Illinois Administrative Code › Title 68 - PROFESSIONS AND OCCUPATIONS › Part 1480 - THE STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING PRACTICE ACT OF 1989 › Appendix A - Significant Dates for the Administration of the Act and Rules

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) July 5, 1915. The State Board of Examiners of Structural
				Engineers Act became effective on July 5, 1915. Prior to that date, there was
				no regulation in Illinois governing the practice of structural engineering or
				requiring registration of engineers. Examinations were required for all
				applicants who could not prove that they had been working as a structural
				engineer in Illinois for the 10 years prior to the Act. The State Board of
				Examiners of Structural Engineers was to be composed of 5 members, one of whom
				shall be a professor in the Civil Engineering Department of the University of
				Illinois and the other four shall be structural engineers of recognized
				standing. Structural engineers were exempt from the requirements of the 1897
				Architect Act. The Board was appointed by the Governor and was autonomous,
				received application fees, elected officers including treasurer and filed with
				Illinois Secretary of State any changes in the Act or Rules.
b) July 1, 1919. Original Act of 1915 repealed. State Board of
				Examiners of Structural Engineers and office of the secretary of board
				abolished. Powers, duties and responsibilities transferred to the Department of
				Registration and Education. The new Act was named the Illinois Structural
				Engineering Act. The practice of structural engineering was defined in the Act.
				The requirement to take the structural exam, given by the Department, was a
				four-year degree with a structural emphasis. The minimum age was 21 to take the
				examinations. Firms offering structural services must have a registered
				structural engineer as the principal. The Department of Registration and
				Education shall hold examinations. Licensure of structural engineers licensed
				in other states may be licensed in Illinois if, at the date of licensure, the
				requirements were substantially equal to those in force in Illinois at the date
				of original licensure.
c) July 10, 1935. Act amended adding the Committee comprised of
				5 members, one of whom shall be a professor in the Civil Engineering Department
				of the University of Illinois and the other four shall be structural engineers
				of recognized standing. The Department shall not exercise powers or duties,
				except on the action and report in writing of the Committee.
d) 1941. Added to the definition of practice: Professional
				engineer not to practice structural engineering without registration as a
				structural engineer.
e) The administrative rules filed with the Secretary of State
				on December 23, 1960 stated:
1) Examinations - the written examination that was
				available in 1960 was the 16-hour state constructed structural examination. It
				consisted of four 4-hour examinations in the following divisions:
A) General engineering knowledge.
B) Reinforced concrete.
C) Structural steel.
D) Wood, masonry, foundations.
2) Allowed an oral examination with the Board that
				included blueprints or other reproductions of three or more major structures
				prepared by the applicant or under the applicant's immediate supervision over a
				ten year period subsequent to his graduation from an accredited engineering
				curriculum which included structural engineering.
3) Accredited College: A college of engineering
				whose standards and curricula, including structural engineering, are equivalent
				to and whose credits are acceptable by the University of Illinois, College of
				Engineering, will be accredited by the Department of Registration and
				Education.
4) Experience Requirements: A minimum of 6 years
				structural experience. Those who graduated from an accredited curriculum which
				included structural engineering shall be credited with two years of the
				required 6-year period. Those with a minimum of no less than 10 years of
				experience may request an oral examination.
f) All examinations were state constructed until Illinois
				accepted the NCEES examinations as standard on the following dates:
1) Fundamentals of Engineering - April 1984 -
				replaced.
2) Structural I - April 1984 - replaced combined
				Divisions B1, C1, D1.
