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

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

If your firm has engineers or architects licensed in Missouri, 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 Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Professional Landscape Architects, licenses both engineers and architects in Missouri. Worth knowing up front: an A/E firm keeps two firm registrations.

PE license renewal in Missouri

Licenses renew every 2 years and expire December 31 of even or odd years, matching the year the license was first issued.

The board: Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Professional Landscape Architects. 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: Newer: 4-digit year + 6 digits (PE-2010012345). Older: "E-12345". 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 renewal by December 31 of odd or even years, matching the year the license was first issued (20 CSR 2030-11.010(1)). The 30 PDH must be earned within the two immediately-preceding years (20 CSR 2030-11.015(1)(A)).
• Limits on some activities: papers and publications (at most 10) hours.
• Carryover: Excess hours, up to 15, may be applied to the next two-year period (20 CSR 2030-11.015(1)(A)). The board fact sheet says a licensee claiming carryover must also submit the prior period's log and attendance records if audited.
• New licensees: A PE licensed in Missouri for less than 12 months from initial licensure need not report PDH at the first renewal (20 CSR 2030-11.015(1)(E)). Because licenses renew December 31 of the issue year's parity, most first renewals fall inside 12 months. A licensee past 12 months at first renewal owes the full requirement (not yet confirmed).
• Records: Keep the log and attendance records for 4 years; tell the board in writing within 30 days if records are lost or destroyed (20 CSR 2030-11.015(9)).
• Reporting: Each renewal includes a board continuing education form that the licensee certifies, signs and submits with the renewal (20 CSR 2030-11.015(8)). The board may randomly audit a portion of licensees each renewal period, or a licensee named in a complaint (11.015(9)). Disallowed credit may be cured within 3 months of the renewal date (11.015(10)).

Architect license renewal and CE in Missouri

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 by December 31; odd or even year follows the year the license was first issued. The board: Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Professional Landscape Architects (APELSLA); each architect’s date is on the license lookup.

• Hours: 24 hours every two years, at least 16 in health, safety and welfare (HSW) topics. The two years immediately preceding the renewal date (Dec 31 of the licensee's renewal year).
• Also required: Public boards/commissions or AXP mentor: max 2 CEUs per year per organization.
• Also required: Sponsored education tours: max 2 CEUs per year.
• Limits on some activities: professional service (at most 2) and papers and publications (at most 10) hours.
• Carryover: Excess over 24 CEUs in the preceding two years may carry to the next period, up to 12 units (20 CSR 2030-11.025(1)(A)).
• New licensees: An architect licensed less than 12 months at the first renewal need not report CE (20 CSR 2030-11.025(3)).
• Records: Four years; lost records must be reported in writing within 30 days (20 CSR 2030-11.025(9)).
• Units: An AIA learning unit (LU) is one hour.

Firm registration (COA) and qualifier rules

Engineering firms

A firm offering engineering in Missouri needs a firm credential from the board: Corporate Certificate of Authority. General business corporations, professional corporations and LLCs need a Corporate Certificate of Authority; the board does not issue one to partnerships or sole proprietors (their individuals must be licensed). Directors must assign responsibility for engineering to a Missouri-licensed PE, and the managing agent must be an owner, officer, member, manager or full-time employee. Any change in the managing agent or listed persons must be reported within 30 days.

Architecture firms

A firm offering architecture needs a firm credential: Certificate of Authority (corporations and LLCs; one per profession). Corporations, professional corporations and LLCs (domestic and foreign) offering architecture need a Certificate of Authority for architecture from the board (RSMo 327.401; 20 CSR 2030-10.010). Partnerships (LP, LLP) and sole proprietors do not. No ownership percentage rule. The directors assign responsibility for architectural activities to a Missouri-licensed architect named as managing agent, who must be an owner, officer, member, manager or full-time employee. A change of managing agent is reported on a new form within 30 days. A firm that only subcontracts the work to a Missouri-licensed subconsultant does not need a certificate. Exempt buildings include dwellings, two-family dwellings, and small buildings (under 2,000 sq ft and 9 or fewer occupants) if drawings say the preparer is not an architect.

Ownership: No ownership or officer percentage. Certificate of Authority application lists all officers and directors (or members and managers) and a Missouri-licensed managing agent for each profession.

Architect in charge: Directors assign responsibility for architectural activities to a Missouri-licensed architect as managing agent (owner, officer, member, manager or full-time employee). The managing agent renews the certificate, notifies the board of changes, supervises licensing activities, and assures immediate personal supervision at each office (20 CSR 2030-10.010(2)-(3)).

Firm renewal: Certificate of Authority renews every two years by December 31, parity by year of original issue (20 CSR 2030-11.010(2)).

Firms that offer both

Joint board, but the board FAQ says a separate Certificate of Authority is required for each of architecture, professional engineering, land surveying and landscape architecture (RSMo 327.401.2: 'a certificate of authority for each profession named'). An A/E corporation needs two certificates, each with its own licensed managing agent.

Firm numbers: Year-based 10 digits like PE numbers; the column header must say which.

Who can seal drawings in Missouri

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

On architectural sheets, our data says an engineer may seal architectural work only in limited cases. RSMo 327.101.2(3) lets a PE perform only such architecture as is incidental and necessary to the PE's lawful engineering services; 327.181 defines engineering to include architectural work incidental to engineering. Unlicensed persons may design a dwelling house, a two-family dwelling, or one building under 2,000 sq ft for 9 or fewer persons, if documents say they are not an architect (327.101.2(5)).

Before a set goes out, every sheet has to pass four checks: a Missouri license, the right discipline, a license still active on the issue date, and the firm’s registration. Compare Missouri 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 Corporate Certificate of Authority. In Missouri 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. Missouri 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 Missouri, so ask the board. See what to do the day someone gives notice.

Where to file

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

• Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Professional Landscape Architects (engineers, architects and firms)
• Missouri engineer license lookup
• Missouri Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Professional Land Surveyors, and Professional Landscape Architects (APELSLA) (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 Missouri’s rules, and Set Check shows who can seal each sheet in a Missouri permit set, and why anyone can’t. One license is free to track; see pricing.