Here is a list of the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) from PDHengineer users. If you are unable to locate the answer to your questions on this page, please contact us using the Live Support Chat link at the top of the page, email us at support@PDHengineer.com, or call toll-free 1-877-PDHengineer. (1-877-734-3644)
State Board Acceptance
These are all generic terms used to describe one hour of engineering continuing education credit for various states.
PDH means Professional Development Hours and is used by most states.
CPD, used in Florida, Ohio, Louisiana, and other states, means Continuing Professional Development credits.
The term CPC or Continuing Professional Competency credits is used in New Jersey, Maryland, and other states.
Other states may have different terminology. Although the terminology changes from state to state, the meaning is the same. Each PDH, CPD, or CPC credit is equivalent to one hour of training time.
The number of PDH units required for license renewal varies by jurisdiction. For U.S. states that require continuing professional competency activities, it is typically between 12 to 15 hours if renewed annually or 24 to 30 hours if renewed biennially. Some states, have significantly different requirements. PDHengineer maintains a list of continuing education requirements for all states.
Courses from PDHengineer.com have been accepted by every state with a continuing education requirement for engineers. We are an approved sponsor of continuing education for licensed professional engineers in the states of Florida (Florida Continuing Education Provider #0003610), North Carolina, Maryland, and New York (NYSED Approved Sponsor #25)* which are the only states that pre-approve sponsors. Courses have been pre-approved by New Jersey and Indiana, which are the only states to pre-approve specific courses.
In all other U.S. states that mandate continuing education to maintain licensure, it is the individual engineer’s responsibility to ensure that activities meet board requirements. All PDHengineer courses and webinars have been designed to meet the requirements of these states that do not have formal approval processes. In fact, all PDHengineer courses and webinars comply with the guidelines set forth by the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES), which is the model used by most states to design their continuing education requirements.
With PDHengineer, you can rest comfortably knowing your credits will be accepted. We are the leading provider of continuing education exclusively for engineers. We don’t offer training for any other profession. Our focus is to provide the most relevant content for engineers.
Our compliance staff invests countless hours each year studying rule changes and corresponding with the state engineering licensing boards. Our PDH compliance expertise is unmatched in the industry!
In fact, more than 350,000 hours of PDHengineer courses and webinars have been accepted by every state board in the U.S. that mandates continuing education and no PDHengineer course has EVER been rejected by a state licensing board.
*Online courses provided by PDHengineer.com are classified as Continuing Educational Activities by the New York State Board. A maximum of 18 hours of the 36 hours required by the state of New York for license renewal may be earned in Continuing Educational Activities. This rule applies only to licensees in the state of New York. Other than New York (which limits online courses to 18 PDH) and Iowa (which limits online courses to 10 PDH), there are no constraints placed by other states on the number of hours that can be earned through online courses. All states, with the exception of Illinois (Structural Engineers), accept webinars for PDH credit. Note that New York and Wisconsin accept webinars as “live contact hours” to meet the specific state requirements for “live credits.” The New York board requires a minimum of 18 PDH of “live contact hours” and Wisconsin’s Board requires 13 PDH of “live, interactive” credits. There is no restriction in either state on the maximum number of hours that can be earned through webinars.
The rules vary between states, but state boards typically accept a continuing education activity that meets the following criteria: “A course or activity whose purpose and objective are clear with a content that will maintain, improve or expand the skills and knowledge of the licensee’s field of practice.”
- Online Courses
- Internet courses are accepted by all states that require engineering continuing education provided that the student passes a quiz to successfully complete the course, the quiz is graded, and the results are kept on file by the course provider for a prescribed length of time (the number of years varies for each state).
- Webinars
- Webinars are accepted for PDH credit by all states that require engineering continuing education (except Illinois Structural Engineers). Engineers licensed in Ohio are required to complete a quiz for PDH credit; otherwise, webinar participants are not required to complete a quiz.
PDHengineer.com guarantees that every course* we offer will be accepted by your board when the course content is relevant to your professional development such that it will “maintain, improve or expand the skill and knowledge of the licensee’s field of practice.”
