North Dakota PE and architect license renewal: what firms need to track

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

If your firm has engineers or architects licensed in North Dakota, 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 North Dakota State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. Architects answer to the North Dakota State Board of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. Worth knowing up front: architects owe no CE hours at renewal.

PE license renewal in North Dakota

PE licenses renew every two years and expire December 31 (current cycle ends December 31, 2026); CoCPs also expire December 31, and the fee rule lists an annual CoCP fee (not yet confirmed: cycle). The next deadline in our data is December 31, 2026.

The board: North Dakota State Board of Registration for 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; "PE-1234". 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. Fixed statewide biennium. Individual registrations renew in even-numbered years and expire December 31 (NDCC 43-19.1-22; N.D. Admin. Code 28-02.1-09-02). The 30 PDH are owed per biennial renewal period.
• Ethics: At least 1 of the nontechnical PDH must be an ethics-oriented class.
• Also required: At least 20 of the 30 PDH must be in technical subjects that directly safeguard public health, safety and welfare (technical professional management such as quality process or technical software training counts).
• Also required: Nontechnical professional-related subjects (including the ethics hour) count for at most 10 PDH per biennium.
• Limits on some activities: professional society service (at most 6), professional service (at most 10), educational outreach (at most 4) and papers and publications (at most 10) hours.
• Carryover: Up to 15 qualifying PDH may be forwarded to the next biennial renewal period (28-04-01-03(5)).
• New licensees: No full first-renewal exemption. New registrants licensed before the fourth quarter of an odd-numbered year owe the full 30 PDH at the next renewal. Those licensed before the fourth quarter of an even-numbered year owe 15 PDH. The rule does not say what fourth-quarter licensees owe (not yet confirmed) (N.D. Admin. Code 28-04-01-03(7)).
• Records: At least 4 years from the date of the last biennial renewal (N.D. Admin. Code 28-04-01-04).
• Reporting: The registrant renews on the board form. PDH records are submitted only if the registrant is chosen for audit. The board audits up to 3 years after a renewal and also on complaints (28-04-01-03(3), 28-04-01-06).

Architect license renewal and CE in North Dakota

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 of odd-numbered years. First certificate expires June 30 of the year after issue. Failure to renew before expiry forfeits the certificate; reinstatement within 1 year at Board discretion. The board: North Dakota State Board of Architecture and Landscape Architecture; each architect’s date is on the license lookup.

• Hours: No continuing education hours are required to renew an architect license.
• New licensees: Not applicable.
• Records: Not applicable.
• Units: An AIA learning unit (LU) is one hour.

Firm registration (COA) and qualifier rules

Engineering firms

A firm offering engineering in North Dakota needs a firm credential from the board: Certificate of Commercial Practice (CoCP). An organization, or an individual using a trade name, needs a Certificate of Commercial Practice; an individual PE practicing under their own name appears not to need one (not yet confirmed). Every person in responsible charge of the firm's engineering must be registered in ND, and the Board page says the firm needs at least one active ND PE. No full-time, officer or residency rule found (not yet confirmed). The firm must report any change in listed partners, officers or responsible-charge engineers within 30 days.

Architecture firms

Our data shows no separate architecture firm registration in North Dakota. The Board licenses individuals only, not firms; firms register with the ND Secretary of State to do business (board FAQ). Business corporations and other entities that do not keep control exclusively with the architect may not practice architecture (N.D. Admin. Code 8-03-04-01, as amended 2014). Any legal structure is allowed if its corporate structure and operating agreements show an architect keeps responsible and complete control; the architect in responsible control must be identified (8-03-06-01). No change-notice deadline found.

Ownership: No percentage rule found. Control must rest with the architect; entities that do not require control to rest exclusively with the architect may not practice (8-03-04-01). Professional corporations follow NDCC 10-31 (not reviewed).

Architect in charge: The corporate structure and operating agreements must show an architect retains responsible and complete control and individual responsibility for architectural services, and must identify that architect (8-03-06-01).

Firms that offer both

The architecture board registers no firms. Whether the ND engineering board requires an engineering firm certificate of authorization was not checked here.

Firm numbers: Digits.

Who can seal drawings in North Dakota

North Dakota issues a PE license without limiting it by discipline; engineers seal only work within their competence, which your firm judges. ND law creates no separate structural engineer license.

On architectural sheets, our data says an engineer may seal architectural work only in limited cases. NDCC 43-03-02(3)(c) lets a PE be independently employed for civil, structural, mechanical or electrical engineering on a building, not architecture. But NDCC 43-03-02(1) exempts anyone designing private residences, farm buildings, rental apartments up to 3 stories, and many buildings up to 2 stories (garages, B/F/M/R and A-2 to A-5 occupancies, pre-engineered metal, warehouses), except A-1, E, H and I occupancies.

Before a set goes out, every sheet has to pass four checks: a North Dakota license, the right discipline, a license still active on the issue date, and the firm’s registration. Compare North Dakota 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 Commercial Practice (CoCP). In North Dakota 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 North Dakota, so ask the board. See what to do the day someone gives notice.
• Having enough hours but not the required topic. A North Dakota PE needs at least 1 hour in ethics. Extra general hours don’t make up for a missing topic.
• Forgetting the 20 hours in technical health, safety and welfare subjects. At least 20 of the 30 PDH must be in technical subjects that directly safeguard public health, safety and welfare (technical professional management such as quality process or technical software training counts).

Where to file

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

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