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

Last checked September 29, 2026. The engineering firm rules here were checked against official sources on that date. CE and architect rules come from our rule tables and aren’t yet confirmed with the Ohio boards. Not legal advice.

Engineers: the Ohio PE license renewal and CE page has the next deadline, every CE rule with its source, and what changed recently.

If your firm has engineers or architects licensed in Ohio, you track three kinds of dates: each person’s license expiration, each person’s CE deadline, and the firm’s own registrations. Engineers answer to the Ohio State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. Architects answer to the Ohio Architects Board. Two things catch firms out: architect CE runs by calendar year, not by license term, and the two firm certificates renew on different cycles.

PE license renewal in Ohio

An Ohio PE registration runs two years and expires on Dec 31. The statute says it expires on the last day of December every two years after first registration or renewal (ORC 4733.15(A)).

Odd years for everyone, or each person’s own cycle? Our firm rule table says Ohio PE licenses expire Dec 31 of odd years, and the board’s renewal page it cites mentions licenses expiring Dec 31, 2025. Our CE rule table reads the statute as putting each engineer on their own two-year cycle, so some expire in odd years and some in even years. We haven’t settled this with the board. Until we do, read each engineer’s date from the lookup instead of assuming one statewide date.

The board: Ohio State Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. Check each engineer’s current expiration on the eLicense Ohio lookup rather than an old spreadsheet.

PE continuing education (PDH)

• Hours: 30 hours in the two years right before the expiration date (ORC 4733.151(A)).
• Ethics or rules: at least 2 of the 30 hours on professional ethics or on rules for engineering or surveying. Either one counts (ORC 4733.151(C)(2)).
• Carryover: up to 15 extra hours carry into the next period. Up to 2 extra ethics or rules hours can be part of those 15 (ORC 4733.151(E)).
• New licensees: exempt only for the first calendar year of registration, not the whole first period (ORC 4733.151(D)). The statute doesn’t say how many hours are owed at the first renewal, so ask the board.
• PE and surveyor: someone registered as both needs at least 10 hours in each field.
• How hours count: 1 per seminar hour, 10 per CEU, 45 per college semester hour, 2 per year as an officer or active committee member of a society, 10 per published paper, article or book, and 10 per patent.
• Records: keep a log and completion certificates for 4 calendar years after the year you certify (ORC 4733.151(F)).
• Reporting: you certify completion when you renew. The board can audit at any time, and someone who comes up short gets 6 months to fix it (ORC 4733.151(G)).

Ohio’s CE rule lives in the Revised Code, not the Administrative Code. When our tables were built, the board’s website wasn’t loading, so its guidance on online and self-study courses hasn’t been read. Ask the board before counting those.

Architect license renewal and CE in Ohio

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.

An Ohio architect’s registration renews every two years, in the Nov 1 to Dec 31 window of odd years, and expires Dec 31 of odd years (ORC 4703.13). The board: Ohio Architects Board. Each architect’s date is on the license lookup.

• Hours: 12 hours every calendar year (Jan 1 to Dec 31), all in health, safety and welfare (HSW) topics, from structured courses with at least 75% HSW content (OAC 4703-2-07).
• Two years per renewal: the license renews every two years, so each renewal covers 24 hours earned across two calendar years, 12 in each.
• Carryover: none. Extra hours can’t be credited to a later year.
• New licensees: our table found no first-year exemption in OAC 4703-2-07 or 4703-2-08. Not confirmed, so ask the board.
• Exemptions: emeritus architects are exempt, and hardship exemptions are possible.
• Records: keep them 6 years from the date you finish each course.
• Reporting: you attest at renewal with no upload, and the board may audit.
• Units: one AIA learning unit (LU) counts as one hour.

