Posted December 19, 2015 (edited)

My Background: I have been working in the construction industry for over six years; a majority
of my career I have spent in the field as a Project Engineer and Project Manager. I have a BE in
Civil Engineering and MS in Construction Management. My project experience ranges from new
vertical construction, rehab work in existing buildings, to heavy civil site work. As part of my
job I manage the project schedule, estimate change orders, review/approve submittals, respond to
RFIs, perform quality control inspections, and verify safety requirements are followed, among
other duties.

Getting Approved to Sit for the PE Exam (Civil-Construction):

If you are reading this thread you likely have been approved by your State Board to site for the
PE exam. If not then you can read a few tips I have for making sure your experience is approved
and you can site for the exam. This applies for Civil-Construction.

Here is a list of action verbs you can use in your record to get you started:

• Designed
• Analyzed
• Specified
• Programmed
• Planned
• Evaluated
• Problem Solved
• Produced
• Created
• Implemented

Example: “I designed Scopes of Work for various change orders on the Project including re-
design of pile layouts for building foundation, design of concrete expansion joint detail, etc.”

Some other design examples, notice how specific the examples are:

• Performed troubleshooting on air handling unit during commissioning.

• Calculated construction loads for scaffolding to be used for concrete placement.
• Calculated the loading on new concrete foundations to verify it was acceptable to backfill
and place construction equipment on top of the foundations.
• Specified foundation detail requirements
• Designed storm water drainage plans
• Designed formwork for concrete.
• Calculated equipment fleet productivity rates and scheduled project to optimize equipment
and manpower resources.
• Designed temporary excavations support systems.
• Designed construction haul roads.
• Design of rigging systems.
• Design of crane safety and operation plans.
• Design of storage and lay-down facilities.
 • Design and inspection of site drainage and sedimentation controls.

Other engineering duties can include:

• Inspection of construction to verify conformance with design documents.

• Perform value engineering analyses
• Perform constructability reviews; provide design input based on reviews to the engineer of
record.
• Perform materials testing (concrete, steel, soils) and generate reports of results for use
during construction (i.e., took soil samples and performed standard proctor).
• Design and optimization of construction project schedule
• Review shop drawings and submittals
• Review and answer Requests for Information (RFIs)
• Generate engineering cost estimates
• Perform engineering economic analyses of construction plant and generate findings (i.e.,
buy or lease analysis, amortization schedule, maintenance costs over life of equipment,
etc).
• Performed safety inspections to verify compliance with OSHA requirements.
• Generated (or reviewed) safety plans to ensure engineering controls were properly
implemented (i.e., shoring for excavation, steel erection plans, critical lift plans, rigging,
noise/light control plans, etc).

The key is to say what YOU did on the project. Do not say you “managed” other people
doing the work; you have to have actually done the work to get credit for it. You need to
properly and completely explain your design experience which, depending on your state, is
required in conjunction with your general engineering experience.

If you do not do any of the work activities I mention (or similar type), then you likely are not
qualified to sit for the PE exam. I also do not recommend you take the PE exam if you do not
have the right experience; the exam is designed for engineers who do this kind of work on a
regular basis. Also, if you do not have the proper experience and somehow are permitted to sit
for the exam (and pass), the P.E. after your name will mean very little if you do not know what is
going on around the construction site or with the design. You will end up becoming one of the
people which the real construction engineers make fun of behind their back. Sorry to be so blunt
but this is just the way it is and anybody who has spent time on a construction site knows this is
true.

Getting Ready to Start Studying (Six Months Out from Exam Date):
 NCEES Exam Specification

Well congratulations on getting approved to sit for the PE exam. Now the fun part starts! The
first thing you need to do is get familiar with the NCEES exam specifications which can be
downloaded off the NCEES website. Make sure you have the most current specifications. The
exam specifications could be compared to construction specs… they are your guide for how to
properly study for the PE exam. NCEES is nice enough to say what they will be testing us on and
this helps you because it allows you to focus on certain topics and not waste time on topics
which will not be on the exam. There are many examinees who read the Civil Engineering
Reference Manual (CERM) from cover to cover and wonder why they fail. By limiting your
studying to the NCEES specifications you are optimizing your time.

NCEES Construction Design Standards

The last page of the specifications will have the “Construction Design Standards” for the
exam you are signed up to sit for. YOU MUST ACQUIRE EVERY SINGLE
REFERENCE! This is not the time to be cheap. I guarantee you will hate yourself for not buying
a reference while you are taking the exam.

