Transfer Your Engineering License to South Carolina: Reciprocity & Endorsement (2026)
Last verified: 2026-07-21 · source: South Carolina Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors (SC Dept. of Labor, Licensing and Regulation) ↗
Yes — South Carolina issues a new Professional Engineer license by comity to an engineer already licensed in another state. You apply to the South Carolina Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors (SC Dept. of Labor, Licensing and Regulation), which verifies your ABET-accredited degree, experience, exam record, and good standing against South Carolina's own statute rather than re-testing you. FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Council Record and are not retaken; a Model Law Engineer may be licensed directly on the Record without further written examination, and South Carolina requires no separate state jurisprudence or law exam. Application fee: $60 (SC Board PE-by-comity application fee per the LLR fee schedule; transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board, paid separately to NCEES. Biennial renewal is separate.).
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Verdict
Licensure by endorsement
Comity is South Carolina's normal route for an already-licensed engineer, and the word describes what the South Carolina Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors (SC Dept. of Labor, Licensing and Regulation) actually does: it extends professional courtesy to your existing PE license after confirming your record meets South Carolina'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 South Carolina, 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 South Carolina requires one it is listed above rather than folded silently into the process.
Licensure by comity: South Carolina issues a new PE license after confirming the applicant is appropriately licensed in another jurisdiction on comparable requirements and has never held an SC license. A Model Law Engineer may be licensed on the NCEES Council Record without further written examination. Underlying standard is an EAC/ABET-accredited engineering degree plus qualifying experience (commonly four years). No interstate compact exists for engineering. The LLR board site refused the automated fetch (see verification notes); the comity rule was confirmed via SC Code Regs 49-203 and the $60 fee via LLR's published fee schedule.
South Carolina requirements at a glance
| Exam | FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Council Record and are not retaken; a Model Law Engineer may be licensed directly on the Record without further written examination, and South Carolina requires no separate state jurisprudence or law exam |
|---|---|
| Additional requirements |
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| Fees | $60 (SC Board PE-by-comity application fee per the LLR fee schedule; transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board, paid separately to NCEES. Biennial renewal is separate.) |
| Processing time | LLR publishes no comity processing time; comity applications are reviewed once the NCEES Record and references are received (NCEES Record completion itself averages 2-3 weeks). |
Step by step
- Confirm South Carolina's current requirements on the South Carolina Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors (SC Dept. of Labor, Licensing and Regulation) website — rules change.
- Submit the endorsement application to the South Carolina Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors (SC Dept. of Labor, Licensing and Regulation) (application linked on this page).
- Arrange license verification from your current state via the verification system.
- Hold an active, unencumbered PE license in another U.S. jurisdiction based on comparable requirements.
- Submit an NCEES Council Record (Model Law Engineers are licensed on the Record; others are subject to board review).
- File the board's PE Individual Licensure by Comity application; applicant must not have previously held an SC license.
- Pay the fees ($60 (SC Board PE-by-comity application fee per the LLR fee schedule; transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board, paid separately to NCEES. Biennial renewal is separate.)) and allow LLR publishes no comity processing time; comity applications are reviewed once the NCEES Record and references are received (NCEES Record completion itself averages 2-3 weeks)..
Official links
Coming from a specific state?
Direction matters — these guides cover the exact move into South Carolina:
Frequently asked questions
Does my PE license transfer to South Carolina?
Yes — South Carolina issues a new Professional Engineer license by comity to an engineer already licensed in another state. You apply to the South Carolina Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors (SC Dept. of Labor, Licensing and Regulation), which verifies your ABET-accredited degree, experience, exam record, and good standing against South Carolina's own statute rather than re-testing you. FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Council Record and are not retaken; a Model Law Engineer may be licensed directly on the Record without further written examination, and South Carolina requires no separate state jurisprudence or law exam. Application fee: $60 (SC Board PE-by-comity application fee per the LLR fee schedule; transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board, paid separately to NCEES. Biennial renewal is separate.).
Do I retake the FE or PE exam to get licensed in South Carolina?
FE and PE exam results transfer through your NCEES Council Record and are not retaken; a Model Law Engineer may be licensed directly on the Record without further written examination, and South Carolina requires no separate state jurisprudence or law exam.
What does PE licensure in South Carolina cost an out-of-state applicant?
$60 (SC Board PE-by-comity application fee per the LLR fee schedule; transmitting an NCEES Record costs $175 for the first board and $100 for each additional board, paid separately to NCEES. Biennial renewal is separate.).
How long does the South Carolina Board of Registration for Professional Engineers and Surveyors (SC Dept. of Labor, Licensing and Regulation) take to act on a comity application?
LLR publishes no comity processing time; comity applications are reviewed once the NCEES Record and references are received (NCEES Record completion itself averages 2-3 weeks)..
Sources
Primary sources only — official boards and compact commissions. Data last verified 2026-07-21.
- S.C. Code Regs. 49-203 — Licensure by Comity (verbatim SC Code of Regulations via Cornell LII) ↗ (accessed 2026-07-21)
- SC LLR Board of Registration for PEs & Surveyors — PE Individual Licensure by Comity ↗ (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
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