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

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

If your firm has engineers or architects licensed in Iowa, 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 Iowa Engineering and Land Surveying Examining Board. Architects answer to the Iowa Architectural Examining Board (Iowa Professional Licensing Bureau, Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing).

PE license renewal in Iowa

Licenses expire every two years on December 31; licenses first issued in even years expire in odd years and those first issued in odd years expire in even years.

The board: Iowa Engineering and Land Surveying Examining Board. 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; sometimes shown "P12345". This is how SealBench reads the numbers on an imported roster; it isn’t a board rule.

PE continuing education (PDH)

• Hours: 30 PDH every two years. Biennial. Licenses expire December 31: those first issued in even years expire in odd years, those first issued in odd years expire in even years. The requirement is met in the biennium before renewal.
• Ethics: At least 2 of the 30 PDH in professional ethics. Dual PE and land surveyor licensees need 40 PDH (20 each) with at least 4 in ethics.
• Limits on some activities: teaching (at most 10) and self-directed study (at most 10) hours.
• Carryover: Up to 15 PDH may be carried forward only into the next biennium. Dual licensees may carry up to 10 PDH for each profession.
• New licensees: Partial, not a full exemption. A new licensee must complete one-half of the biennial requirement (15 PDH) at the first renewal after initial licensure. PEs licensed by comity are not new licensees and owe the full requirement.
• Records: Keep documentation of reported PDH for 2 years after the period for which the renewal form was submitted.
• Reporting: Licensee reports the number of PDH earned on the renewal form. The board selects licensees for compliance review at random or on information of noncompliance, and audits each board member once per term.

Architect license renewal and CE in Iowa

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, expiring June 30. Last name A-K: even years. Last name L-Z: odd years. No firm renewal. The board: Iowa Architectural Examining Board (Iowa Professional Licensing Bureau, Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing); each architect’s date is on the license lookup.

• Hours: 24 hours every two years, all in health, safety and welfare (HSW) topics. 24 months ending June 30 of the licensee's renewal year (even years A-K, odd years L-Z)
• Carryover: Excess CEHs cannot be credited to the next renewal (193B IAC 3.3(2)).
• New licensees: Licensed under 12 months at first renewal: no CE. Licensed 12 to under 23 months: report 12 CEHs earned in the prior 12 months (193B IAC 3.3(4)).
• Records: Keep documentation for two years after the period for which the form was submitted (193B IAC 3.3(3)).
• 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 Iowa engineering board. Iowa does not issue a firm license or certificate of authorization. A business offering engineering to the public must be owned, managed or staffed by Iowa-licensed PEs who are in responsible charge of all the work. A firm that holds itself out as an engineering firm cannot rely on an as-needed or consulting PE; it must keep the full-time services of a licensee, measured by sustained, direct supervision rather than hours. No officer, residency or replacement deadline was found.

Architecture firms

Our data shows no separate architecture firm registration in Iowa. Iowa does not register architecture firms. The board page says Iowa no longer registers firms and only registers individual architects. The old business-entity section, Iowa Code 544A.21, was repealed in 2014. Rule 193B-4.1(6)(a) still requires each office practicing architecture to have a resident architect regularly employed there in responsible charge, or, for remote work, immediately available to direct the work. No ownership rule and no change-notice deadline were found.

Architect in charge: Each office engaged in architecture must have an architect resident and regularly employed in that office in responsible charge, or, for remote work, immediately available to assist or direct throughout the work (193B IAC 4.1(6)(a)).

Firms that offer both

No architecture firm registration. Architects and engineers have separate boards under the same Professional Licensing Bureau.

Who can seal drawings in Iowa

Iowa issues a PE license without limiting it by discipline; engineers seal only work within their competence, which your firm judges. Iowa licenses PEs by branch and grants a Civil (Structural) branch license to those who pass the structural exam, but no rule found requires that branch for structural work (not yet confirmed).

On architectural sheets, our data says an engineer may seal some architectural work. Iowa Code 544A.17 says the architect chapter does not apply to professional engineers licensed under 542B, so PEs may design buildings. Iowa Code 544A.18 lets anyone design: detached residences of 12 or fewer units up to 3 stories; agricultural buildings; certain nonstructural alterations; 1-story warehouses/commercial up to 10,000 sq ft; 2-story commercial up to 6,000 sq ft; light industrial buildings; factory-built buildings up to 2 stories and 20,000 sq ft (or PE-certified); churches up to 2 stories and 2,000 sq ft.

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

Common mistakes

• Having enough hours but not the required topic. A Iowa PE needs at least 2 hours in ethics. Extra general hours don’t make up for a missing topic.

Where to file

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

• Iowa Engineering and Land Surveying Examining Board (engineers and engineering firms)
• Iowa engineer license lookup
• Iowa Architectural Examining Board (Iowa Professional Licensing Bureau, Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing) (architects and architecture firms)

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