The logical next step is to make licensure discipline-specific when it comes to actual practice, using the NCEES specification(s) for the PE exam(s) that an engineer has passed as the basis for designating the area(s) in which that person has demonstrated competence and requiring the engineer to practice only within the corresponding domain(s).

Specialization is a firmly entrenched reality in the engineering profession today. Every discipline is becoming increasingly complex while overlapping less with others that may have been closely aligned with it in the past. Rather than bemoaning this trend or pretending it does not exist, engineers should acknowledge it and work to adapt the licensure laws accordingly.

Jon A. Schmidt, PE, SECB, is an associate structural engineer at Burns & McDonnell in Kansas City, Mo. He can be reached at 816-822-3373 or jschmid@burnsmcd.com.