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

Last checked September 29, 2026. The engineering firm rules here were checked against official sources on that date. CE and architect rules come from our rule tables and aren’t yet confirmed with the Florida boards. Not legal advice.

Engineers: the Florida 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 Florida, you track each person’s license expiration, each person’s CE hours, and the firm’s qualifying agents. Engineers answer to the Florida Board of Professional Engineers (FBPE). Architects answer to the Florida Board of Architecture and Interior Design, run through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR).

Florida is simpler than most on dates: engineers and architects both renew by February 28 of odd years. The part that trips firms up is the qualifying agent. When that person leaves, the firm’s right to practice in Florida is on the line.

PE license renewal in Florida

Every Florida PE is on the same two-year cycle, March 1 of an odd year to February 28 of the next odd year. Renewal and CE are due by February 28 of odd years: February 28, 2027, then February 28, 2029. Those dates come from the board’s CE page rather than the rule text.

The board is the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. Check each engineer’s status there rather than trusting an old spreadsheet.

License numbers: Florida PE numbers are digits only, 5 for older licenses and 6 for newer ones (for example, PE No. 12345). That’s how SealBench reads them on an imported roster, not a board rule.

PE continuing education (PDH)

• Hours: 18 hours in each two-year cycle, earned inside the cycle that ends on the license’s expiration date (Fla. Stat. 471.017(3); Rule 61G15-22.001).
• Florida laws and rules: 1 hour on Chapter 471 and the board’s rules, from a board-approved provider. The provider reports your completion to the board.
• Ethics: 1 hour. The course can be one approved for credit in any US jurisdiction.
• Area of practice: 4 hours related to your own area of practice.
• Advanced Florida Building Code: Only if you design work covered by the Florida Building Code. You need at least a 1-hour advanced course on each new code edition (starting with the 8th Edition, 2023), and you send the certificate to the board. It can count toward your area-of-practice hours, but it doesn’t replace the laws and rules hour.
• Society service: Up to 4 hours for serving as an officer or on a committee of a board-recognized engineering society. The credit is earned at the end of each year of service.
• Carryover: None. Extra hours don’t move into the next cycle (Rule 61G15-22.001(2)).
• New licensees: A PE first licensed on or after March 1, 2025 whose license shows a 2027 expiration needs only the laws and rules course and an ethics course for that first renewal. The Building Code course still applies if they design Code work.
• Records: Keep them for 4 years from the date you finished each course (Rule 61G15-22.006(3)).
• Reporting: Since the 2023-25 cycle, every Florida PE reports CE through NCEES CPC Tracking.

Architect license renewal and CE in Florida

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.

Florida architect licenses expire February 28 of odd-numbered years, and the license period runs March 1 of an odd year to February 28 of the next odd year. The board is the Florida Board of Architecture and Interior Design, and each architect’s status is on the DBPR license lookup.

• Hours: 24 hours every two years, all in health, safety and welfare (Rule 61G1-24.001). An AIA learning unit counts as one hour.
• Florida Building Code: 2 of the 24 must be specialized or advanced Florida Building Code, once per cycle. They count as HSW. The board page describes this as 22 HSW hours plus 2 Building Code hours.
• Which dates count: Our CE table records the reporting window as two calendar years, January 1 of an odd year to December 31 of the next even year, certified at the February renewal. That doesn’t match the March-to-February license period above, so confirm with the board which dates your hours must fall in.
• Carryover: None. Hours must be earned in the cycle that is ending.
• New architects: Someone first licensed less than 24 months before the end of the cycle needs no CE for the first renewal.
• Records: 2 years after the last day of the cycle, per the board’s CE handbook (dated 2016).
• Reporting: Paying the renewal fee certifies that the hours are done. Providers may report hours to DBPR, but don’t have to. The board audits, and a selected architect must produce records.
• Moving from another state: Florida has no reciprocity; it licenses by endorsement. NCARB certification is one path, not a requirement. Endorsement applicants also take a 2-hour board-approved wind mitigation class.

One loose end: our notes summarize the architecture statute (481.215) as requiring not less than 20 hours, while the rule and the board page say 24. Plan on 24, and confirm with the board.