It is ultimately your responsibility to review the content of a course to determine whether it meets this requirement. Nevertheless, the PDHengineer Triple Guarantee applies to every course or webinar sold by PDHengineer.
If your state licensing board does not accept any PDHengineer course or webinar for any reason:
- We will give you a full refund
- We will pay for a replacement course or webinar
- We will pay your license renewal fee
*State Boards in certain states may have limitations on acceptable course areas. Each course overview page clearly indicates in which state(s) the course is accepted. Specific state criteria can be found on state information pages. The PDHengineer Triple Guarantee applies to courses shown as acceptable in that state.
Taking Courses Online
All of your courses, certificates of completion, and purchase history can be found by using the “My Account” link at the top of any page. Simply click “My Account” and you will be taken to a page that summarizes all of your activity.
In the center of the page, the first link is “My Courses – View courses purchased, take quizzes, and print certificates of completion.” Click this link to view a list of all courses you have purchased. Then, click the course title to view the Course Progress Page that contains links to the course document, quiz, and certificate of completion. If you are unable to complete the course and quiz in one sitting, you can come back to the Course Progress Page at any time to continue.
To view the course material, take quizzes, or download certificates of completion, use the My Account link at the top of any page. Once you have logged in, look for the My Courses link in the center of the page. There you will see a list of all courses purchases. Click the title to view the course material, quizzes and certificate of completion.
All courses and webinars that you have purchased can be accessed using the My Account link at the top of any page of our website. Once logged in, select My Courses and you will see the list of courses and webinars. Click the title of the appropriate course to access the course material, quiz, and certificate of completion.
You may retake the quiz as many times as necessary to pass it at no additional charge for a period of one year after the date of course purchase.
A score of at least 70% is required to pass the quiz.
Quizzes are not timed. After purchasing the course, you can view and print the quiz; and you can take as long as you like to complete it.
The length of the quiz varies according to the course length. A 1-PDH course contains at least 10 quiz questions. Longer courses typically have 5 questions per PDH of course content. The number of questions for each quiz is specified on the course overview page for the course. Quizzes are made up of multiple-choice and true/false questions.
Quizzes contain multiple-choice questions with one possible correct answer. A small percentage of the questions may be true/false.
You have two years from the date of course purchase to take and pass the quiz for PDH credits. Courses not completed within that time frame are ineligible for credit. PDH credit is not awarded for courses until the quiz has been passed.
Taking online courses for credit on PDHengineer.com is easy.
- Browse course topics and select a course.
- Set up a user account and log in to pay for the course.
- Review the course material online anytime at your leisure.
- Take the short online quiz whenever you are ready. Your quiz will be automatically graded and you will be able to instantly see the results.
- Upon passing the quiz, you can immediately print a certificate of completion for your records.
For step-by-step instructions on taking a course for PDH credits, see How It Works.
Writing a Course
Subject Matter Experts can create a substantial recurring revenue stream providing content for PDHengineer’s online courses and webinars. PDHengineer has paid out more than $4.5 million in royalties to course authors.
- Online Courses
- PDHengineer.com pays you a royalty each time your course is sold. The amount of money that you earn will ultimately depend on the popularity of your course. See Write a Course for more information.
- Webinars
- As a webinar instructor you are paid an hourly rate each time you present your webinar. See Present a Webinar for more information.
You never have to pay any money to present a webinar or have a course published on PDHengineer.com. We take care of all the costs for web development and maintenance, marketing, scheduling, and administration. Additionally, we handle all aspects of state approval of your courses.
PDHengineer contracts with eligible Subject Matter Experts to provide course material sold on our website. If you are interested in learning more about the benefits of becoming a PDHengineer Subject Matter Expert, allowing you to create a substantial passive income flow while giving back to your profession, send an email to authors@PDHengineer.com. In the email, provide a copy of your resume, a short biography, and a list of your proposed topics for consideration. Our Review Team will be in contact generally within 72 hours with further information.
PDHengineer’s Subject Matter Experts must be qualified to teach the material through education and/or work experience. We review the education and professional credentials of all prospective content providers before publishing their work.