3) Structural II - October 1987 - this was in two
				Parts: AM and PM: replaced combined Divisions B2, C2, D2.
g) Complaint Review Sub-Committee: 1993 Act established that
				the Board may create a complaint review sub-committee. Rules were adopted in
				1994 establishing the Complaint Review Sub-Committee.
h) 1996 Renewals required either proof of:
1) having passed the Illinois administered NCEES
				Structural II PM examinations after October 1991, the Western States Structural
				Examination after 1993 or the NCEES Structural II PM examinations administered
				in another jurisdiction starting with the Spring 1993;
2) satisfactory completion of a Board approved
				professional seminar dealing with seismic design and involving a minimum of 16
				contact hours; or
3) evidence that the licensee has taught a Board
				approved professional seminar dealing with seismic design that is part of an
				approved engineering curriculum. The same requirement was placed on all
				applicants applying by endorsement who were licensed in other
				jurisdictions.
i) August 2, 1996. Proof of completion of the Test of English
				as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with a score of 550 and Test of Spoken English
				(TSE) with a score of 50 for all applicants applying who graduated from an
				engineering program outside the United States or its territories and whose
				first language is not English.
j) August 2, 1996. All applicants with a foreign baccalaureate
				degree are required to submit at their own expense a course-by-course
				evaluation.
k) 2003. The Western States Structural Examination was no
				longer offered. Some western states offered a state constructed Structural III
				examination. Illinois required passage of the SE I & II exams and has never
				recognized that state constructed SE III exam as meeting Illinois specific
				requirements.
l) 2004. The NCEES Structural II exam was changed from two
				4-hour portions (AM and PM) to one 8-hour Structural II exam.
m) Beginning with the November 30, 2004 renewal and all
				renewals thereafter, renewal applicants shall complete 30 Continuing Education
				(CE) hours relevant to the practice of structural engineering during each
				prerenewal period, a maximum of 10 may be earned as a self-administered
				course.
n) Restoration requires completion of the CE as stated in
				Section 1480.185 in addition to all
				other restoration requirements.
o) October 30, 2006. Engineering Credentials Evaluation
				International (ECEI) ceased evaluating credentials. The Board approved the
				Center for Professional Engineering Credentials (CPEES) as the only engineering
				evaluation service.
p) August 6, 2009. CPEES changed its name to NCEES Credentials
				Evaluations service.
q) In March of 2010, the Test of English as a Foreign Language
				(TOEFL and the Test of Spoken English (TSE) ceased to be offered as the
				TOEFL-iBT (Internet Based Test) was established and superseded this exam. While
				in effect, the TOEFL and TSE requirements were a minimum score of 550 or 213
				for the computer-based test and the TSE was a minimum score of 50.
r) 2011. NCEES no longer offered the SE I & II exams. These
				were replaced by the 16-hour structural examination which consists of two
				8-hour components: The Vertical Forces (gravity/other) and Incidental Lateral
				component, and the Lateral Forces (wind/earthquake) component. An applicant
				must receive acceptable results on both 8-hour components to pass the
				structural examination. Prior to the April 2011 exam administration, the
				examination for licensure as a structural engineer shall be divided into 3
				parts. Those 3 parts are: (1) Fundamentals of Engineering; (2) Structural I
				Examination; and (3) Structural II Examination.
1) Fundamentals of Engineering. This examination
				shall consist of problems or other examining techniques designed to evaluate
				the applicant's knowledge of the basic and engineering sciences and related
				subjects normally considered as the fundamentals of engineering.
2) Structural I Examination. This examination shall
				be 8 hours in duration and shall consist of problems or other examining
				techniques relating to designs in or to the practice of structural engineering
				as described in Section 5 of the Act.
3) Structural II Examination. This examination shall
				be 8 hours in duration and shall consist of problems or other examining
				techniques relating to designs in structural engineering, including seismic
				design. These problems may include, but not be limited to, bridges, buildings,
				foundations, and seismic and lateral forces.
4) No credit will be accepted for passing either the
				Structural I or the Structural II examination if both the examinations were not
				passed prior to the April 2011 examination administration.
s) January 1, 2014. NCEES changed the Fundamentals of
				Engineering exam from a paper and pencil examination to a Computer Based Test
				(CBT) which became available on demand up to three times a year, no more than
				once per quarter.