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
News
- Licensing Improvements - 05/06/2025
- Structural Exam Changes - 04/28/2025
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 - Monument Preservation - 04/24/2025
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
- Licensing Assistance - 04/08/2025
The Skilled Immigrants and Refugee Engagement Network (SIREN) is a group of service providers assisting engineers in returning to their fields through licensure, certification and employment support. It’s hosted by the… Read more
- Recruiting Future Professionals - 03/19/2025
“Northwest Land Surveyor” is a new partnership between Washington, Oregon and Idaho to spark interest in the profession of land surveying. Aimed at younger people considering future careers, it brings education and information to social media and the web, about professional land surveying. Sponsored in Washington by LSAW and supported by BRPELS. Please, check it out and share! https://nwsurveyor.com/
Recognizing Surveyors - 03/12/2025
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson proclaims March 16-22 as “Surveyors Week”
Gov. Ferguson is recognizing the important work of surveyors in our state, both historically and in the future.
“Wheras, today surveying continues to maintain an orderly system to our state and nation’s land and it’s residents’ individual property, has expanded to include hyrographic surveys, engineering surveys, engineering construction, building and highway infrastructure and cartographic surveys used for mapping and charting, global positioning for activities such as aircraft… Read more
LSAW Conference 2025 - 03/03/2025
The Board of Registration for Professional Engineers & Land Surveyors presented four sessions at this year’s Land Surveyor’s Association of Washington conference, February 26 through 28th at the Tulalip Resort and Casino.
Former Board Member Passes Away - 02/27/2025
Former BRPELS Board member, Scott Valentine, passed away in Spokane, January 2, 2024. He was appointed to the Board in July 2005, serving two terms until July 2015.
He was a Professional Land Surveyor licensed in Washington, Montana and Idaho and was a former State President of both LSAW and of the Montana Association of Land Surveyors. He lived in Spokane where he owned a small private land survey company, Scott Valentine Surveying. He practiced mainly in Eastern Washington with project work in Idaho and Montana.
His Board goal was to make decisions that are in the best… Read more
Improving PLS Exams - 02/06/2025
A varied group of 11 Professional Land Surveyor (PLS) Subject Matter Expert (SMEs) met at the Board office in Olympia on January 23-24, 2025, to review and validate the questions on two new PLS State Exams.
The questions reviewed were written by a separate SME group and resided in our question bank for several years. Recently, our contracted psychometrician used the bank of questions to create the two new exam forms.
One of the new exams will be used for the March 2025 PLS State Exam.
This was a combined effort of agency staff, board members and subject matter… Read more
BRPELS at the Tacoma Home & Garden Show - 01/30/2025
BRPELS was at the Tacoma Dome, for the Home & Garden Show the weekend of February 1st, talking with homeowners, landowners, contractors, etc., on the importance of hiring licensed, professional land surveyors, engineers and on-site designers. Our “Don’t Cut Corners” campaign explained it with signs, swag and links to our special webpage https://brpels.wa.gov/protect-yourself
We also promoted the campaign “Get Kids Into Survey,” using our special character “Blaze, the BRPELS Bigfoot,” with a life-size cutout for kids… Read more