CPD AND PDH
Do Online Courses Count as CPD or PDH for Engineers?
Whether an online course counts toward your PE licence renewal or your CPD record depends on who regulates you. The PDH rules in Texas, Florida and New York, the NCEES standard, and the CPD rules of the Engineering Council, Engineers Ireland, Engineers Australia and Singapore's PEB, checked at source.
Online courses often can count toward an engineer's CPD or PDH requirement, but the decision belongs to the body that regulates you, not to the course provider. In the US each state board sets its own rules (Texas and Florida accept most courses without pre-approval, New York requires an approved sponsor), while the Engineering Council, Engineers Ireland and Engineers Australia count relevant learning you can record and reflect on, and Singapore's PEB counts only PEB-qualified courses as structured activity.
Checked on 11 October 2026 against the sources listed under this post.
This post is for licensed and chartered engineers in the US, UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and Singapore who want to know whether free online study is worth logging. Every rule below was read today on the regulator's or institution's own page, starting with the NCEES Continuing Professional Competency Standard. Rules change, so treat this as a map and your board's current text as the authority.
What is the difference between CPD and PDH?
CPD (continuing professional development) is the general term used in the UK, Ireland, Australia and most Commonwealth countries for the learning an engineer does to stay competent. It is usually recorded as hours plus a short reflection on what you learned.
A PDH (professional development hour) is the unit US licensing boards use to count continuing education for professional engineer (PE) licence renewal. Texas, for example, defines it as "a contact hour (clock hour)" of continuing education activity. One hour of genuine learning time equals one PDH; a quiz that takes ten minutes does not become an hour because the course page says so.
The two systems differ in what they measure. US boards mostly count hours against a fixed number. The Engineering Council and many institutions care more about whether the learning was planned, relevant and reflected on.
Do online courses count for US PE licence renewal?
There is no single US rule. NCEES, the body that writes the PE exam, publishes a model that boards can adopt. Its CPC Standard "requires a licensee to obtain the equivalent of 15 professional development hours (PDHs) per calendar year", with no carryover and at least 1 PDH on engineering ethics. NCEES encourages boards to accept it, but each state board writes and enforces its own rule. Three large states show how differently they treat online study:
| State | Requirement | Online courses | Provider approval |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 15 PDH per renewal period, at least 1 in ethics | Listed as acceptable: "correspondence, on-line, televised, videotaped, and other short courses/tutorials" | The board "shall not pre-approve or endorse" activities; you judge and keep records |
| Florida | 18 hours every two years: 1 Florida laws and rules, 1 ethics, 4 in your area of practice, 12 on any engineering topic | Accepted, including in-house courses and webinars | Only the laws and rules hour must come from a board-approved provider; other providers, including vendors, are accepted |
| New York | 36 hours every three-year registration period, including 1 hour of ethics | Accepted as an "educational activity" with a testing instrument | Must be "administered by an approved New York State sponsor" |
Texas: watch the self-study cap
The Texas rule, 22 TAC 137.17, credits course work at 1 PDH per hour and lists on-line courses among acceptable activities. It separately limits self-directed study, meaning professional development not otherwise identified in the rule, to "not to exceed 5 PDH per renewal period". Records must be kept for three years and are subject to audit. Because the board does not pre-approve anything, the licensee carries the judgement: the course must relate to engineering, and you must be able to show you completed it.
Florida: most hours are open
The Florida Board of Professional Engineers requires 18 hours every two years and says only the Florida laws and rules hour must come from a board-approved provider. The four area-of-practice hours and the twelve general hours can come from other providers, "including those presented by vendors". Florida also lets you apply continuing education earned for another state's licence, except the laws and rules hour.
New York: approved sponsors only
New York is stricter. The NYSED questions and answers say engineers need 36 contact hours each registration period, courses must be "administered by an approved New York State sponsor (provider)", and self-paced online study counts only as structured study with a testing instrument from an approved provider. A course from a provider that is not a New York sponsor will not count there, however good it is.
Other states
Most other states fall somewhere between these three. Some cap self-study, some require ethics or state-law hours, and some require pre-approved providers. If you hold licences in several states, the strictest board decides which courses are worth your time.
How does CPD work in the UK and Ireland?
Engineering Council and the IET
The Engineering Council says "Recording of CPD undertaken is mandatory for registered engineers and technicians", which covers CEng, IEng, EngTech and ICTTech. It does not count hours: "The CPD Code for Registrants does not specify a minimum amount of time to be spent on CPD each year." Instead the code asks registrants to plan their development, record activities, reflect on what they learned, evaluate it against their goals and review the plan. The licensed institutions, such as the IET, "undertake annual samples of registrants' CPD records and provide feedback".
So for a UK registrant, an online course counts if it is relevant to your development plan and you record and reflect on it. There is no approved-provider list to check against.
Engineers Ireland
Engineers Ireland says members "should undertake a minimum of 35 hours CPD per annum", that activities include "work-based learning, courses, self-directed learning", and that "CPD activities do not have to be provided or accredited by Engineers Ireland." The cycle runs from 1 January to 31 December and the policy applies to all non-student members, with exemptions available.
How does CPD work in Australia, Singapore and Canada?
| Body | Requirement | Where online study fits |
|---|---|---|
| Engineers Australia | At least 150 hours every three years for chartered and NER credential holders: 50 in your area of practice, 10 risk management, 15 business and management | Short courses, webinars and "private study that extends your knowledge and skills" are listed CPD types |
| PEB Singapore | At least 40 PDUs per qualifying period to renew a practising certificate, with at least 20 from structured activities | Structured means "a course or activity that is qualified by PEB for PDUs"; self-directed learning is unstructured |
| Canada (provincial) | Each provincial regulator runs its own programme | Professional Engineers Ontario, for example, runs a mandatory programme called PEAK with a personal hours target |
Engineers Australia states: "To maintain your credentials, you need to complete at least 150 hours of CPD activities every three years." A free technical course can count toward the 50 area-of-practice hours if it relates to the work you do.