Here is the list of design standards for the April 2016 exam. I have included in the table if the
standard is available for free (legally), the cost, and a link to where to acquire the standard:

Availabl
Stand e for
ard Description Free? Cost? Link

$
ASCE Design Loads on Structures During 80. http://tinyurl.com/hf
37-14 Construction, 2014 No 00 k3cv2
$
NDS- National Design Specification for Wood 150. http://tinyurl.com/p
12 Construction w/ Supplement, 2012 No 00 urr773
$
CMW Standard Practice for Bracing Masonry 85. http://tinyurl.com/px
B-12 Walls Under Construction, 2012 No 00 7a72b
AISC Steel Construction Manual, 14th ed.,
14th 2011 Already Own 13th Edition
 ACI $
318- Building Code Requirements for 249. http://tinyurl.com/p
14 Structural Concrete, 2014 No 50 n39wlk
ACI
347-
14 Guide to Formwork for Concrete, 2014 Do Not Buy -- Part of ACI SP-4
ACI $
SP-4- 249. http://tinyurl.com/hg
14 Formwork for Concrete, 8th ed., 2014 No 50 7k88p
Occupational Safety and Health $
OSHA Standards for the Construction http://tinyurl.com/pg
1926 Industry, 29 CFR Part 1926 Yes - pdcle
MUTC Manual on Uniform Traffic Control $ http://mutcd.fhwa.d
D Pt6- Devices—Part 6 Temporary Traffic ot.gov/pdfs/2009/pa
09 Control, 200 Yes - rt6.pdf
$
814.
00

From my experience during studying, you do not need to own the AISC Steel Construction
Manual 14th Edition; the 13th Edition was totally adequate for the types of questions asked on the
Civil-Construction exam. I imagine earlier editions would prove adequate but I cannot confirm
this.

Even though OSHA 1926 is available for free download, I highly recommend you purchase
the ManComm 2015 Edition of OSHA 1926. It is a paperback book and is available on Amazon
for about $40. The book is organized very well and includes every bit of information you will
need to answer any OSHA question. If you work in the field, you should own a hard copy of
OSHA 1926… it is the law after all.

As you can see, the references cost $814 total (updated 28-Dec-2015). Note: you will not
need to purchase ACI 347 if you buy ACI SP-4; the ACI SP-4 book has ACI 347 (2014)
included as an appendix in the book.

The key is to acquire all your design references first thing so you have all the tools required to
answer questions related to these references while you study. One of the most important parts of
the PE exam is knowing your references and being able to access information quickly. The
references are also good to have if you are a construction engineer and will help you at work. I
actually have found ACI SP-4 to be very useful at work.

Here is a quick rundown of what types of questions you will need the design references for:
• ASCE 37: Construction loads on temporary structures, factors for various
scenarios (i.e., use of concrete buggy, work on sloped roof). Know where all the
little details and caveats are in this Code.

• NDS: Fastener pull-out, design of temporary wood structures. This Code is not
user friendly and I did not encounter much study material which used this Code.
This is a big gap in the exam prep material and I hope somebody (PPI, School of
PE, EET) publishes practice problems which utilize NDS for construction
engineers. You may find more practice material for wood design out of Structural
books.

• CMWB: Design of temporary bracing for masonry walls during construction,

allowable exposure of walls during construction. School of PE has an extensive
review of this Code; you may be able to get away without buying this Code if you
take the School of PE construction depth review. There is not a lot of practice
material out there for this Code.

• AISC SCM: Interpreting weld symbols, quantity take-off weights of steel

members. You could probably get away without buying this Code if you print out
reference material specific to what will be tested on the exam for construction; we
do not have to do any steel design like the structural guys have to in their Depth
section (PM part of the exam). With that said, I personally think the Steel
Construction Manual is one of the most important books a construction engineer
should own.

• ACI 318: This is the concrete bible. Purchase this Code and keep it on your desk
and become familiar with the layout of the Code. Update: The NCEES April 2016
Exam Specifications now require the new edition (2014). You will use this Code
for anything concrete related such as anchor pullout strength, concrete cylinder
strength calculation, rebar cover requirements, etc. Rebar cover requirements are
key in performing a proper estimate of concrete construction costs (those two
inches the rebar needs to end before the form face adds up over a 100’ long
footing!)

• ACI 347: This is the concrete formwork standard that you will use to calculate
formwork concrete pressures. These are very common questions you will
encounter during your studies; there is plenty of study material out there to get
you comfortable with ACI 347. This is a must own for sure. Update: The NCEES
April 2016 Exam Specifications now require the new edition (2014).

• ACI SP-4: The “Special Publication #4” is the go-to for concrete formwork
design. It also includes a section on shoring/re-shoring which you will use to
answer those types of problems. Since this has ACI 347 as an appendix you can
save yourself $64 and not buy ACI 347 separately.Update: The NCEES April
2016 Exam Specifications now require the new edition (2014) but the same advice
still applies (do not buy ACI 347 separately if you buy ACI SP-4).
 • OSHA 1926: This is a must own for any construction engineer. Since OSHA is
federal law, you ought to know how to find requirements in the book and what
everything means. There are design elements in OSHA for excavation
sloping/shoring, scaffold design, concrete strength requirements, etc. There is a
good bit of study material out there which utilizes OSHA. You will find these
questions to be “gimmies” during the exam; do not be the idiot who doesn’t bring
his OSHA 1926 book to the exam.

• MUTCD Part 6: You will find that printing and binding MUTCD is sufficient.
You will use this Code for relatively simple “look-up” questions.