Pricing, Payment and Security
PDHengineer Reward Tokens are credits that you can use to purchase courses. Reward Tokens can be either earned (for online courses, one token is awarded for each PDH purchased; and with webinars, two tokens are awarded for each PDH purchased) or purchased as a part of a PDHengineer Build Your Own Package. In both cases, 10 PDHengineer Reward Tokens can be redeemed for a 1 PDH course or webinar.
To redeem your tokens, select the courses or webinars you wish to purchase and click “checkout.” Below the list of courses in your cart, you will see three options: (a) Use Voucher; (b) Use Discount Code; and (c) Use Tokens. Click “Use Tokens” and “Apply.” The tokens will be applied and your balance due will be adjusted to zero. Then, complete the checkout process normally. You will not be asked for payment information if your balance due is $0.00.
If you are purchasing a Build Your Own Package, you must complete the package purchase first, then create a new shopping cart that contains the courses you wish to purchase using the tokens. And, a shopping cart cannot contain both Reward redemption and normal purchases. A separate cart is required for each type of transaction.
You will be emailed a receipt each time you purchase a course or webinar. Additionally, you can access and print a copy of your receipt at any time using the Order History link located on the My Account page.
Our secure online payment processor is PayPal, the global leader of online payment services. PayPal uses state-of-the-art 128 bit SSL encryption technology and has the most advanced payment processing system available to safeguard your transactions. SSL encryption technology transfers data to your credit card company using scrambled code, so that it cannot be intercepted and used by third parties.
Additionally, PDHengineer accepts payment using PayPal payments, offering an even higher degree of security for your information.
PDHengineer.com accepts a wide variety of payment methods:
- All major personal and corporate credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover
- PayPal
- GSA Smart Card for government employees
- Purchase order for pre-approved companies
To discuss set-up of a purchase order account, please contact us at 1-877-PDHengineer (1-877-734-3644).
Yes, PDHengineer.com periodically offers discounts to our customers. To be informed when discounts may be available, sign up for our Current Promotions circular
If your company has five or more licensed professional engineers on staff, you may be eligible for our Corporate Discount Program.
Log In and User Account
To view the course material, take quizzes, or download certificates of completion, use the My Account link at the top of any page. Once you have logged in, look for the My Courses link in the center of the page. There you will see a list of all courses purchases. Click the title to view the course material, quizzes and certificate of completion.
You can change your email address in one of several ways.
- If you know your registered email address and password, log in to your account, then click the Change Email Address link in the navigation panel on the left of the page.
- Your email address will be automatically changed.
- If you no longer have access to your registered email address, click the Change Email link located on the My Account log in page.
- You will be asked the “challenge” question that you set up at the time of account creation. When this has been answered correctly, you will be prompted to enter your new email address. You can then use the new email address to access your account and / or to change your password if desired.
- If you cannot remember your registered email address or password and do not know the answer to your challenge question, contact our Customer Service Team using the Live Support Chat link at the top of any page of call us at 1-877-PDHengineer (1-877-734-3644) for assistance.
PDHengineer makes it easy to access your account even if you’ve forgotten your password or changed your email address.
- If you have simply forgotten your password, click the Forgot Password link located on the My Account log in page.
- A new password will be sent to your registered email account. Log in with this temporary password, then click the Change Password link to create a new password that is easy for you to remember.
- If you no longer have access to your registered email address, click the Change Email link located on the My Account log in page.
- You will be asked the “challenge” question that you set up at the time of account creation. When this has been answered correctly, you will be prompted to enter your new email address. You can then use the new email address to access your account and / or to change your password if desired.
- If you cannot remember your password and do not know the answer to your challenge question, contact our Customer Service Team using the Live Support Chat link at the top of any page or call us at 1-877-PDHengineer (1-877-734-3644) for assistance.
We use the information you provide to us to process purchases, to create your certificate of completion, and to maintain our in-house records of your course completion in accordance with state board requirements. We also may use your email and mailing addresses to communicate information to you about your account.
Do you provide information about me to other parties?
Decatur Professional Development, LLC, the parent company of PDHengineer.com, will not share information about you to any other party without your consent, except as follows:
- When purchasing a course using your credit card, information that you input is provided to PayPal, our secure online payment processor.
