE against the license dates. For architects the CE period and the license term don’t line up. Calendar year. 12 CEHs in the even year before expiry and 12 in the odd expiry year; odd-year hours may be completed until December 31 (after the October 31 license expiry).

Where to file

SealBench never files anything with a board for you. Renewals, CE reports and firm registrations go to the board directly:

• Colorado State Board of Licensure for Architects, Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors (engineers, architects and firms)
• Colorado engineer license lookup
• Colorado architect license lookup

How SealBench helps

SealBench keeps every PE and architect license and every firm registration on your roster in one list, soonest expiration first. Reminders at 90, 60 and 30 days before each date are coming soon. It counts each person’s CE hours and required topics against Colorado’s rules, and Set Check shows who can seal each sheet in a Colorado permit set, and why anyone can’t. One license is free to track; see pricing.