Civil Engineering Reference Manual (CERM)

This is also a good time to purchase the civil engineering “bible” aka the Civil
Engineering Reference Manual (CERM) by Michael Lindburgh, PE. This is a big
purchase ($275) but you will absolutely use this book more than anything else during
your studying. Buy it now so you can start thumbing thru the book and get familiar with
the layout. I also recommend reading the introductory sections of the book. Mr.
Lindburgh has some good insights on studying and the exam which you will find useful. I
do not recommend you follow his study schedule; there are many many sections in the
CERM which you will absolutely never need to use during studying and the exam. The
key is to focus on the sections which you will be tested on and being able to quickly get
to that information. It’s nice that he includes more information that necessary (in case
NCEES throws a curve ball on the exam) but you should be focusing on the relevant
topics based on the NCEES exam specifications. Think of the CERM as another one of
your design references like ACI 318; you will not read ACI 318 from cover to cover so
why would you do that with the CERM?

I do not recommend you borrow an older edition from a co-worker. You will want to
start with a fresh CERM so you can make it your own. The idea is that you become so
familiar with the CERM that you can look at an exam question and within seconds be to
the right page in the CERM. Tabbing and highlighting your CERM is a PE exam ritual
and you should be proud of how well you organized your CERM prior to exam day. If
you use somebody else’s tabs and highlights you are robbing yourself of valuable
learning. Also, older editions are woefully inadequate for all the construction topics
which have been added to the whole exam (AM and PM parts).

Calculator

NCEES has a strict calculator policy which allows for only certain calculators to be
used on the exam. This website is where NCEES lists the approved calculators:

http://ncees.org/exams/calculator-policy/
 I had great success using the Casio fx-115 ES Plus during studying and on the exam.
You will want to acquire your NCEES-approved calculator as soon as possible so you
can start using it at work and become familiar with the functions and way the calculator
works. I used the “SOLVE” function on the Casio fx-115 ES Plus quite a bit during
studying and on the exam; this function uses Newton’s Method to solve for an unknown
variable. You will find that this is a common mathematic exercise on most problems
which will save you the time/effort of re-arranging the equation to solve for ‘x’. It also
has a useful Polar-Rectangular coordinate function which is useful for certain surveying
questions; you can use the Polar function to solve for the hypotenuse of a right triangle.

The key is to only use the NCEES-approved calculator during studying so that you
becoming comfortable with the calculator. I bought a second Casio fx-115 ES Plus (did
not take it out of the plastic) to the PE exam with me in case my primary calculator
broke. I ended up returning it after the exam to get my money back but the peace of mind
is worth the initial investment.

Some states have additional restrictions of calculators so make sure you

check with your State Board.

NCEES Practice Exam

NCEES offers a practice exam which closely mirrors the scope/difficulty of the actual
PE exam. When signing up for the exam on the NCEES website they offer you the
chance to purchase this book… do it. If you did not purchase it initially, then you can buy
it off the NCEES website at any time. You will use this practice exam to gauge your
studying progress and to help simulate an exam during your studies. Here is the link to
purchase the book for your exam; the AM questions are the same for every Civil practice
exam. You may find older exams on eBay but they are not necessary to purchase;
NCEES does not change the questions that much over the years.

https://account.ncees.org/exam-prep/store/category/PE

School of PE

I knew going into studying that I wanted to pass the exam on the first attempt; failure
simply was not an option for me. I credit the School of PE as being a major reason why I
passed the exam in one attempt. Apart from the extremely useful reference material and
practice problems they provide you, taking classes will force you to study. I highly
recommend you opt for the in-person classroom setting if it is available to you; this really
forces you to study and removes any distractions you have at home. If you sign up early
(six months before exam day) then you will get an “early bird discount” of a few hundred
dollars. I have also read many people say EET is also excellent; I have no experience
with EET so I cannot comment on them.
 Summary:

1. Download NCEES exam specification from NCEES website (to ensure you
have the most current specification). Become familiar with the specifications.
2. Purchase all required design standards per the NCEES exam specification.
3. Purchase the NCEES Practice Exam
4. Purchase the Civil Engineering Reference Manual (latest edition).
5. Purchase your NCEES-approved calculator (verify State Board requirements
as well).
6. Sign up for School of PE (or EET)

Preparing to Start Studying (Maximum 3 Months from Exam Date)

You may be asking “why max three months before the exam date?” Well the reason is, I
believe that you can easily over-study just as much as you can under-study for the PE exam.
There is A LOT of information to cover during studying even if you are properly focused per the
NCEES exam specification. If you over-study, you are at risk of “burning out” and your mind
turning to proverbial mush during the exam. You want to peak right before the exam and go into
the exam feeling confident and full of energy.

I assume that you are a competent engineer who is reasonably familiar with the industry (if
not, how did you get approved to sit for the exam?). This is called the “Principles & Practice”
(Part P) exam. Let’s break that down because I think many people do not appreciate what
NCEES is doing with this exam:

Principle: a law or fact of nature that explains how something works or why something
happens

Practice: to do (something) regularly or constantly as an ordinary part of your life

When breaking down the formal title of the exam, it is clear that NCEES wants you to deeply
understand the how/why of civil engineering and to have the knowledge which is only gained by
doing civil engineering on a regular basis.