- If you are registered in the state of Florida, we will periodically provide course completion information to the Florida Board of Professional Engineers, as required by state law. We will also provide course completion information to any state engineering board upon request.
PDHengineer.com respects your privacy. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for more information.
You need to have a user account and login when you wish to:
- Purchase courses or webinars online for PDH credit, or
- Access information stored in My Account, such as your certificates of completion and receipts from previous purchases.
Otherwise, you are free to browse PDHengineer.com without logging in. You have access to a wealth of information on the site, including course descriptions, summaries of state licensing requirements, and abbreviated “preview” versions of each course.
If you prefer to purchase courses or webinars without establishing an online account, you can contact our Customer Service Team toll-free at 1-877-PDHengineer (1-877-734-3644) to use our Courses By Mail service.
Record Keeping
The licensing boards do not typically require you to submit course completion certificates when renewing your license. However, you may be required to list continuing education activities and you will need to provide a course certificate of completion if you are audited by your licensing board. Check with your board for your state requirements.
You may access a copy of your certificates 24 hours a day, seven days a week by clicking My Account at the top right of any page on our website. Certificate copies can be accessed by clicking the My Courses link. PDHengineer.com also maintains a hard copy of your certificate of completion in our corporate headquarters for a period of 7 years.
You are ultimately responsible for maintaining a record of your PDH activities. Upon successfully completing a course or webinar on PDHengineer.com, you should print the certificate of completion and save it for your records in the event that you are audited by your licensing board. For your convenience, we provide free, unlimited access to additional copies of your certificate through your login account.
Upon successfully completing a course or webinar, you will be able to print a certificate of completion for your records. This certificate has been designed to meet the requirements of the various state engineering boards. If you are selected for audit by your board, PDHengineer is happy to provide additional copies of your certificates.
Technical Support
Some state boards ask that the PE provide one PDF file containing all certificates of completion. This can be easily done using most PDF manipulation software including Adobe Reader. But, be advised that some programs that combine multiple files can cause certain information on the resulting file to be illegible, scrambled, or missing. This generally happens when the software you are using is older and does not comply to the newest standards for PDF production. Make certain to closely compare the final file to the original and be sure that all information appears as it should before submission to the board.
Your internet browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, etc.) maintains stored copies of web pages and pictures in order to speed up how fast web pages are displayed to you. This is called a browser cache and the files contained are referred to as cached files.
The browser cache allows you to speed along the internet quicker. However, sometimes the browser cache can cause problems when it becomes too big or corrupt. Or, your browser may not download the most current version of a web page from the website, instead showing you an older cached version.
To solve these problems, it is occasionally necessary to clear the browser cache. The process for each browser is a bit different, but the process is similar. Instruction to clear the browser cache for the three most-common browsers are listed here.
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Remember that if you have a different version of the browser or any other browser, your process may be different. |
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Any information that you input when creating your login account can be changed at any time by clicking on Edit Profile Information in the My Account menu.
Note that any changes that you make to your Profile Information will not be reflected in previously created certificates of completion. Thus, changing your name in your Profile Information will not result in the new name being added to existing certificates in your account from previously completed courses. The new spelling will, however, be applied to certificates for courses completed in the future.
The design of PDHengineer.com is optimized for the Microsoft Internet Explorer series of web browsers. The functionality of the website, including creating a login account, purchasing courses, taking quizzes, etc., works with any web browser. However, there are some text and graphics that may appear slightly different than our web designers intended when displayed on your screen if you use a web browser other than Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Certain sections of the website may contain both secure and unsecure information and generate a warning from your browser. In this case, please answer that you wish to display ALL content. Otherwise, graphic content will be blocked. If you have received this message and did not answer the warning question correctly, you can refresh the page using Control+R and you will be presented with the warning question a second time.
Certain mobile devices (phones and tablets) may not display the interactive map on the PDHengineer home page, as well as courses listed on the site as ‘interactive.’ This is due to incompatibility of Adobe Flash with some mobile devices. All PDF-based courses should render properly on tablet devices. It is not recommended to access any courses via mobile phones due to screen size limitations.
