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

Last checked Sep 28, 2026. Not yet confirmed with the Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience and Interior Design (AELSLAGID). Confirm anything you act on with the board. Not legal advice.

If your firm has engineers or architects licensed in Minnesota, 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 Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience and Interior Design (AELSLAGID), licenses both engineers and architects in Minnesota.

PE license renewal in Minnesota

All licenses expire at midnight on June 30 of each even-numbered year and renew every 2 years. The next deadline in our data is June 30, 2028.

The board: Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience and Interior Design (AELSLAGID). Look up each engineer’s current expiration date on the board’s license lookup rather than trusting the date on an old spreadsheet.

PE continuing education (PDH)

• Hours: 24 PDH every two years. Statewide biennium ending June 30 of each even-numbered year. Renewal is due on or before June 30 of each even-numbered year (Minn. Stat. 326.105), and the hours must be earned during the two-year period before biennial renewal (Minn. Stat. 326.107, subd. 1(a)).
• Ethics: Two hours in professional ethics, earned in the biennium they are applied to. Ethics hours cannot be carried over. The board says the ethics need not be profession-specific.
• Limits on some activities: professional service (at most 10) hours.
• Carryover: Carryover may not exceed 50 percent of the biennial requirement, so up to 12 hours (Minn. Stat. 326.107, subd. 1(a)). Ethics hours, exam grading or writing hours, public-service hours and patent hours cannot be carried over.
• New licensees: A new licensee is exempt for the first biennial renewal (Minn. Stat. 326.107, subd. 4(1)). The board says this exemption is automatic.
• Records: Keep records for 4 years after the end of the licensure period the hours apply to (Minn. Stat. 326.107, subd. 7).
• Reporting: Licensees report hours when they renew; the board says at least 2 ethics hours from the current period must be reported to renew. The board may require records to verify a renewal application, in a random audit, or after a complaint (Minn. Stat. 326.107, subd. 7). Rejected hours start a 180-day cure period, then suspension (subd. 8). The board does not pre-approve providers.

Architect license renewal and CE in Minnesota

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.

Individual license renews every two years, due June 30 of each even-numbered year, regardless of issue date. The board: Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience and Interior Design (AELSLAGID); each architect’s date is on the license lookup.

• Hours: 24 hours every two years. Two-year licensure period ending June 30 of each even-numbered year.
• Ethics: Two hours of professional ethics each biennium; must be earned in that biennium; cannot carry over.
• Also required: Professional exam grading or writing; no carryover.
• Also required: Service on boards, commissions and committees; no carryover.
• Also required: 10 hours per patent granted in the biennium.
• Carryover: Carryover from the previous period may not exceed 50% of the biennial requirement (12 hours). Ethics, exam, service and patent hours cannot carry over.
• New licensees: New licensees are exempt for their first biennial renewal (326.107 subd. 4).
• Records: Four years after the end of the licensure period for which the hours apply (326.107 subd. 7).
• 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 Minnesota engineering board. Minnesota does not require a general firm license. Under Minn. Stat. 326.14 a firm may practice if the person in responsible charge is licensed. Only firms that elect professional firm status under Minn. Stat. 319B must register with the board; for those, all owners and people with governance authority must be licensed professionals (nonprofits need only one), annual reports are due January 1, and an owner's death or disqualification must be reported within 30 days.

Architecture firms

Our data shows no separate architecture firm registration in Minnesota. Board firm registration is not required unless the firm elected Professional Firm status (Minn. Stat. ch. 319B) with the Secretary of State. 319B professional firms register with the board and file periodic reports (Minn. R. 1800.4600). In a 319B firm every owner and governor must be licensed in at least one pertinent profession. Any firm may practice only if the person in responsible charge of the work is licensed in the profession called for (Minn. Stat. 326.14). Changes to the professional in responsible charge are emailed to the board (no deadline found). Single- and two-family dwellings, farm buildings and certain temporary buildings are exempt (326.03 subd. 2), plus rule-based size/occupancy exemptions (1800.5200-5900).

Ownership: Only for 319B professional firms: ownership interests may be held only by professionals licensed to furnish at least one category of the pertinent professional services (319B.07). No rule for ordinary firms.

Architect in charge: The person or persons in responsible charge of architectural work for a firm must be Minnesota licensed architects (Minn. Stat. 326.14). No per-office or full-time rule found.

Firm renewal: 319B professional firm registrations expire December 31 each year and renew annually ($25).

Firms that offer both

One joint board covers architects and engineers. Ordinary firms do not register. A 319B professional firm files one registration with the joint board, listing its professions and responsible licensees.

Firm numbers: Digits.

Who can seal drawings in Minnesota

Minnesota issues a PE license without limiting it by discipline; engineers seal only work within their competence, which your firm judges. Minnesota has no separate structural engineer license; a PE may do structural work within competence.

On architectural sheets, our data says an engineer may seal architectural work only in limited cases. Minn. R. 1800.5200 requires building plans to be prepared and certified by an architect or engineer licensed under 326.02-326.15, so an engineer may certify building plans within the engineer's area of licensure and competence (1800.4200 limits certification to one's area of licensure). No explicit incidental-practice clause found. Exempt: single and two-family dwellings, farm buildings, temporary construction sheds (326.03 subd. 2) and remodels/small buildings under 1800.5200-5900 thresholds.

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

Common mistakes

• Having enough hours but not the required topic. A Minnesota 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:

• Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience and Interior Design (AELSLAGID) (engineers, architects and firms)
• Minnesota engineer 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 Minnesota’s rules, and Set Check shows who can seal each sheet in a Minnesota permit set, and why anyone can’t. One license is free to track; see pricing.