Principles

With that in mind, one of the keys to being successful at the PE exam is to actually
understand the concepts and theories behind the questions. Simply cramming practice problems
will only get you so far. For example, statics-type problems are staples of the PE exam in their
various forms. If you are proficient at breaking down a statics problem into a free-body diagram
then you will be able to answer any type of statics problem NCEES puts on the exam. If you only
practice one type of statics related problem without understanding the theory/principles of
statics, you will not be able to answer a question which while may be related to that problem,
asks for a different variable or adds another force on the body to throw off your pre-set solution
steps. I find it impossible to predict every type of problem NCEES could ask and to have a
solved problem ready to be applied during the exam.

In fact, I did not use even one “solved problem” during the exam. Some people here
recommend bringing a binder of solved problems to the exam. To me, this is a crutch which will
give you a false sense of security. You do not want to have to rely on a solved problem to help
you answer any exam questions. In doing so, this signals that you do not know the material.

If you understand the principles of engineering being tested, you will be confident that you
can answer any type of question NCEES throws at you.

Practice

There are a lot of people who sit for the PE exam who in my opinion do not possess the
necessary experience to be deemed competent enough to acquire licensure. This is only my
opinion but I believe is shared with many other engineers. There are many questions on the PE
exam which test your work experience. These questions are usually the most difficult to study
for. Some people try to overcome this by bringing a ton of reference books (which is OK). You
need to be honest with yourself and if you do not possess enough relevant work experience in the
depth section you are taking, start acquiring additional reference material to supplement you
work experience. This is especially true for construction since the scope of knowledge a
construction engineer needs to possess is quite vast. I pride myself on working as a construction
engineer and having to know structures, geotech, water resources, and some traffic engineering.

This is probably why the construction depth pass rate is historically low; many people assume
construction is easy and that they can pass it without much effort. This is a false assumption. If
you work exclusively in the home office, use this as an opportunity to pressure your supervisor
to let you spend time out in the field. I guarantee you will be amazed at the things you learn
while working in a construction field office and walking the site.

Now that we have a good understanding of the point of the PE exam, and what the NCEES is
trying to test us on, we need to craft our study strategy and study schedule.

Study Schedule

If you are an engineer who is worth one’s salt, you will know how important it is to plan out a
schedule and stick to it. Here is the study schedule I followed; you will want to tailor the study
schedule to fit your life but the goal is to get to hit milestones on certain weeks to make sure you
have adequate time to strengthen your weak topics.
 Week 1: Start becoming with the NCEES Exam Specifications (AM Breadth)
and go through the CERM Appendix to locate where in the CERM certain topics
(i.e., slop stability) are located in the CERM. Start reading these sections and
becoming familiar with the topics in case you have forgotten the information. I
used this week to remind myself of all the engineering knowledge I have
lost/forgotten since college. I found it useful to start working a few problems in
certain sections just to start easing into studying.

 Week 2: Same as Week 1. You are trying to get back into study-mode in
preparation for the School of PE or EET. The first two weeks should not be
intense studying or working problems, you want to start re-familiarizing yourself
with the topics and work on a few problems.

School of PE (or EET) should start at this point.

 Week 3-6: Review class notes and practice problems you did in class. Do all
homework assignments (very important!). Review CERM topics which were
covered in class and do CERM practice problems related to these topics. I was
studying at least 2-3 days during the work week for 3 hours/day and
Saturday/Sunday was spent doing School of PE for 8 hours/day. You should have
plenty of material to review and problems to work.

 Week 7: Five weeks until the exam. At this point the class should have covered
all the morning breadth topics (structures, geotech, water resources, traffic,
construction) and you should start looking to get into your practice exam books.
Now would be the best time to work through Mike’s Civil PE Exam Guide and
the NCEES Practice Exam (AM) to gauge where your weaknesses are. Try to
work through these two exams without looking at the solutions so that you can
really gauge where you are at and what topics you need to study more.

Note on Taking Practice Exams During Studying: Nobody cares what you
score on your practice exams. I have read posts on the forums where people
swear they are scoring 80% and higher on practice exams but failed the PE
Exam. I call BS on that. Do not look at the solutions until you finish working
through the exam! You are not doing yourself any favors by cheating on
practice exams and you will never be able to gauge your studying progress
unless you actually work through full exams.

At this point you should start having a good grasp on the Breath/AM material.
The exam is a month away and you need to start focusing on your Depth/PM
material. Note where your weaknesses are by NCEES exam specification topic
(i.e., Structural Mechanics – Trusses) and know that you need to do more practice
problems and theory review on those topics. If you are strong in a certain topic,
don’t waste precious time reviewing that topic but you do want to stay sharp by
periodically doing practice problems in that topic.
 Week 8: Start really getting into your Depth/PM. Having reviewed all the
Breadth/AM material has given you a solid base for a lot of the construction
engineering topics. School of PE had a very comprehensive construction PM
review which was done via webinar on weekends. During the week I was
reviewing the class notes and doing practice problems. During my studying I was
working through the PPI construction depth books (Construction Depth Practice
Exams for the Civil PE Exam and Six-Minute Solutions for Civil PE Exam
Construction Problems) to give me more practice. If you find you are having
difficulty understanding the theory behind a problem, look into acquiring topic-
specific reference material which will allow you to really learn the topic. For me,
I was weak on crane stability and rigging. I went and bought the Shapiro Cranes
and Derricks textbook and bought the Rigging Handbook; I used these references
to really learn these topics. I ended up becoming very good at crane stability
questions.

