Administered by National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES)
The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Civil exam has 110 questions and 5 hours 20 minutes of exam time within a 6-hour appointment. It is computer-based, year-round at NCEES-approved Pearson VUE test centers.
The Fundamentals of Engineering exam for civil engineering — the first licensure exam, usually taken in a final university year or soon after graduating.
First step toward engineer-in-training certification and a California civil engineering license.
The California civil engineering license path
California engineer-in-training certification requires passing the FE exam plus three years of postsecondary engineering education, engineering experience, or a combination of the two.
Six years of qualifying engineering experience in the branch applied for.
An approved (ABET-accredited) engineering degree is credited as four years; an approved postgraduate engineering degree can be credited up to five.
Pass the NCEES FE and Professional Engineer (PE) Civil exams before applying for licensure.
After the application is approved in technical review, pass the two California exams, Civil Seismic Principles and Civil Engineering Surveying, offered in quarterly windows.
Designed for recent graduates and students close to finishing an ABET-accredited engineering degree.
FE Civil exam format
Format: computer-based, year-round at NCEES-approved Pearson VUE test centers
Questions: 110
Appointment: 6 hours: 2-minute nondisclosure agreement, 8-minute tutorial, 5 hours 20 minutes of exam time, 25-minute scheduled break
Reference material: NCEES FE Reference Handbook supplied on screen
Fees: see the certifying body's own page; this site does not print them
FE Civil sample question
Statics: beam moment · an original practice item written only from publicly available sources, not a real exam question
A simply supported beam spans 20 ft and carries a single 10-kip point load at midspan. What is the maximum bending moment?
50 kip-ft
100 kip-ft
200 kip-ft
500 kip-ft
Answer and working
A. 50 kip-ft
Each support carries 5 kips. The moment peaks under the load: M = 5 kips × 10 ft = 50 kip-ft, the same as PL ÷ 4. 100 uses PL ÷ 2, 200 uses PL, and 500 treats the 10-kip point load as a uniform load of 10 kips per foot (wL² ÷ 8).
FE Civil questions answered
What is the format of the FE Civil exam?
110 questions, computer-based, year-round at NCEES-approved Pearson VUE test centers. The appointment is 6 hours: 2-minute nondisclosure agreement, 8-minute tutorial, 5 hours 20 minutes of exam time, 25-minute scheduled break. NCEES FE Reference Handbook supplied on screen.
How does the FE Civil exam fit the path to a California civil engineering license?
First step toward engineer-in-training certification and a California civil engineering license. California engineer-in-training certification requires passing the FE exam plus three years of postsecondary engineering education, engineering experience, or a combination of the two.
Who is the FE Civil exam designed for?
Designed for recent graduates and students close to finishing an ABET-accredited engineering degree.
What this exam covers
Mathematics & Statistics
Ethics & Professional Practice
Engineering Economics
Statics
Dynamics
Mechanics of Materials
Materials
Fluid Mechanics
Surveying
Water Resources & Environmental
Structural Engineering
Geotechnical Engineering
Transportation Engineering
Construction Engineering
How to study for it here
Practice quizzes — filter to any topic above and work through it with explanations.
Flashcards — spaced repetition over terms, formulas and regulations.
Mock exam — a timed run at this grade.
Official formula sheet — a link to the sheet the certifying body publishes for this exam, where it publishes one, so you study from the real thing.
Free, no account, and progress stays in your browser.
Applying for Civil Engineer licensure, California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG) (live page, read 2026-09-26)
Topic coverage follows Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) CIVIL CBT Exam Specifications, effective beginning with the July 2020 examinations (NCEES).
Practice questions are written only from publicly available sources
(that outline and the regulations and references it cites); they are
not real exam questions, which are confidential.
Check current application requirements, fees and exam dates on the
certifying body's own page: official certification page.
Questions, flashcards, and explanations are AI-written from publicly available sources only: the exam content outlines and candidate materials each certifying body publishes without restriction, and the regulations and technical references they cite. No confidential material is used, including actual exam questions, recollections of any exam sat by the author, or any handbook or document released under a confidentiality agreement. Content is then put through repeated review — regulatory values checked against primary sources, every calculation recomputed, and errors corrected — plus spot checks by the author, who holds California water operator certifications and a California civil engineering licence. Those spot checks are sampling, not a professional review: nothing here is stamped, sealed, or offered as engineering advice, and not every item has been individually verified, so mistakes can still slip through.