To download, view, and print course files, you must have a PDF reader installed on your computer. The most common of these is the free Adobe Reader although other programs are available that offer similar functionality. If you choose to install Adobe Reader, please note that Adobe suggests that previous versions of Reader be uninstalled before installing a new version. Additionally, the download may offer to install an alternate browser, which is not required for use of the program. We do not suggest that you install the alternate browser.
Some PDF reading programs are problematic with longer documents as are some of the PDF readers installed automatically by some internet browsers. If you are having issues and do not have a standalone copy of Adobe Reader, we suggest that you download the free version shown above.
If you are still unable to download a course file by clicking on the link, please contact our Customer Service Team for assistance.
There are a number of reasons why you may not be able to log in to your account:
- Did you type your email address and password correctly? Check the spelling and try again.
- Is your caps lock on? Your password is case-sensitive and must be entered exactly as it was originally entered. If you cannot remember your password, click the Forgot Password link.
- Are you entering the correct email address? If you cannot remember the email address used to create your account, contact our Customer Service Team at 1-877-PDHengineer (1-877-734-3644)
- Are you a registered user? You must first sign-up as a new user to purchase and take courses on PDHengineer.com.
- Do you have “cookies” enabled on your browser? Cookies are required on PDHengineer.com and a “high security” setting on your browser may block the acceptance of cookies. To check the settings, click your Internet Options settings (the location of this link varies by browser) and check “privacy” or “cookies.”
- Having other issues? Contact our Customer Service Team using the Live Support Chat link above, email, or call us toll-free at 1-877-PDHengineer.
Webinars
The simple answer is “no.”
For a PDHengineer webinar you can connect with your landline, cellphone, or no phone at all by using your computer’s audio and microphone. Using the computer audio eliminates the need for a telephone.
Search for webinars online or call us toll free at 1-877-PDHengineer (1-877-734-3644) for assistance. After purchasing a webinar, your receipt will contain a link to the webinar site along with an access code.
In order to create the live, interactive environment, PDHengineer’s webinars use both audio and video. And, there are several ways to connect:
- Video
- Using your desktop computer, laptop, or tablet, the video connection requires a high speed internet connection such as DSL or cable. A home or office WiFi connection generally works well, but in some cases a public WiFi network such as those at coffee shops, hotels or restaurants can be too slow and may be troublesome.
- For iPad or Android users, a free app is available in either the Apple Store or Google Play Store – search ‘ReadyTalk’
- Audio – Use your landline, your cell phone, or no phone at all!
- Landline and cell phone users will call in to establish the audio connection. For your comfort, it is suggested that you use a speaker phone or headset to connect.
- If you prefer to use your computer’s audio and microphone, a link appears upon log in to the webinar site that will guide you through connection. It is suggested that you test audio prior to the webinar and that you log in 30 minutes before the webinar begins in order to verify two-way communication.
All participants are required to make both audio and video connection to the webinar. Our system supports both Windows and Apple operating systems. While we do not suggest using a smartphone to view a webinar, depending on your phone’s capabilities it may be an option. Unfortunately, due to the large number of smartphones with varied capabilities, our tech support department cannot provide assistance for issues involving smartphone viewing.
About 10 minutes before the scheduled starting time, go to the website shown in the instructions and enter the access code as shown. You will be asked to enter your name and email address. Then establish your audio connection using the phone number listed in the instructions or click the link on the screen if using your computer’s audio. When asked to do so, enter the access code shown on the instructions.
Of course, our Customer Service Team is available to help if you have any questions about accessing the webinar. Our toll-free number is 1-877-PDHengineer (1-877-734-3644). A dedicated team of tech support professionals is available to help with more complex issues. The toll-free number can be found on the webinar log in page
If you have misplaced the purchase receipt showing the login information, just go to the My Account page and select My Courses to find a link to the webinar access information.
PDHengineer can accommodate groups attending from the same location with special pricing. This is a convenient way to assure that your entire engineering staff receives first class continuing education at an affordable price. For more information, visit our Got a Group? page.
PDHengineer’s Webinar Calendar is an easy way to view webinars scheduled for the next several weeks. Icons at the top of the calendar will allow you to scroll several months in advance; however it is good to remember that many webinars are added to the calendar at later dates, so please check back often. The webinar listings are color-coded to indicate the area of practice the webinar will primarily appeal to, although many of our webinars are designed to be multi-disciplinary in appeal. Clicking listings in the Webinar Calendar will display the full webinar overview along with information on purchasing the webinar for an individual or for a group.