 Week 9: You are only a few weeks away from test day. Continue working your
PM/Depth review as your focus but do not forget to keep sharp on your
AM/Breadth review. Practice problems are your friend! Remember: If you are
having difficulty with certain problems, take a step back and re-learn the theory
behind the problem (i.e., review statics if you are having trouble with rigging
questions). Do not think practice problems will force you to learn something you
do not have a theory-based understanding of.

 Week 10: At the end of Week 10, you should have gone through most of your
PM/Depth practice problems and now need to evaluate your strengths and
weaknesses. This is the perfect time to set aside four hours and work through the
DeSantis Construction Depth Practice Exam and Assessment Guide. Follow the
author’s advice and work through the practice exam in a simulated setting and
only allow yourself four hours to take the exam; have all your references handy,
in their crates, to simulate the real exam. After the four hours, take an hour off
and then come back to score your exam and review where you messed up. I found
the Construction Depth Practice Exam and Assessment Guide to be the most
accurate representation of the PE Exam (next to the NCEES Practice Exam) and it
will give you a good sense of where you are at. I believe I scored 32/40 on the
practice exam at this point in my studying.

o I also took the ASCE Practice Exam which was offered by the local ASCE
chapter. This was offered in a simulated setting and was timed. The exam
ASCE offered was a compilation of different practice exam problems
(mostly from PPI) but practicing in a simulated test environment is very
helpful to learn how to set up your desk and how to organize your
reference material.

 Week 11: Two weeks away. Continue working your practice problems for
PM/Depth and AM/Breadth. At the end of this week, I took the full NCEES
Practice Exam in a simulated setting (started at 8am, had lunch from noon-2,
 finished the PM/Depth at 6pm). Take an hour or two after your finish the exam
and then score/review the results. I also took the full Goswami Practice Exam for
the Civil PE Exam: Construction Depth in a simulated setting this week.

 Week 12: Week of the exam. I took this whole week off from work to just study
8-10 hours per day. At this point I knew I was still weak on certain topics like
shoring/reshoring, complex rigging systems, temporary shoring for excavations. I
did not study estimating, productivity, scheduling, earthwork calculations,
health/safety anymore because I knew these topics well; if there were practice
problems in the books I was using I would still do them for practice but did not
make them my focus. By this week you should have completed at least four
practice exams:

o NCEES Practice Exam (AM + PM)

o Mike’s Civil PE Exam Guide (AM)
o DeSantis Construction Depth Practice Exam and Assessment Guide (PM)
o Goswami Practice Exam for the Civil PE Exam: Construction Depth (PM)

Use the last week to keep your mind sharp on AM topics but the main focus should be
on PM studying. As Mr. DeSantis points out in his book, construction topics account for
more than 60% of the exam if your Depth is construction; it is crucial that you know all
the NCEES exam specification construction topics.

Some people recommend taking the day before the exam off from studying. I
continued to work problems in my weak areas and didn’t take the day off from studying;
your mileage may vary but I like to study right up until the exam. I actually finally
figured out the shoring/reshoring methodology on the day before the exam; for some
reason this topic was eluding me but I kept working it using ACI SP-4 and was able to
figure out how to solve these types of problems.

Tips

Here are some tips which will help you during your studies:

 Acquire your NCEES-approved calculator early and only use this calculator
during studying. Verify your State Board allows the calculator.

 Designate a table or room in your house as your study space. If you can keep a
section of a table about 6-8 SF as your study space, this will simulate the amount
of space you get during the actual exam.
o Ideally you will leave all your materials, references, etc at your designated
study space so that you have everything readily available during studying.
o If you need to go to a library to study, buy a big backpack and keep it filled
with your materials.
 Purchase a “countdown timer” and use it during your practice exams. The timer I
used was the “MeasuPro Digital Clock, Timer, and Stopwatch with Three Alert
Type Settings - Buzz, Beep, and LED” which was purchase on Amazon. Here is
the link: http://tinyurl.com/panag4d
o During the actual exam I utilized this timer (set to LED alert) to help pace
myself. You absolutely should confirm with the exam proctor if you are
allowed to use the timer during the exam BEFORE the exam starts; the
proctor said I could use it so long as it did not beep and was not kept on
the desk.
 Many examinees note that time is an issue since you are usually only
given a 15, 5 and 1 minute warning. It was comforting to be able to
see exactly how much time I had left anytime I wanted during the
exam.

 When taking practice/simulated exams, do not “cheat” and look at the solutions
UNTIL you have finished the full exam. Nobody cares about your practice exam
scores and by cheating you will only be hurting yourself.

 Set aside the full four (4) hours for each part of a practice exam. Use the full four
hours as if you are actually taking the real PE exam.

