Virginia 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 Virginia Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA Board, DPOR). Not legal advice.

Engineers: the Virginia 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 Virginia, 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 Virginia Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA Board, DPOR), licenses both engineers and architects in Virginia.

PE license renewal in Virginia

Licenses and business registrations are valid two years from the last day of the month of issue and renew for two years from the prior expiration date.

The board: Virginia Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA Board, DPOR). 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: DPOR board code "0402" + 6 digits. Spreadsheets drop the leading zero (402012345); people drop 0402 (12345). This is how SealBench reads the numbers on an imported roster; it isn’t a board rule.

PE continuing education (PDH)

• Hours: 16 PDH every two years. Individual two-year license period. A license is valid for two years from the last day of the month of issue and renews for two years from the prior expiration date. CE must be completed during the two-year license period immediately before the license's expiration date (18VAC10-20-87, -670, -683(B)).
• Carryover: No carryover. CE is "valid for that renewal only; additional hours will not be valid for subsequent renewal" (18VAC10-20-683(B)).
• New licensees: No first-renewal exemption: new licensees owe the full 16 hours. The rule requires CE "for any renewal or reinstatement" and lists no new-licensee exemption (18VAC10-20-683(A), -687) (not yet confirmed).
• Records: 3 years from the date of expiration of the license the CE was used to renew (18VAC10-20-683(D)).
• Reporting: By submitting the renewal fee the licensee certifies continued compliance (18VAC10-20-670(D)). The Board may periodically run a random audit of renewing licensees; selected licensees must send all CE documentation within 21 calendar days (18VAC10-20-683(G)). No NCEES CPC reporting requirement found.

Architect license renewal and CE in Virginia

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.

Architect license renews every two years and expires on the last day of the month it was first issued. Business entity registration follows the same two-year, month-of-issue pattern. The board: Virginia Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA); each architect’s date is on the license lookup.

• Hours: 16 hours every two years. The two-year license term before each renewal (biennium ends the last day of the month of original issue).
• Also required: 16 hours per biennium of activities related to the practice of the profession. Business practice topics count: project management, risk management, ethics and public health, safety and welfare. No separate HSW minimum was found in the rule text read.
• Carryover: Extra hours do not count toward a later renewal (18VAC10-20-683).
• New licensees: Not confirmed. 18VAC10-20-687 covers exemptions and waivers but was not read. The board may waive or reduce hours for certified illness or undue hardship (54.1-404.2).
• Records: Three years from the expiration date of the license renewed with that CE (18VAC10-20-683).
• Units: An AIA learning unit (LU) is one hour.

Firm registration (COA) and qualifier rules

Engineering firms

A firm offering engineering in Virginia needs a firm credential from the board: Business entity registration (PCs/PLLCs: certificate of authority). Any business entity offering engineering in Virginia must register with the board and name a responsible person for each profession (Code 54.1-411(B), 18VAC10-20-627). Exempt: professional corporations and PLLCs holding a board certificate of authority (Code 13.1-549 requires at least two-thirds of a PC's shares held by licensed professionals, the rest by employees), and sole proprietors with no other licensed-profession employees. The responsible person must be a licensed full-time employee or licensed principal with direct control and personal supervision; changes must be reported within 30 days, and a change in responsible person automatically limits or suspends the registration until the firm complies (no grace period). No board-of-directors rule was found for general business entity registration (not yet confirmed: PLLC ownership under Code 13.1-1111).

Checked against official sources, September 29, 2026 Code of Virginia 54.1-411 Organization for practice; registration; Code of Virginia 13.1-549 PC shareholders (two-thirds licensed) and board certificate of authority; 18VAC10-20-627 Business entity registration required.

Architecture firms

A firm offering architecture needs a firm credential: Business Entity Registration (PCs and PLLCs hold a board Certificate of Authority instead). Any entity offering architecture in Virginia must register with the board as a business entity (Va. Code 54.1-411; 18VAC10-20-627). Exceptions: professional corporations and PLLCs, which hold a certificate of authority from the same board, and sole proprietors with no employees who need a license. The entity names a licensed responsible person for each profession it offers, at each place of business. Changes of status, including responsible persons, must be reported within 30 days (18VAC10-20-660). If a responsible person leaves, the registration is automatically limited or suspended until the entity complies. Professional corporations must issue at least two-thirds of their shares to APELSCIDLA licensees (Va. Code 13.1-549).

Ownership: For a professional corporation, at least two-thirds of shares go to licensed architects, PEs, land surveyors, landscape architects or certified interior designers (or professional entities); the rest only to employees (Va. Code 13.1-549). No ownership percentage for a general business entity registered under 54.1-411. The PLLC rule (13.1-1111) was not checked.

Architect in charge: Name at least one licensed architect as responsible person for architecture. That person is responsible for and controls the regulated services (54.1-411(B)). The application affidavit says the work will be under the direct control and personal supervision of licensed full-time employees or licensed principals named as responsible persons (18VAC10-20-650). 18VAC10-20-660 refers to responsible persons at each place of business.

Firm renewal: Every two years, expiring the last day of the month of issue (18VAC10-20-87).

Firms that offer both

One joint APELSCIDLA board. A single business entity registration names a responsible person for each profession offered (architecture, engineering, etc.).

Firm numbers: Business entity codes 0405 / 0407 / 0413 + 6 digits.

Who can seal drawings in Virginia

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

Our data doesn’t record whether an engineer may seal architectural sheets in Virginia, so ask the architecture board. Va. Code 54.1-402 exempts some buildings from needing an architect or PE: one- and two-family homes, townhouses and multifamily up to three stories; farm structures; business and mercantile up to 5,000 sq ft or three stories; factory and storage up to 15,000 sq ft or three stories; churches with 100 or fewer occupants. Some electrical and mechanical work in those buildings still needs a professional. No provision letting a PE practice architecture as incidental practice was found. Whether a PE may seal architectural sheets for non-exempt buildings was not confirmed.

Before a set goes out, every sheet has to pass four checks: a Virginia license, the right discipline, a license still active on the issue date, and the firm’s registration. Compare Virginia 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 business entity registration (PCs/PLLCs: certificate of authority). In Virginia 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 Virginia, so ask the board. See what to do the day someone gives notice.
• Assuming every engineer renews on the same date. Virginia doesn’t use one statewide date for everyone. Licenses and business registrations are valid two years from the last day of the month of issue and renew for two years from the prior expiration date. Read each person’s date from the board’s lookup.
• Banking extra PDH for next time. No carryover. CE is "valid for that renewal only; additional hours will not be valid for subsequent renewal" (18VAC10-20-683(B)).

Where to file

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

• Virginia Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA Board, DPOR) (engineers, architects and firms)
• Virginia engineer license lookup
• Virginia 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 Virginia’s rules, and Set Check shows who can seal each sheet in a Virginia permit set, and why anyone can’t. One license is free to track; see pricing.