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

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

If your firm has engineers or architects licensed in Nevada, 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 Nevada State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Architects answer to the Nevada State Board of Architecture, Interior Design and Residential Design. Worth knowing up front: an A/E firm keeps two firm registrations; some structural work needs a structural engineer license.

PE license renewal in Nevada

PE licenses renew every 2 years on January 1 or July 1 of odd or even years depending on last name; firm registrations renew every year.

The board: Nevada State Board of Professional Engineers and 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: Digits, board may zero-pad to 6. 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 period staggered by the first letter of the surname: A-E January 1 of odd years, F-K July 1 of odd years, L-R January 1 of even years, S-Z July 1 of even years (NAC 625.410(2)). The 30 hours must be completed within the biennial renewal period (NAC 625.430(1)).
• Ethics: Two hours in professional ethics. These hours cannot be carried forward.
• The state’s laws and rules: One hour on NRS and NAC chapter 625 (Nevada engineering statutes and regulations). Cannot be carried forward. The board says a documented self-review of the statutes and regulations, or its webinar, satisfies it.
• Carryover: Up to 15 excess hours may carry into the next biennial renewal period. Hours used for the ethics or Nevada law requirement cannot be carried forward (NAC 625.430(3)).
• New licensees: Not automatic. A licensee may apply for an exemption for a biennial renewal period if the initial license was issued during that period or less than 2 years before it began, with supporting documentation; if approved, no CE is owed for that period (NAC 625.440(1)(a), (3)).
• Records: Keep the completed form and proof of completion for at least 3 years (NAC 625.480(2)(a)).
• Reporting: The licensee submits proof acceptable to the board with a board form at renewal (NAC 625.430(1), 625.480); the board says PDHs are reported on the renewal application. After each renewal period the board audits a random sample of 100 licensees (board page). If the board accepts fewer than 30 hours it gives 6 months to make them up, or the license goes inactive (NAC 625.490). NCEES CPC records are accepted. Non-residents meeting a substantially equivalent home-state requirement may have reporting waived (NAC 625.450).

Architect license renewal and CE in Nevada

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.

Annual. Every certificate expires December 31. Renewal requires fee plus CE certification for that calendar year (NAC 623.644). The board: Nevada State Board of Architecture, Interior Design and Residential Design; each architect’s date is on the license lookup.

• Hours: 8 hours every year, all in health, safety and welfare (HSW) topics. Calendar year (Jan 1 - Dec 31); certification due with renewal by Dec 31.
• Also required: At least 2 CEUs in research or learning on relevant building codes (structured or self-directed).
• Also required: AXP/IDEP mentoring capped at 2 CEUs per year.
• Limits on some activities: self-directed study (at most 4) hours.
• Carryover: Not more than 4 CEUs earned in structured activities in a calendar year may be carried forward to the next calendar year (NAC 623.634).
• New licensees: Initial registrants are exempt for the year of issue and the next following year (NAC 623.638(1)). Military active duty over 120 days also exempt.
• Records: At least 3 years after the renewal date; log on Board form plus attendance proof or approved repository records (NAC 623.640).
• Units: An AIA learning unit (LU) is one hour.

Firm registration (COA) and qualifier rules

Engineering firms

A firm offering engineering in Nevada needs a firm credential from the board: Firm registration. Every business entity that offers engineering in Nevada must register with the board; an individual sole proprietor practicing in their own name is exempt. The firm must employ full-time at least one PE, placed in responsible charge, and a full-time PE licensed in each discipline it offers; if that PE leaves, the firm must hire another full-time PE within 30 days. Changes in principals or the responsible licensee must be reported within 30 days.

Architecture firms

A firm offering architecture needs a firm credential: Firm Registration (certificate of registration for business organizations under NRS 623.349); Firm Name Approval for wholly-owned firms using a fictitious name. Firm registration is required only for firms not wholly owned by Nevada registrants (mixed-ownership firms under NRS 623.349). Control and two-thirds ownership must be held by persons registered or licensed in Nevada under NRS 623 (architects, interior designers, residential designers), 623A (landscape architects) or 625 (engineers, surveyors). Wholly-owned firms using a fictitious name need Board name approval instead (NAC 623.740). Each Nevada office must have a Nevada-resident architect (or other registrant) regularly working there in responsible control (NRS 623.350); construction-administration offices are exempt. Changes in ownership, management or fictitious name must be reported within 30 days (NAC 623.740(5)). Sole proprietors under their own name need neither.

Ownership: Control and two-thirds (66.67%) ownership held by persons registered or licensed in Nevada under NRS 623, 623A or 625 (architects, interior designers, residential designers, landscape architects, professional engineers). A firm may not promote the services of a registrant who is not an owner.

Architect in charge: Each office or place of business in Nevada must have a registrant who is a Nevada resident, regularly working in that office, with responsible control of the architectural work there (NRS 623.350(1)). Offices set up only for construction administration are exempt.

Firm renewal: Not stated on the board firm page. Likely annual with the certificate fee under NRS 623.310; corporations must file a stockholder list annually within 30 days after the annual meeting (NRS 623.349(2)(d)). Unconfirmed.

Firms that offer both

Architecture is regulated by NSBAIDRD (NRS 623) and engineering by the separate Nevada State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (NRS 625). The NSBAIDRD firm page tells other design boards' licensees to check their own board's firm rules. A mixed A/E firm would likely need NSBAIDRD firm registration plus any engineering-board firm certificate. Not confirmed with either board.

Firm numbers: Firm registration digits.

Who can seal drawings in Nevada

Nevada ties sealing to the discipline on the license, so a sheet’s discipline has to match what the engineer is licensed in. An SE license is required for buildings over 3 stories or 45 feet, Risk Category IV essential facilities, and special structures such as towers and signs over 100 feet.

On architectural sheets, our data says an engineer may seal architectural work only in limited cases. NRS 623.035(1)(c) exempts a Nevada PE 'who designs buildings as permitted by chapter 625'; NRS 625 does not set a building-size line in the text reviewed. Exemptions for anyone: own private residence, farm or ranch buildings, and owner/employer buildings when an architect, designer or PE is also engaged (NRS 623.035(1)(e)). Contractors may draw their own work. Residential designers may design some residential buildings under NRS 623.

Before a set goes out, every sheet has to pass four checks: a Nevada license, the right discipline, a license still active on the issue date, and the firm’s registration. Compare Nevada 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 firm registration. In Nevada 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. Nevada regulates engineering and architecture firms separately, so a firm that offers both keeps two registrations and two renewal dates.
• Missing the notice window when the qualifying professional leaves. The rules we hold give 30 days to act. See what to do the day someone gives notice.
• Assuming every engineer renews on the same date. Nevada doesn’t use one statewide date for everyone. PE licenses renew every 2 years on January 1 or July 1 of odd or even years depending on last name; firm registrations renew every year. Read each person’s date from the board’s lookup.
• Having enough hours but not the required topic. A Nevada PE needs at least 2 hours in ethics and at least 1 hour in the state’s laws and rules. 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:

• Nevada State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors (engineers and engineering firms)
• Nevada engineer license lookup
• Nevada State Board of Architecture, Interior Design and Residential Design (architects and architecture firms)
• Nevada architect 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 Nevada’s rules, and Set Check shows who can seal each sheet in a Nevada permit set, and why anyone can’t. One license is free to track; see pricing.