Virginia PE CE (PDH) Requirements (2026): 16 Hours Every 2 Years
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Requirements Overview
The APELSCIDLA Board within Virginia's Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) requires each PE to attest to 16 hours of Board-approved continuing education every two-year period, per Code of Virginia § 54.1-404.2 and regulation 18VAC10-20-683. Acceptable activities span business practices, project management, risk management, ethics, and public health, safety, and welfare, but no specific topic or ethics minimum is mandated.
There is no carry-over: hours must be completed within the two-year license period immediately prior to expiration and are valid for that renewal only; extra hours do not roll forward. Fifty contact minutes equal one CE hour, and initial course development or teaching earns double credit (once per unique content). Records must be kept for three years from the license expiration date, with documentation due within 21 days if audited.
Renewal Pathways
Exemptions
- Illness Or Hardship — The Board may grant exemptions or waive or reduce the required CE hours in cases of certified illness or undue hardship.
How You Can Complete Your CE
Virginia CE Rules & Limits
Details specific to Virginia that generic CE guides tend to miss:
- Carry-over — No carry-over. CE for renewal must be completed within the two-year license period immediately prior to expiration and is valid for that renewal only; additional hours do not count toward subsequent renewals.
- Fifty contact minutes equal one hour of CE; one semester hour equals 15 CE hours and one quarter hour equals 10 CE hours (18VAC10-20-683 F).
- Initial development or teaching of a course receives double credit (not for repeat offerings); credit is granted only once per unique content within the two-year period (18VAC10-20-683 F).
- Licensees must retain CE completion records for three years from the license expiration date and provide them upon request; the Board may randomly audit and requires documentation within 21 calendar days (18VAC10-20-683 D and G).
- The 16-hour CE mandate applies to architects, professional engineers, land surveyors, and landscape architects; certified interior designers are not enumerated in the statutory CE requirement (§ 54.1-404.2).
- Improperly obtained CE requires makeup hours that cannot count toward current or future requirements (18VAC10-20-683 H).
Provider Requirements
CE activities, courses, sponsors, and instructors are approved under Board-established criteria (18VAC10-20-683 and § 54.1-404.2). The Board does not publish a single fixed provider list; activities must be Board-approved and relate to professional practice.
Tips for Virginia PEs
- There is no carry-over in Virginia; earn all 16 hours within the two-year license period immediately before expiration or they will not count.
- No single topic or ethics minimum is required, though ethics, risk management, and public health/safety content all qualify.
- Fifty contact minutes equal one CE hour; one semester hour equals 15 CE hours and one quarter hour equals 10.
- Initial development or teaching of a course earns double credit, but only once per unique content within the two-year period.
- Keep completion records for three years from your license expiration date and be ready to produce them within 21 days of an audit request.
Sources
- Cross-checked against the official published rules of the Virginia Board for Architects, Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Certified Interior Designers and Landscape Architects (APELSCIDLA Board)
- Each stated figure recorded with its exact source excerpt
- 3 sources cited — 3 primary (official board)
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