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

Last checked Sep 28, 2026. Not yet confirmed with the South Dakota Board of Technical Professions. Confirm anything you act on with the board. Not legal advice.

If your firm has engineers or architects licensed in South 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. One board, the South Dakota Board of Technical Professions, licenses both engineers and architects in South Dakota.

PE license renewal in South Dakota

Licenses and COAs expire two years after the date of issuance and must be renewed by that date.

The board: South Dakota Board of Technical Professions. Look up each engineer’s current expiration date on the board’s license lookup rather than trusting the date on an old spreadsheet.

PE continuing education (PDH)

• Hours: 30 PDH every two years. Individual two-year license term. A license expires two years after its date of issuance (SDCL 36-18A-39), and the 30 PDH are owed in the biennium before renewal (ARSD 20:38:35:01).
• Your area of practice: At least 20 of the 30 PDH must be in technical subjects that further professional development in the licensee's field of practice (the rule lists design, structural systems, building codes, site and soils, and others).
• Also required: Professional management subjects (quality management, business practice, ethics) count for at most 10 PDH.
• Limits on some activities: professional society service (at most 6) hours.
• Carryover: Up to 15 PDH above 30 may carry to the next biennium, and only from the immediately previous biennium (ARSD 20:38:35:11).
• New licensees: No first-renewal exemption: new licensees owe the full 30 PDH at first renewal (not yet confirmed). ARSD 20:38:35:08 lists only military, illness or hardship, and inactive or retired exemptions.
• Records: At least 3 years after the date of renewal (ARSD 20:38:35:07).
• Reporting: The licensee must submit a PDH log (PDF) with the renewal application and certify it under penalty of perjury. The board audits a random sample of renewals and may audit on complaints; audited licensees have 30 days to send records (ARSD 20:38:35:01, :09).

Architect license renewal and CE in South 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.

Individual licenses expire two years after issuance and renew biennially on that anniversary. Board emails reminders two months before expiry. Business entity certificates renew biennially ($80). The board: South Dakota Board of Technical Professions (Department of Labor and Regulation); each architect’s date is on the license lookup.

• Hours: 30 hours every two years. The biennium immediately preceding license renewal (issue-date anniversary).
• Also required: At least 20 of 30 PDH in technical subjects (accessibility, building systems, codes, construction methods/observation, design, environmental, lateral forces, planning, materials, site/soils, structural). Not labeled 'HSW' in the rule but mostly HSW-type topics.
• Also required: Max 10 PDH in professional management (TQM, business practice, ethics).
• Limits on some activities: professional service (at most 6) hours.
• Carryover: Up to 15 PDH over 30 may carry to the next biennium only (ARSD 20:38:35:11).
• New licensees: No first-renewal exemption found in ARSD 20:38:35:08 (only military, hardship, inactive/retired).
• Records: At least three years after the date of renewal (ARSD 20:38:35:07).
• Units: An AIA learning unit (LU) is one hour.

Firm registration (COA) and qualifier rules

Engineering firms

A firm offering engineering in South Dakota needs a firm credential from the board: Certificate of Authorization (COA). Any business entity, which the law defines to include a sole proprietorship, needs a Certificate of Authorization; licensees must work under a COA unless employed by an exempt entity. The firm must employ SD-licensed professionals in responsible charge, and an occasional, part-time or consulting licensee cannot be named as responsible. Each SD office needs a licensed person regularly employed in that office in responsible charge. Changes must be reported within 30 days.

Architecture firms

A firm offering architecture needs a firm credential: Certificate of Authorization (business entity license). Any business entity practicing architecture (or engineering, surveying, landscape architecture) must hold a Certificate of Authorization from the joint Board of Technical Professions (SDCL 36-18A-48). The application lists the SD-licensed persons in responsible charge by profession. Each office in South Dakota must have an appropriately licensed person regularly employed there with responsible charge and direct supervision; part-time or consulting licensees cannot be designated unless a board-approved schedule is posted (36-18A-47). Changes must be reported within 30 days (36-18A-51). No ownership percentage rule. Exempt businesses do not need a certificate (36-18A-50).

Ownership: No ownership percentage in SDCL 36-18A or ARSD 20:38. Entity must name SD-licensed persons in responsible charge for each profession offered.

Architect in charge: Each SD office must have an appropriately licensed person regularly employed in that office with responsible charge and direct supervision and control of all professional services; occasional/part-time/consulting licensees may not be the person in responsible charge (36-18A-47, 36-18A-48).

Firm renewal: Biennial (ARSD 20:38:33:04 business entity license $80 biennially). Expiry anchor for firms assumed issue-date anniversary; not confirmed.

Firms that offer both

Joint board licenses architects and engineers. One Certificate of Authorization per business entity covers all professions offered; the application lists licensees in responsible charge for each (36-18A-48, 36-18A-49). Design-build entities combining A/E with construction must meet ARSD 20:38:37:04.

Who can seal drawings in South Dakota

South Dakota issues a PE license without limiting it by discipline; engineers seal only work within their competence, which your firm judges. SD licenses professional engineers generally and has no separate structural engineer license.

On architectural sheets, our data says an engineer may seal architectural work only in limited cases. A PE may practice architecture only where incidental or of minor importance to a project (36-18A-13). Anyone may design: 1-4 family dwellings; 5-16 family dwellings in jurisdictions with ICC-member plan review; farm/ranch buildings; and new work/additions/alterations up to size limits by occupancy - 4,000 sf (hospital, hotel, restaurant, medical office, nursing, jail, other), 5,000 sf (auditorium, church, school, theater), 7,000 sf (office, store, bank, etc.), 11,000 sf (industrial, public garage), 20,000 sf (warehouse); plus pre-engineered buildings designed by SD-licensed staff (36-18A-9).

Before a set goes out, every sheet has to pass four checks: a South Dakota license, the right discipline, a license still active on the issue date, and the firm’s registration. Compare South 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 Authorization (COA). In South 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 South Dakota, so ask the board. See what to do the day someone gives notice.
• Assuming every engineer renews on the same date. South Dakota doesn’t use one statewide date for everyone. Licenses and COAs expire two years after the date of issuance and must be renewed by that date. Read each person’s date from the board’s lookup.
• Having enough hours but not the required topic. A South Dakota PE needs at least 20 hours in your area of practice. Extra general hours don’t make up for a missing topic.
• Forgetting the limit on business and other non-technical hours. Professional management subjects (quality management, business practice, ethics) count for at most 10 PDH.

Where to file

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

• South Dakota Board of Technical Professions (engineers, architects and firms)
• South Dakota engineer 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 South Dakota’s rules, and Set Check shows who can seal each sheet in a South Dakota permit set, and why anyone can’t. One license is free to track; see pricing.