 Have all your references at your side when taking a practice/simulated exams; the
goal is to simulate exam conditions and figure out the best way to arrange your
references for ease of access. If you find one topic keeps tripping you up,
purchase a supplementary reference for this topic.

 Figure out what your main references will be during studying; these will be the
references you leave on the desk during the PE exam. For me it was:
o CERM
o School of PE Notes
Everything else stayed in the plastic crates unless I was using the book for that
specific problem.

 Figure out how you want to organize and haul your references to the actual PE
exam in advance. One mistake I made was going to Walmart the day before the
exam to purchase plastic crates and the folding hand truck. This was unnecessary
stress. I do recommend you utilize plastic crates and a folding hand truck to bring
your materials; you will find a benefit to organizing your references into crates
(one AM crate, one PM crate) and keeping the crates on your side during the
exam for easy access. I do not recommend bringing wheeled luggage since it is
not possible to keep the books organized in luggage. One benefit of buying your
crates in advance is you can optimize the organization of the references and get
accustomed to working with the system you will use during the PE exam. Check
with your State Board to make sure these are permitted in the exam room… some
States may have restrictions.
 o Magna Cart Personal 150 lb Capacity Aluminum Folding Hand Truc
 $40 on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/p4adj7n
o Milk Crates
 $9.50 on Amazon (buy at least two)
 http://tinyurl.com/jhrb9xz

 Look at the NCEES Practice Examination PM/Depth solutions. You will see they
reference different texts. These are very useful references to own.

 Amazon sells a lot of used textbooks at reasonable prices. Look to purchase older
editions of books (this does not apply to the NCEES required design standards!)
to save a lot of money.

 Bring a bagged lunch on exam day. Do not waste time driving to get lunch. I ate
my lunch outside the building and relaxed in the sun. I also brought a few Nature
Valley Protein Bars which I ate during the exam.

NCEES PM Exam References (Additional)

When reviewing the NCEES Practice Examination PM/Depth solutions, you will see they
reference different texts with the solution. As I recommended before, it is useful to purchase
some of these texts (especially in areas of weakness) to supplement your knowledge and gain
more insight into the principles behind the problems. For me, earthwork productivity was
something I was not fully accustomed to; NCEES earthwork problems are based on large scale
cut/fill projects like roadway embankments and large site developments. For example:
productivity balancing of multiple graders, excavators, and trucks is something I don’t do at
work every day so I needed to learn how this is done (efficiently). The Peurifoy Construction
Planning, Equipment, and Methods book was very useful for this.

Here is a crude list of the texts the NCEES used to develop the PM/Depth practice exam:

Author Title
Peurifoy Construction Planning, Equipment, and Methods
Nunnally Constructions Methods & Management
Anderson Surveying - Theory & Practice
Kavanagh Surveying with Construction Application
Schexnayder Construction Management Fundamentals
Peurifoy Estimating Construction Costs
Walker Walker's Builiding Estimator's Reference Book
Collier Engineering Cost Analysis
Newnan Engineering Economic Analysis
Meriam Engineering Mechanics
 Shapiro Cranes and Derricks
Merritt Standard Handbook for Civil Engineers
Allen Fundamentlas of Building Construction Materials and Methods
Gould Managing the Construction Process
Oberlender Project Management for Engineering and Construction
Hinez Construction Planning and Scheduling
Bowles Foundation Analysis and Design
Gere Mechanics of Materials
ACI ACI 315-99 "Details and Detailing of Concrete Reinforcement"
PCA Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures
Hibbeler Engineering Mechanics

The yellow highlighted books I purchased and used during studying. I had already owned the
PCA Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures since I work with concrete a lot on my projects;
this is a great book for any construction engineer to own. It is very useful for studying since there
are a lot of practice problems on concrete mix design and also supplementary cementicious
materials (slag, flyash, silica fume, etc).

Exam References I Purchased

Other than the NCEES required design standards (see earlier discussion) and the NCEES
Practice Exam, I purchased the following books. You can see that some books I purchase at a
deep discount because they were older editions or used:

Author Book Cost

Lindburg $ 275.00
h Civil Engineering Reference Manual (14th Edition)
Hartman $ 95.00
n Construction Depth Practice Exams for the Civil PE Exam
Six-Minute Solutions for Civil PE Exam Construction $ 90.00
Huang Problems
$ 41.50
Peurifoy Construction Planning, Equipment, and Methods
$ 55.00
Peurifoy Estimating Construction Costs
Nunnally Constructions Methods & Management $ 35.00
$ 9.1
Somayaji Civil Engineering Materials 8
 $ 0.6
Shapiro Cranes and Derricks 8
$ 29.95
Goswami Practice Exam for the Civil PE Exam: Construction Depth
$ 49.95
DeSantis Construction Depth Practice Exam and Assessment Guide
$ 38.00
Hansen Mike's Civil PE Exam Guide: Morning Session
Lindburg $ 25.00
h Engineering Unit Conversions
$ 16.00
Klinke Rigging Handbook 4th Edition
PCA Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures
$ 60.00
Day Geotechnical Engineer's Portable Handbook (2nd Edition)
$ 820.26

So overall, including the CERM, I spent over $800 on supplementary reference material.
While this may seem like a lot, you will be able to sell your books when you pass and recover
some of this money. The NCEES Practice Exam is not included in the table above even though I
bought it; this book is $40 from NCEES plus shipping. The books I highlighted yellow were the
most useful during studying. The Harmann and Huang books were good for additional practice
problems but are not critical to own.

