NCEES FE Civil Exam Exam Guide

The exam draws from fourteen content areas covering the core of civil engineering practice, each with its own share of the 110 total questions:

• Geotechnical Engineering — 10–15 questions
• Structural Engineering — 10–15 questions
• Water Resources and Environmental Engineering — 10–15 questions
• Transportation Engineering — 9–14 questions
• Construction Engineering — 8–12 questions
• Mathematics and Statistics — 8–12 questions
• Statics — 8–12 questions
• Mechanics of Materials — 7–11 questions
• Fluid Mechanics — 6–9 questions
• Surveying — 6–9 questions
• Engineering Economics — 5–8 questions
• Materials — 5–8 questions
• Dynamics — 4–6 questions
• Ethics and Professional Practice — 4–6 questions

These weightings come from the NCEES FE Civil exam specifications, effective beginning with the July 2020 examinations.

NCEES charges a $225 exam fee, paid directly to NCEES during registration. Some state licensing boards apply additional fees on top of this, so it's worth checking your state board's fee schedule before you register.

The FE Civil exam is a computer-based test administered year-round at NCEES-approved Pearson VUE test centers. Your total appointment runs 6 hours and includes an 8-minute tutorial, a nondisclosure agreement, the exam itself, and a scheduled 25-minute break; the exam portion is 5 hours and 20 minutes covering all 110 questions.

It's a closed-book exam, but examinees are given access to an electronic reference during testing, and questions are presented in both the International System of Units (SI) and the U.S. Customary System (USCS). Results are typically available within 7 to 10 business days, and NCEES allows one attempt per testing window with a cap of three attempts per 12-month period.