Singapore's PEB is the one system in this list where a course from an unlisted provider cannot count as structured activity. It can still count as unstructured, self-directed learning toward the remainder of the 40 PDUs.
In Canada, licensing is provincial, so check your own regulator. Professional Engineers Ontario's PEAK programme is one example.
Will an EDWartens course count?
Here is the honest answer. EDWartens courses are free online courses with lessons, videos and quizzes. EDWartens is not a board-approved or pre-approved PDH provider in any US state, is not a New York approved sponsor, and its courses are not PEB-qualified in Singapore or accredited by any engineering institution. Our optional certificate is a certificate of completion: evidence that you finished a course, not approved PDH or accredited CPD.
What that means in practice:
- Where the board does not pre-approve providers (Texas, most of Florida's hours, and the UK, Irish and Australian CPD systems), a relevant course may be claimable. You decide whether it meets the rule, log the hours you actually spent and keep the evidence for audit.
- Where approval is required (New York, Singapore structured PDUs, and any state that requires approved providers), it will not count toward that requirement. In Singapore it may still count as unstructured learning.
- Where self-study is capped (Texas allows at most 5 PDH of self-directed study), check whether your board treats an online course as a course or as self-directed study, and stay inside the cap.
If you are unsure, ask your board before you rely on a course. A two-line email is cheaper than a failed audit.
How to log an online course so it stands up to an audit
An audit asks two questions: did you do it, and was it relevant? Keep the completion certificate and any quiz results, but also keep your own note of the hours, the topics and how they relate to your practice. Our guide on how to actually finish a free online engineering course has a study plan that makes the hour log easy to keep, and how to verify an engineering training certificate explains what an auditor or employer can check.
Free courses engineers often use for CPD
Choose topics that link to your area of practice, because most systems ask for that link. Three of our free courses that map onto common practice areas:
- Electrical Safety: Arc Flash, NFPA 70E and LOTO, for electrical engineers who manage or design for safe work.
- OT and ICS Cybersecurity with ISA/IEC 62443, for control and automation engineers; our post on OT cybersecurity explains why the topic is growing.
- Infrared Thermography Training, for maintenance and reliability engineers.
If you are weighing whether a course certificate is worth anything beyond your CPD log, read what free courses with certificates really cost.
Every course is free in full. An optional EDWartens Certificate of Completion, from US$8.99, records that you finished the course. It is not approved PDH, is not CPD-accredited by any engineering body and is not a licence or qualification; your own board decides whether the course counts. Anyone can verify it at edwartens.com/verification.
Take the free course
Questions
What is a PDH?
A professional development hour. Texas, for example, defines a PDH as a contact hour (clock hour) of continuing education activity, so one hour of genuine learning time is one PDH. College credit converts at a higher rate: Texas counts one semester hour as 15 PDH and one continuing education unit as 10 PDH.
Do online courses count as PDH for a US PE licence?
In many states they can, but each state board decides. Texas lists online courses among acceptable activities and does not pre-approve providers. Florida accepts courses from providers other than the board's own list for most hours. New York requires an approved sponsor and a testing instrument. Always read your own board's rule.
Are EDWartens courses approved for PDH?
No. EDWartens is not a board-approved or pre-approved PDH provider in any state, and it is not a New York approved sponsor. In states that accept courses without pre-approval, the licensee decides whether a course meets the rule and must be able to defend that in an audit. The completion certificate is evidence that you finished the course.
How many CPD hours does the Engineering Council require?
None as a fixed number. The Engineering Council says its CPD Code for Registrants does not specify a minimum amount of time, and focuses on outcomes. Recording CPD is mandatory for CEng, IEng, EngTech and ICTTech registrants, and the licensed institutions sample registrants' records every year and give feedback.
How much CPD do Engineers Australia and Engineers Ireland require?
Engineers Australia asks chartered and NER credential holders for at least 150 hours over three years, including 50 hours in their area of practice, 10 in risk management and 15 in business and management. Engineers Ireland asks non-student members for a minimum of 35 hours a year and says activities need not be provided or accredited by it.
Does a free online course count as structured CPD in Singapore?
Not as a structured activity unless PEB has qualified it. PEB defines a structured activity as a course or activity qualified by PEB for PDUs, and requires at least 20 of the 40 PDUs from structured activities. Self-directed learning falls under unstructured activities, which can make up the rest.
Sources
- NCEES: Continuing Professional Competency Standard (August 2024)
- 22 Texas Administrative Code 137.17, Continuing Education Programs (read 11 October 2026)
- Florida Board of Professional Engineers: Continuing education requirements (read 11 October 2026)
- NYSED Office of the Professions: Engineering continuing education questions and answers (read 11 October 2026)
- Engineering Council: Continuing Professional Development (read 11 October 2026)
- Engineers Ireland: CPD policy, key points (read 11 October 2026)
- Engineers Australia: CPD requirements (read 11 October 2026)
- Professional Engineers Board Singapore: Continuing Professional Development (read 11 October 2026)
- Professional Engineers Ontario: PEAK frequently asked questions (read 11 October 2026)
Written by the EDWartens engineering team for general education. Product names are trademarks of their owners; mentioning them does not imply endorsement. Prices and terms of other providers were checked on the date shown and can change.
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