A complete listing of our webinar offerings (scheduled and unscheduled) can be found using the Search Webinars by Discipline page. This list can be filtered by discipline or number of PDH.
If the webinar you’d like to attend is either currently unscheduled or you are unable to attend on the scheduled date, you will find a link on the webinar overview page asking us to notify you when the webinar is next scheduled.
Webinars earn PDH credits for engineers in all states. For PEs licensed in New York, Wisconsin, and Iowa, webinar credits are counted as live contact hours and will fulfill your state board requirements. Remember that you are protected by the PDHengineer Triple Guarantee.
Each of our webinar overview pages include a full list of states for which the webinar can be used as continuing education credits. You can find a recap of your state’s specific requirements on our state information pages.
Attention New York Engineers: PDHengineer.com webinars have been approved as continuing education courses (live interactive courses) for professional engineers by the New York Board of Engineers and Land Surveyors. PDHengineer.com, a service mark of Decatur Professional Development, LLC is an approved provider of continuing education for New York engineers. NYSED Approved Sponsor #25.
Attention Wisconsin Engineers: PDHengineer’s webinars are designed to meet the Wisconsin Board’s “live training” requirement.
Attention Iowa Engineers: PDHengineer’s webinars are designed to meet the Iowa Board’s “live training” requirement and are not subject to the rules as a “self-study course.”
Attention Ohio Engineers: The Ohio Board requires that you pass a short quiz after webinar attendance. Please contact our Customer Service Team at 1-877-PDHengineer (1-877-734-3644) for details.
After you have attended the webinar, return to the PDHengineer.com website and click the My Account link at the top of any of our pages. Once you have logged in, select My Courses to view the list of courses and webinars you have purchased. Click on the webinar title, then from the Course Homepage select Take Survey.
Once you have completed the short survey regarding how well the webinar met the learning objectives, you will see a link that allows you to download and print your certificate. If you wish to view the certificate or print additional copies in the future, simply click My Courses from the My Account menu to see a link to download the certificate.
Simply put, a webinar or web seminar is an online live, interactive seminar. You will have all of the advantages of an in-person instructor without leaving your home or office. Web seminars offer two-way communication between you, the instructor, and the others attending the seminar.
PDHengineer Reward Tokens
The number of Reward Tokens is displayed at the top of the My Account page. Click the My Account link at the top of any page. Also, if you are making an eligible purchase and have Tokens in your account, an option will appear in the shopping cart asking if you wish to use Reward Tokens to make the purchase. This option is located below the list of courses in your shopping cart.
Reward Tokens are awarded to or purchased by an individual and cannot be shared. However, a group of engineers or a company can purchase a pool of tokens to be shared among its members. (Purchase amounts range from 100 to 5,000 tokens.) This pool of tokens can be shared by the entire group. You can get details at https://www.pdhengineer.com/tokens/group/ or by contacting our Customer Service Team at 1-877-PDHengineer (1-877-734-3644).
PDHengineer Reward Tokens are credits that you can use to purchase courses. Reward Tokens can be either earned (for online courses, one token is awarded for each PDH purchased; and with webinars, two tokens are awarded for each PDH purchased) or purchased as a part of a PDHengineer Build Your Own Package. In both cases, 10 PDHengineer Reward Tokens can be redeemed for a 1 PDH course or webinar.
To redeem your tokens, select the courses or webinars you wish to purchase and click “checkout.” Below the list of courses in your cart, you will see three options: (a) Use Voucher; (b) Use Discount Code; and (c) Use Tokens. Click “Use Tokens” and “Apply.” The tokens will be applied and your balance due will be adjusted to zero. Then, complete the checkout process normally. You will not be asked for payment information if your balance due is $0.00.
If you are purchasing a Build Your Own Package, you must complete the package purchase first, then create a new shopping cart that contains the courses you wish to purchase using the tokens. And, a shopping cart cannot contain both Reward redemption and normal purchases. A separate cart is required for each type of transaction.