The exam specifications allow NCEES great latitude in the questions they can ask on the
exam. I find it useful to “cover your bases” by having supplementary references in certain
topics such as “Site and Subsurface Investigations” or “Material Properties and Testing.” For the
site/subsurface investigations, the Geotechnical Engineer's Portable Handbook (2nd Edition) has
a ton of information on this topic. For material properties, purchasing a good construction/civil
engineering materials text will help save you trouble when there are curveball problems. During
your studying you will realize some of these topics are quite broad and that you will have
difficulty finding references or practice problems; purchasing a good text book in that topic will
allow you to look-up an answer during the PE exam. I found the CERM was not fully adequate
for this and should not be relied on for board topics such as “Site and Subsurface Investigations”
or “Impact of Construction on Adjacent Facilities.”

Some of the broad topics you really just need to have practical experience to get unless you
can have the right references at your side. I find it amusing that many engineers struggle with
simple safety questions (even during the AM!) but as somebody who works in construction and
needs to enforce OSHA on a daily basis, these are obviously going to be simple questions. On
the flip side, since I am not a geotechnical engineer who has experience doing site investigations,
I needed to supplement my lack of knowledge with references that I could use during the exam
(and studying). Be honest with yourself… I do not know any engineers who know everything on
the PE exam (nor should they).

Tabbing & Highlighting References

There are different schools of thought for tabbing. Some people I have seen ask successful
examinees what they tabbed in the CERM (for example). This is the wrong approach. You as the
examinee want to tab and highlight your references during your studies. The ritual of tabbing
your references is a crucial part of studying and makes you become very familiar with your
references. You will need to find a system that works for you personally… my system may not
work best for you. Here are some of the tips I have for tabbing:

 Use a color coding system. For me:

o Green = Geotech
o Red = Structures
o Blue = Water Resources
o Yellow = Traffic, Construction, Economics

 Tab topics in the CERM based on the NCEES exam specifications. For example: CERM
(14th Edition) page 20-16 is tabbed “NRCS Method” (used a blue flag).

 Tab formulas you use a lot during studying. For example: CERM (14th Edition) page 48-
5 is tabbed “f’c formula” (used a yellow flag) for the concrete compressive strength
formula.

 Tab appendices which you use frequently. For example: CERM (14th Edition) page A-
127 is tabbed “Struct. Steel Properties” (used a red flag) for the structural steel properties
and types. For example: CERM (14th Edition) page A-99 is tabbed “Beam V&M
Diagrams” (used a red flag) for shear and moment diagrams (along with deflections).

 Do not go crazy highlighting everything… you will defeat the benefit if your highlight
every other word. Only highlight key formulas and words which you need to have “pop”
out at your when you flip to the page.

 Here are the tabs I purchased:

o http://tinyurl.com/zk28trt
o http://tinyurl.com/py8qod4

 I found it useful to write constants or the units of the formula output in red pen next to
the formula in the CERM. For example: When calculating the compressive strength of a
concrete cylinder you will need to use the area of the cylinder in the formula. The
common 6x12 cylinder has an area of 28.27 square inches; write this in red pen next to
the formula so you don’t have to look it up ever again.
  Do not overtab. You should be able to see every tab clearly when looking at the side of
your CERM. If tabs overlap and you can’t easily see them, then what good are they?

My Thoughts on Solved Problems

Personally, I did not use “solved problems” during the actual PE exam. I feel there is an over-
reliance on having a binder of solved problems and using it as a crutch during the exam; this
allows the examinee to have a false sense of security. In the event one of your solved problems is
identical to an exam question, then good for you. More than likely 79/80 of the exam problems
will NOT be identical to one of your solved problems and you will be stuck trying to learn
something during the exam! Not good. Working practice problems during studying is vital to
your success on the real exam but leave the solved problems at home. If you studied properly
then you will not need them.

Summary

1. Develop your study schedule and stick to it.

2. Sign up for School of PE or EET.
3. Understand the theory/principles behind the problems.
4. Work as many practice problems as you can.
5. Take simulated exams during your studying. Simulate the actual exam environment as
much as possible.
6. Purchase all NCEES required design standards (and use them during studying).
7. Purchase your NCEES-approved calculator before your start studying and only use that
calculator. Verify your State Board permits the calculator too.
8. Purchase your CERM (latest edition) and use it throughout your whole study campaign.
9. Purchase your reference book storage early. I recommend milk crates and a folding hand
truck.
10. Leave your cell phone away from you during studying.
11. Do not rely on “solved problems” to get you through the real exam.
12. Tab your own references but do not go overboard; selective tabbing is key.
13. Purchase supplementary references to cover your weak areas (and use them during
studying).
Thank you so much for this post. I used it as a guide for my preparation and studying and passed on the 1st
attempt in October 2016! I just want to point out a couple things I did to help for the next guy.

