Transfer Your Engineering License to Hawaii: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)
Last verified: 2026-07-21 · source: Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors and Landscape Architects (BPEASLA), DCCA Professional & Vocational Licensing (PVL) ↗
Hawaii grants PE licensure by comity — its term for endorsement — to an out-of-state Professional Engineer in good standing: the Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors and Landscape Architects (BPEASLA), DCCA Professional & Vocational Licensing (PVL) reviews the credentials in your NCEES Record instead of re-examining you. FE and PE exam results transfer via your NCEES Council Record (or a state exam/license verification) and are not retaken; the FE may be waived for endorsement with 15 years of experience in responsible charge, but the PE exam requirement cannot be waived; structural licensure requires the 16-hour NCEES Structural exam; Hawaii has no separate state law exam. Application fee: $150 ($150 non-refundable endorsement application fee (payable to Commerce & Consumer Affairs), per the board's official application form. A separate license-issuance fee is assessed after approval and prorated to the biennium (engineer licenses expire April 30 of even-numbered years): license $64, Compliance Resolution Fund $50 or $100, plus up to a $52 half-period renewal. Transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 first board / $100 each additional, paid to NCEES).
Moving to Hawaii from a specific state?
Pick your current state — the checker returns your exact pathway.
Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Comity is Hawaii's normal route for an already-licensed engineer, and the word describes what the Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors and Landscape Architects (BPEASLA), DCCA Professional & Vocational Licensing (PVL) actually does: it extends professional courtesy to your existing PE license after confirming your record meets Hawaii's practice act, rather than re-examining you. The lever that makes this smooth is your NCEES Record — NCEES compiles your transcripts, experience, references, and FE/PE results and transmits them straight to Hawaii, and a Model Law Engineer designation speeds many boards further. One prerequisite is absolute: your current license must be active and unencumbered, so clear any open disciplinary matter before you file.
Read the exam line on this page closely before you assume the move is exam-free. Most boards add nothing to the FE and PE, but a few require a state-specific examination — seismic, surveying, or a statutes-and-rules review — that comity does not waive, and where Hawaii requires one it is listed above rather than folded silently into the process.
Licensure by endorsement (Pathway 1): an out-of-state PE is licensed after the board verifies a current license, exam results, and discipline-specific education/experience. Hawaii licenses by discipline (agricultural, chemical, civil, electrical, environmental, fire protection, industrial, mechanical, structural), so a civil PE whose work is structural must qualify as a structural engineer. No interstate compact and no automatic reciprocity.
Hawaii requirements at a glance
| Exam | FE and PE exam results transfer via your NCEES Council Record (or a state exam/license verification) and are not retaken; the FE may be waived for endorsement with 15 years of experience in responsible charge, but the PE exam requirement cannot be waived; structural licensure requires the 16-hour NCEES Structural exam; Hawaii has no separate state law exam |
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| Additional requirements |
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| Fees | $150 ($150 non-refundable endorsement application fee (payable to Commerce & Consumer Affairs), per the board's official application form. A separate license-issuance fee is assessed after approval and prorated to the biennium (engineer licenses expire April 30 of even-numbered years): license $64, Compliance Resolution Fund $50 or $100, plus up to a $52 half-period renewal. Transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 first board / $100 each additional, paid to NCEES) |
| Processing time | The board does not publish a comity turnaround; an application is deemed abandoned if not completed within one year of filing (HRS 436B-9) |
Step by step
- Confirm Hawaii's current requirements on the Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors and Landscape Architects (BPEASLA), DCCA Professional & Vocational Licensing (PVL) website — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors and Landscape Architects (BPEASLA), DCCA Professional & Vocational Licensing (PVL) (application linked on this page).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Hold and verify at least one current PE license in another U.S. jurisdiction (via NCEES Council Record or a Verification of Exam/License form sent directly from the original state board).
- Apply in a specific discipline — Hawaii licenses by discipline, and civil and structural engineering are separate and distinct.
- Meet Hawaii's education-and-experience standard (e.g., an approved/ABET bachelor's degree plus 4 years of experience), or document 15 years in responsible charge to waive the FE exam.
- Disclose any disciplinary action or convictions and provide a Social Security Number.
- Pay the fees ($150 ($150 non-refundable endorsement application fee (payable to Commerce & Consumer Affairs), per the board's official application form. A separate license-issuance fee is assessed after approval and prorated to the biennium (engineer licenses expire April 30 of even-numbered years): license $64, Compliance Resolution Fund $50 or $100, plus up to a $52 half-period renewal. Transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 first board / $100 each additional, paid to NCEES)) and allow The board does not publish a comity turnaround; an application is deemed abandoned if not completed within one year of filing (HRS 436B-9).
Official links
Coming from a specific state?
Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into Hawaii:
Frequently asked questions
Does my PE license transfer to Hawaii?
Hawaii grants PE licensure by comity — its term for endorsement — to an out-of-state Professional Engineer in good standing: the Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors and Landscape Architects (BPEASLA), DCCA Professional & Vocational Licensing (PVL) reviews the credentials in your NCEES Record instead of re-examining you. FE and PE exam results transfer via your NCEES Council Record (or a state exam/license verification) and are not retaken; the FE may be waived for endorsement with 15 years of experience in responsible charge, but the PE exam requirement cannot be waived; structural licensure requires the 16-hour NCEES Structural exam; Hawaii has no separate state law exam. Application fee: $150 ($150 non-refundable endorsement application fee (payable to Commerce & Consumer Affairs), per the board's official application form. A separate license-issuance fee is assessed after approval and prorated to the biennium (engineer licenses expire April 30 of even-numbered years): license $64, Compliance Resolution Fund $50 or $100, plus up to a $52 half-period renewal. Transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 first board / $100 each additional, paid to NCEES).
Do I retake the FE or PE exam to get licensed in Hawaii?
FE and PE exam results transfer via your NCEES Council Record (or a state exam/license verification) and are not retaken; the FE may be waived for endorsement with 15 years of experience in responsible charge, but the PE exam requirement cannot be waived; structural licensure requires the 16-hour NCEES Structural exam; Hawaii has no separate state law exam.
What does PE licensure in Hawaii cost an out-of-state applicant?
$150 ($150 non-refundable endorsement application fee (payable to Commerce & Consumer Affairs), per the board's official application form. A separate license-issuance fee is assessed after approval and prorated to the biennium (engineer licenses expire April 30 of even-numbered years): license $64, Compliance Resolution Fund $50 or $100, plus up to a $52 half-period renewal. Transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 first board / $100 each additional, paid to NCEES).
How long does the Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors and Landscape Architects (BPEASLA), DCCA Professional & Vocational Licensing (PVL) take to act on a comity application?
The board does not publish a comity turnaround; an application is deemed abandoned if not completed within one year of filing (HRS 436B-9).
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-07-21.
- Hawaii DCCA PVL — Requirements & Application for Licensure, Engineer (EAS-00(b)/EAS-01, rev. 12/2024): endorsement pathway, $150 endorsement fee, exam transfer, FE waiver ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Hawaii DCCA — Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors & Landscape Architects (board home) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- Hawaii DCCA PVL — Application Forms and Publications (Engineer) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- NCEES — Records Program (comity licensure) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
Reviewed by Billy Reiner, Editor · verified against primary sources 2026-07-21
How we verify · All sources · spot an error? [email protected]