Firm registration (COA) and qualifier rules

Engineering firms

A firm offering engineering in Florida needs a firm credential from the board: Engineering Business Registry registration (no certificate; qualified by a Florida-licensed PE as qualifying agent). Florida has not issued engineering Certificates of Authorization since October 1, 2019 (ch. 2019-86, Laws of Fla.). Instead, a business organization offering engineering in Florida, or anyone offering it under a fictitious name, must be registered in the Engineering Business Registry (DBPR, myfloridalicense.com) and qualified by a Florida-licensed PE as its qualifying agent (s. 471.023(1)-(2), F.S.). There is no certificate or license, no fee, and the registration does not expire or renew. Firms that held a current COA in 2019 were rolled over, with the CA number becoming the registration number. One or more principal officers or partners, and everyone who practices engineering for the firm in Florida, must be Florida-licensed PEs. The qualifying agent must report any change to the registration information within 30 days, and must notify the board within 24 hours on leaving the firm. If the only qualifying agent leaves, the firm may not practice engineering until another Florida PE qualifies it, and must be requalified within 60 days; the FEMC executive director or the board chair may let another licensee employed by the firm serve as temporary qualifying agent for up to 60 days to finish incomplete contracts (s. 471.023(4)). The registry also applies to out-of-state firms temporarily practicing in Florida.

Engineering firm renewal: Firm registrations do not expire and are not renewed. Keep the listing current on myfloridalicense.com and keep a qualifying agent linked to it.

Checked against official sources, September 29, 2026 Fla. Stat. 471.023 (2025): Qualification of business organizations (qualifying agent, 30-day change notice, 24-hour departure notice, 60-day requalification, temporary qualifying agent); history s. 9, ch. 2019-86; FBPE: Engineering Firms Don't Renew, But Must Keep Registration Current (no charge, no renewal, no certificate); FBPE: Engineering Firms Moved to Registry (as of Oct. 1, 2019; COAs rolled over).

See what to do when your qualifying engineer gives notice.

Architecture firms

A business may practice architecture in Florida only if a registered architect qualifies it, with board approval (F.S. 481.219, as amended in 2020). There is no longer a separate certificate of authorization; the business name appears on the qualifying architect’s license.

• Who must be licensed: One or more principal officers (for a corporation or LLC) or partners must be registered architects, and so must everyone acting as an architect in Florida. There is no ownership percentage.
• If the qualifying architect leaves: A new one must qualify within 60 days.
• Other changes: Changes to the application must be reported within 30 days.
• Renewal: We found no separate business renewal since 2020, because the business is carried on the qualifier’s license. Confirm with the board.

Firms that offer both

Florida law (481.219) lets one business offer architecture, engineering, interior design, surveying and landscape architecture. But the architecture side is qualified by a registered architect with the architecture board, and the engineering side by a PE with FBPE under Chapter 471. So plan on two qualifications, not one joint certificate. We haven’t confirmed this on a board page.

Who can seal drawings in Florida

Florida doesn’t limit a PE license by discipline. An engineer seals only work within their own competence, which your firm has to judge.

Engineers on architectural sheets are limited. A registered engineer may do architectural work that is purely incidental to engineering, without calling themselves an architect (481.229). No architect is needed for one- and two-family homes, townhouses, domestic outbuildings, or other buildings costing under $25,000, except public-use buildings.

Florida architects put their personal seal, signature and date on every drawing sheet and spec index sheet filed for public record; a corporate seal alone isn’t enough (Rule 61G1-16.003). The title block shows the firm’s name, address and phone, the qualifier’s license number, and the printed name and number of the architect who sealed it (Rule 61G1-16.004).

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

Common mistakes

• Reading the 60 days as time to keep working. If the only qualifying PE leaves, the firm may no longer provide engineering in Florida. The 60 days is the window to requalify. See what to do the day someone gives notice.
• Having enough hours but not the required topics. A Florida PE needs the laws and rules hour, the ethics hour and 4 area-of-practice hours. Extra general hours don’t make up for a missing topic.
• Forgetting the Building Code course. Engineers who design Florida Building Code work need an advanced course on each new code edition, and architects need 2 Building Code hours every cycle.
• Banking extra hours for next time. Neither engineers nor architects can carry hours into the next cycle.
• Qualifying an A/E firm on one side only. The engineering and architecture sides each need their own qualifying agent with their own board.

Where to file

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

• Florida Board of Professional Engineers (engineers and engineering businesses)
• FBPE CE reporting (NCEES CPC Tracking)
• Florida Board of Architecture and Interior Design (architects and architecture businesses)
• DBPR license lookup

How SealBench helps

SealBench puts 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 Florida’s rules. Set Check shows who can seal each sheet in a Florida permit set, and why anyone can’t. One license is free to track; see pricing.