1. School of PE - I would not have passed if it wasn't for this. I cannot stress how important I now believe it is
to take a prep course, especially if you have been out of school a while. I took the classes on demand because
it fit into my ever changing schedule. They will ensure you cover every topic of the exam and the notes and
practice problems are amazing. My School of PE notes were my #1 reference during the exam because I
knew where everything was and had them well organized. The classes are detailed and primarily just go over
problems so they do not waste your time. Sometimes people ask stupid questions during the recordings and
you can just fast forward past them. The $1200 for the on-demand option was some of the best money I
every spent.

2. Make a schedule and stick to it! Mine basically followed the post above -

Weeks 1 Review CERM, tab and review references, organize other notes, purchase, review, print, and
organize School of PE notes (almost 1000 pages).

Weeks 2-6 One breadth topic per week. Some weeks I had more time on the weekend to complete the
classes and practice problems, sometimes I had to do it during the week. Do the construction breadth even
though it might seem silly, you should know what construction questions to expect in the morning.

Weeks 7-10 Construction Depth Topics. Do the problems as you go along. Ensure you understand the ones
you got wrong. Attention to detail and carefully reading the question will usually make the difference
whether you get it right or not.

End of Week 10 - Take the NCEES practice exam in a test setting. I took all my references into a conference
room at work on a Saturday, put my phone in another room, and timed myself. 4 hours for the morning,
took a lunch break, and 4 in the afternoon. This will help you also build the mental 'endurance' you need for
the test. I got a 62/80 - you will realize what your strengths and weaknesses are after this and hopefully build
confidence. Focus on your weaknesses!

Week 11 - Practice problems on topics you are weak in but don't stress over one topic if you are having
trouble with it. I really struggled with shoring and re-shoring for some reason but I just got comfortable
enough to make an educated guess. I think you can only afford to treat one topic like this because you will
make other mistakes and there will be other questions you don't know the answer to.

Week 12 (Test Week)- Go over all your notes, problems and references. Make sure you are completely
organized and know where everything is.

I was tired of studying by the end and just ready to take the test. Any more than 12 weeks and I think you will
get burnt out. Remember a normal college semester is 17 weeks including finals and 1 week off in the middle
so going 12 weeks straight is roughly what you are conditioned for.

3. References - I bought all of them except AISC SCM and CMWB-12. School of PE gives you some excerpts
from AISC and I did not have CMWB-12 manual. I didn't need them for the exam so maybe I just got lucky.
For the rest, you will use them throughout the School of PE problems and you will learn where things are. If
you have an old textbook - bring it to the test and put it at the bottom of your references. I found an exact
example of one of the PE questions in an old textbook - which was a gift but I took it. A couple other
questions were straight out of the School of PE Notes.

Thanks again NYCProjectEngineer for this guide - it was a life saver! I wouldn't have passed without it.
Just remember do not ever give up!

Morning session: You can easily score 35/40 in the morning without studying and utilizing the CERM. Every
question must be ready carefully for to be sure you are fully understanding the question, the answer they are
looking for and the units it should be in. Once you have all that information the equations and methodology
is either in the CERM or it's logical arithmetic. The CERM index is your best friend for the AM civil portion. If
you do want to prep for the AM I'd simply suggest tabbing the soil/geotechnical sections of the CERM since
30% of the AM session in on that and it seems to be where you lost some good points.

Afternoon session: I studied by reading through the structural section of the CERM twice highlighting
important sentences and equations (but not going overboard here). Be very comfortable with using your 3
equations of equilibrium to find forces in members/reactions/etc. Understand how bending, shear, and axial
forces are calculated using the members section properties. Certain questions are very likely to be on the
exam like a steel beam moment question - utilize the unbraced length tables 3-10 in AISC, it's quick and easy
to find the capacity. Pay attention to any lateral bracing points (for column questions too). There is going to
be a few foundation/footing questions so understand how shear/bending strength/stresses are calculated for
them. The questions in the afternoon have more 'trip-ups' than the morning session (which I believe to be
pretty straight forward) i.e. information you don't need, a single word that changes the problem completely
but could be overlooked, unusual material parameters, etc. If you're reading the questions really thoroughly
and making no assumptions as to what they are asking for you will be in the best shape to arrive at the
correct answer. Lastly, know the codes well. Particularly AISC, ASCE-7, and ACI-318. Be familiar with the
layout of each and how each code directs you to make adjustments. By this I mean in AISC how minor axis
bending is calculated differently than major axis, or slender elements vs compact/non compact. For ACI 318
there are provisions for steel ratios for temp/shrinkage, flexure, shear, compression. For ASCE-7 there are
methods to calculate snow loads for picthed roofs but and adjustment must be made for unbalanced loads.
The afternoon session will catch you utilizing the nearly correct method but missing one detail that
completely changes the answer.

Also I don't know bridge/prestressed concrete well at all so I completely guessed at those and focused on the
other 90% of the exam that I could get correct.

I hope that wasn't all too confusing