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

Last checked Sep 28, 2026. Not yet confirmed with the Delaware boards. Confirm anything you act on with the board. Not legal advice.

If your firm has engineers or architects licensed in Delaware, 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. Engineers answer to the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers (DAPE) Council. Architects answer to the Delaware Board of Architects (Division of Professional Regulation). Worth knowing up front: an A/E firm keeps two firm registrations.

PE license renewal in Delaware

PE licenses renew every two years by June 30 of even-numbered years. Firm COAs renew every year by September 30. The next deadline in our data is June 30, 2028.

The board: Delaware Association of Professional Engineers (DAPE) Council. 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: Digits only. This is how SealBench reads the numbers on an imported roster; it isn’t a board rule.

PE continuing education (PDH)

• Hours: 24 PDH every two years. Fixed statewide biennium from July 1 of an even year to June 30 of the next even year. All PE renewals are due June 30 of even-numbered years (current period 7/1/2024 to 6/30/2026; next 7/1/2026 to 6/30/2028).
• Ethics: At least 2 and no more than 6 of the 24 PDH must be in professional engineering ethics.
• Your area of practice: Every PDH that is not ethics or business/project management must be in the licensee's area of technical practice. With the ethics (6) and business (9) maximums used, at least 9 PDH must be technical; with fewer ethics or business hours, more technical hours are needed. Dual PE/PS licensees may use up to 12 PDH of surveying practice.
• Also required: Business or project management topics: no more than 9 PDH per biennium.
• Limits on some activities: educational outreach (at most 8) hours.
• Carryover: No carryover. PDH above 24 in a biennium cannot be used in a later biennium.
• New licensees: Licensees new by examination are exempt for their first renewal. Licensees new by comity are NOT exempt: they owe 1 PDH for each month since the Delaware license was issued (DAPE CPC Guidelines A.1-A.2).
• Records: Keep the CPC log and attendance proof for at least 3 years (DAPE CPC Guidelines F).
• Reporting: Licensee verifies CPC compliance at renewal. Council runs a random biennial audit of up to 5% of licensees; late renewals are audited automatically. DAPE accepts logs and documents through the NCEES tracking tool (DAPE CPC Guidelines F, H).

Architect license renewal and CE in Delaware

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.

Biennial. Individual licenses expire January 31 of even years. Late renewal up to 4 months after with a late fee; after that the license terminates. The board: Delaware Board of Architects (Division of Professional Regulation); each architect’s date is on the license lookup.

• Hours: 24 hours every two years, all in health, safety and welfare (HSW) topics. Two calendar years (Jan 1 - Dec 31) before the January 31 even-year renewal.
• Carryover: No carryover provision in the rule. CE done during a hardship extension cannot count toward a later period. Treating as 0; confirm.
• New licensees: Pro-rated at 1 CEU per month from the first full month after issuance to the end of the cycle (6.2.1).
• Records: 6 years from date of award (6.2.1.2).
• Units: An AIA learning unit (LU) is one hour.

Firm registration (COA) and qualifier rules

Engineering firms

A firm offering engineering in Delaware needs a firm credential from the board: Certificate of Authorization (COA). Engineering corporations and partnerships need a Certificate of Authorization, and so does a licensee practicing under a name other than his or her licensed name. One officer or employee must be a Delaware PE designated in responsible charge. Changes in officers, principals or the responsible PE must be filed within 30 days. No full-time or residency rule was found (not yet confirmed).

Architecture firms

A firm offering architecture needs a firm credential: Certificate of Authorization. Partnerships, corporations, LLCs and LLPs offering architecture need a Certificate of Authorization (24 Del.C. 312A). Sole proprietors and single-member LLCs do not (DPR COA page). At least one officer, partner or member designated as responsible must be a Delaware registered architect. Everyone acting as an architect must be registered. Each office must be under the supervision of a registered architect. Changes must be reported in writing within 30 days. Single and two-family dwellings and small farm buildings are exempt from the architect seal.

Ownership: No ownership percentage. One or more officers, partners or members designated as responsible for architectural services must be a Delaware registered architect (24 Del.C. 312A(b)(1)).

Architect in charge: At least one officer/partner/member designated as responsible must be a registered architect; each Delaware office must be under the supervision of a registered architect (312A(b),(d)). The COA application names a professional-in-charge who signs an acknowledgment.

Firm renewal: Biennial (312A). Exact COA expiry date not confirmed; likely same January 31 even-year cycle.

Firms that offer both

Architecture COA is issued by the Board of Architects under Title 24 Ch. 3. Engineering firm authorization is handled separately by the Delaware Association of Professional Engineers (separate statute). A firm doing both likely needs both. Not confirmed on a board page.

Firm numbers: Digits only.

Who can seal drawings in Delaware

Delaware issues a PE license without limiting it by discipline; engineers seal only work within their competence, which your firm judges. Delaware law has no separate structural engineer license (not yet confirmed).

On architectural sheets, our data says an engineer may seal architectural work only in limited cases. Statute exempts architecture practiced by a Delaware PE when incidental to an engineering project (24 Del.C. 303(b)(2)). No architect seal needed for detached single and two-family dwellings and their sheds/garages, farm buildings for 10 or fewer occupants, or non-structural non-permit alterations (Reg 2.2.3).

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

Common mistakes

• Treating an engineer’s license as the firm’s. A licensed PE can’t make up for a missing Certificate of Authorization (COA). In Delaware the firm needs its own before it offers engineering, and the four sheet checks fail without it.
• Registering an A/E firm with only one board. Delaware regulates engineering and architecture firms separately, so a firm that offers both keeps two registrations and two renewal dates.
• Losing the firm’s qualifying engineer without noticing. If the person the firm’s registration depends on leaves, the registration can be at risk. Our data doesn’t record a replacement deadline for Delaware, so ask the board. See what to do the day someone gives notice.
• Having enough hours but not the required topic. A Delaware PE needs at least 2 hours in ethics and at least 9 hours in your area of practice. Extra general hours don’t make up for a missing topic.
• Banking extra PDH for next time. No carryover. PDH above 24 in a biennium cannot be used in a later biennium.

Where to file

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

• Delaware Association of Professional Engineers (DAPE) Council (engineers and engineering firms)
• Delaware engineer license lookup
• Delaware Board of Architects (Division of Professional Regulation) (architects and architecture firms)
• Delaware 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 Delaware’s rules, and Set Check shows who can seal each sheet in a Delaware permit set, and why anyone can’t. One license is free to track; see pricing.