Firm registration (COA) and qualifier rules

Engineering firms

A firm offering engineering in Ohio needs a firm credential from the board: Certificate of Authorization (COA). Any firm, partnership, association, LLC or corporation needs a Certificate of Authorization to provide engineering in Ohio, to hold itself out as doing so, or to use "engineer" or "engineering" in its name (ORC 4733.16(B)); this includes entities organized in another state or country (4733.16(H)). Exempt: a corporation chartered before August 7, 1943 to provide engineering or surveying in Ohio, or one otherwise lawfully providing engineering in Ohio before November 15, 1982. The entity must designate one or more full-time partners, managers, members, officers or directors, registered in Ohio, as in responsible charge (4733.16(D)). The statute does not cover sole proprietors; whether the Board lets or requires one using a trade name to hold a COA was not confirmed (the board site was unreachable on Sep 27 and Sep 29, 2026). A COA runs from issuance to the second following June 30, then expires every two years on June 30 (ORC 4733.15(B)); the biennial filing is due by June 30, a lapsed COA can be renewed within twelve months at a 50% higher fee, and any change in owners or responsible-charge persons between filings must be filed by notarized letter within 90 days (OAC 4733-39-04). No deadline to replace a departed responsible-charge person is stated.

Engineering firm renewal: From issuance to the second following June 30, then every two years on June 30 (ORC 4733.15(B)). Which even or odd year a given firm falls in was not confirmed from an official page.

Checked against official sources, September 29, 2026 ORC 4733.16: Certificate of authorization (full-time partners, managers, members, officers or directors in responsible charge); OAC 4733-39-04: COA biennial filing by June 30; changes within 90 days; OAC 4733-35-03: Responsibility to the public (practice only when qualified).

See what to do when your qualifying engineer gives notice.

Architecture firms

• Who needs one: a firm formed to provide architecture needs a certificate of authorization from the Architects Board (OAC 4703-3-02; ORC 4703.18).
• Who qualifies the firm: one or more trustees, partners, managers, members, officers or directors in responsible charge of the architecture, registered in Ohio. The firm files an affidavit of responsibility for each one.
• Ownership: ORC 4703.18 refers to more than 50% of a corporation’s shares being held by engineers, surveyors, architects or landscape architects registered in Ohio or any other state. Our table couldn’t confirm whether that test applies to every firm or is one of several routes.
• Changes: report changes in principals, designated architects or ownership within 30 days.
• Renewal: every year. Apply in June; the certificate isn’t valid after June 30 if it isn’t renewed.

Firms that offer both

Ohio has separate boards for engineers and architects, so an A/E firm holds two certificates: one from the engineers board and one from the Architects Board. Both are due by June 30, but the engineering one is filed every two years and the architecture one every year. A change of qualifying person also has two deadlines: 90 days for engineering, 30 days for architecture.

Who can seal drawings in Ohio

Ohio issues one PE license and doesn’t limit it by discipline. An engineer should seal only work within their competence (OAC 4733-35-03), and your firm makes that call. Our table shows no separate structural engineer license in Ohio (not yet confirmed).

On architectural sheets, an engineer can seal only in limited cases. ORC 4703.18 doesn’t stop a PE from doing architecture that is incidental to engineering. Anyone may prepare plans and get permits for residential buildings as defined in ORC 3781.06, generally one- to three-family homes.

An Ohio architect’s seal goes above the printed name, license number and license expiration date, with a signature, on the title or first sheet of a bound set (OAC 4703-3-01).

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

Common mistakes

• Treating an engineer’s license as the firm’s. A licensed PE doesn’t make up for a missing COA. The firm needs its own before it offers engineering in Ohio, and the four sheet checks fail without it.
• Tracking one firm date for an A/E firm. The engineering COA is filed every two years and the architecture certificate every year. Missing the off-year architecture renewal is easy.
• Assuming every PE expires in an odd year. Our own tables disagree on this. Read each engineer’s date from the board’s lookup.
• Banking architect hours. Ohio wants 12 HSW hours in each calendar year. A 24-hour year followed by a zero year doesn’t work, because extra hours don’t carry over.
• Having the hours but not the topic. An Ohio PE needs at least 2 hours of ethics or rules. Extra technical hours don’t replace them.
• Missing a change filing when someone leaves. Changes in the people in responsible charge are due within 90 days (engineering) or 30 days (architecture). Our tables don’t say how long a firm can operate without one, 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 boards directly:

• Ohio engineers board: individual renewal
• Ohio engineers board: firms and COA
• Ohio engineer license lookup
• Ohio Architects Board (architects and architecture firms)
• Ohio 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. That includes both Ohio firm certificates on their different cycles. It counts each person’s CE hours and required topics against Ohio’s rules, per person and per state. Set Check shows who can seal each sheet in an Ohio permit set, and why anyone can’t. One license is free to track; see pricing.