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

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

If your firm has engineers or architects licensed in Montana, 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 Montana Board of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors. Architects answer to the Montana Board of Architects and Landscape Architects (Department of Labor and Industry). Worth knowing up front: architect CE runs on its own period, not the license term.

PE license renewal in Montana

PE licenses renew every 2 years by June 30 of even-numbered years; firm COAs renew every year by October 1. The next deadline in our data is June 30, 2028.

The board: Montana Board of Professional Engineers and Professional Land Surveyors. 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: Montana eBiz shows "PEL-PE-LIC-" + digits; people write digits. 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. Statewide two-year renewal period. PE licenses renew biennially by June 30 of even-numbered years (ARM 24.101.413), and 30 PDH are due for the two-year renewal period (ARM 24.183.2105(3)). The board describes the cycle as July 1 to June 30.
• Limits on some activities: self-directed study (at most 10) hours.
• Carryover: Up to 15 PDH may be carried into the next renewal period (ARM 24.183.2105(3)).
• New licensees: Partial exemption. New licensees by examination or comity are exempt from accruing PDH for 12 months after licensure; after that the rule requires 7.5 PDH for each six-month period of licensure. The rule words this as running "until the first renewal period that occurs on or after June 30, 2008", so confirm how the board applies it today (ARM 24.183.2105(7)(a)) (not yet confirmed).
• Records: Keep records for 3 years (ARM 24.183.2105(6)).
• Reporting: At renewal the licensee affirms an understanding of the continuing duty to comply (ARM 24.183.2105(1)). The department may randomly audit up to 50 percent of renewed licensees (2105(9)); noncompliance may lead to administrative suspension (2105(10)). Records may be kept in PDRES or similar repositories.

Architect license renewal and CE in Montana

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 year by June 30. The board: Montana Board of Architects and Landscape Architects (Department of Labor and Industry); each architect’s date is on the license lookup.

• Hours: 12 hours every year, all in health, safety and welfare (HSW) topics. Calendar year, January 1 - December 31; affirmed at the June 30 renewal for the preceding calendar year.
• Carryover: No carryover provision found in ARM 24.114.2105 (2022 copy).
• New licensees: CE not required for licensees renewing for the first time (ARM 24.114.2105(1)(b)). Emeritus exempt.
• Records: 2022 rule copy: at least two years. Conflict; confirm.
• Units: An AIA learning unit (LU) is one hour.

Firm registration (COA) and qualifier rules

Engineering firms

A firm offering engineering in Montana needs a firm credential from the board: Certificate of Authorization (COA). Any business entity registered with the Montana Secretary of State needs a Certificate of Authorization; a sole proprietor not required to register with the Secretary of State is exempt. At least one employee licensed in Montana must be identified as in responsible charge, including for each branch office. If that person leaves, the firm must name a replacement and notify the board within 45 working days, and may not offer services while it has no Montana licensee in responsible charge.

Architecture firms

Our data shows no separate architecture firm registration in Montana. Only individuals are licensed as architects; no firm, partnership or corporation may be licensed (MCA 37-65-302). Architects in a firm may use the collective title 'architects'. The board's business-entity, partnership-statement and branch-office rules were repealed (ARM 24.114.403-.405). NCARB says firms register with the Secretary of State and professional corporations file articles with the board. No ownership or responsible-architect rule found. Exempt: residential buildings of fewer than eight living units, farm buildings, owner-built non-public buildings, and non-structural alterations (MCA 37-65-103).

Firms that offer both

Separate boards (Architects and Landscape Architects; Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors). The architects board has no firm registration. The joint seal brochure flags 'plans sealed by an engineer who is an employee of a company without a certificate of authority' as a red flag, so the engineering board appears to require its own firm certificate; that is an engineering-side rule.

Who can seal drawings in Montana

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

On architectural sheets, our data says an engineer may seal architectural work only in limited cases. MCA 37-65-103(4)(b) lets PEs perform architectural services purely incidental to their engineering practice. The joint architect/engineer seal brochure says a PE should not seal architectural drawings or sheets labeled as such. Anyone may design residential construction of fewer than eight living units or non-public farm buildings, and owners may design their own non-public buildings.

Before a set goes out, every sheet has to pass four checks: a Montana license, the right discipline, a license still active on the issue date, and the firm’s registration. Compare Montana 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 Montana the firm needs its own before it offers engineering, and the four sheet checks fail without it.
• 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 Montana, so ask the board. See what to do the day someone gives notice.
• Counting architect CE against the license dates. For architects the CE period and the license term don’t line up. Calendar year, January 1 - December 31; affirmed at the June 30 renewal for the preceding calendar year.

Where to file

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

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