News

Celebrate International Women in Engineering Day, Monday, June 23^rd. It recognizes women’s engineering achievements and to encourage more women to enter the field. Many engineering fields require specialties, like civil, environmental, mechanical, chemical, aerospace, electrical and computer engineering. While the demand keeps growing every year for engineering expertise, women only fill a fraction of these positions. Please thank a woman engineer for their work on this day and encourage a girl to pursue a career in engineering.

Communication Manager Greg Schieferstein presented Wednesday to the Washington State Association of County Engineers (WSACE) annual conference, this year in Everett. Professional Engineers, public officials and others, listened closely and had great questions regarding the latest with our agency, which protects the public through professional licensing. The group spent much of the week studying and discussing transportation policies, processes and budgeting, for the 39 counties that make up Washington State. Thank you again for the invitation to speak!

BRPELS Administrative Assistant Bryce Dickison, has been honored with an award by the State of Washington Secretary of State’s Productivity Board. Through the Employee Suggestion Program, he submitted an idea to reduce cost or generate revenue for the state.

“These ideas from our state employees will improve how agencies provide services to the public,” Secretary of State Steve Hobbs said. “In these uncertain financial times for the state government, it is important to listen to those who having unique insight into their agency’s work.” 

It was another chance to listen and learn, for BRPELS staff and an LSAW chapter, as agency visits continue to each of the 12 chapters. Most recently, staff presented at the North Puget Sound Chapter, which met in Issaquah on May 27, 2025.

Our agency newsletter "The Journal" is packed with news and timely information about professional licensing for engineers, land surveyors and on-site wastewater designers and inspectors. Click for the latest edition here.

BRPELS staff hosted an outreach booth at the annual State of Washington Public Service Week’s Olympia Event, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. It brought recognition of our agency, while speaking with state employees who are also parents, landowners, etc. We spoke with them about the importance of hiring a licensed, professional land surveyor in our “Don’t Cut Corners” campaign, https://lnkd.in/gfAfAmvS, along with getting kids interested in surveying as a career, … Read more

BRPELS staff continues its series of road trips, visiting Land Surveyors Association of Washington Chapter meetings around the state. On Wednesday evening, May 7th, they presented at the Lower Columbia Chapter meeting in Vancouver.

The group included Deputy Director, Kristina Horton, PLS, our new Investigations and Compliance Manager, Randy Garcia and Communication Manager, Greg Schieferstein. Kristina explained the latest on the agency, makeup of the Board, licensing and investigations. Randy answered many questions about the process of investigations. Greg reviewed the new BRPELS… Read more

BRPELS is making significant improvements to our licensing process. The goal is to improve efficiency, reduce waste and remove redundancies. In the early stages of the process, the licensing team developed a few “quick wins” through automated licensing and application workflows, which decreased the average approval timeline by approximately 2 weeks.
Additionally, the licensing team deployed a new Law Review interface, hosted on the BRPELS webpage. Licensees can take the exam and immediately get pass/fail feedback… Read more

NCEES: SE Exam Times Extending by 60 Minutes

TO: Member Board Administrators
FROM: J. Lehmon Dekle, P.E., Chief Officer of Examinations
RE: Notice of Future Changes to NCEES Exams and Supporting Materials
This memo provides Member Boards the 1-year notice required by the NCEES Manual of Policy and Position Statements, Exam Development Policy (EDP) 7.
Spring 2026 Exam Changes
• PE Electrical and Computer: Electronics, Controls, and Communications—The PE Electrical and Computer: Electronics, Controls, and Communications exam… Read more

A reminder about protecting or replacing land survey monuments, was the main theme at the BRPELS booth, at the Spring American Public Works Association (APWA), Washington Chapter Conference, April 23 and 24 at the Tacoma Convention Center. Staff shared a short video with public officials and others, to help train new employees or serve as a refresher. You’re encouraged to do the same, by visiting this link https://youtu.be/VwscOvNlbYw.

BRPELS staff also spoke with parents/officials about Getting Kids Into Survey,… Read more