How to start an engineering firm in 2026

Hold the license before you sell the service. The path runs through NCEES, the body that writes the exams. The FE exam "is designed for recent graduates and students who are close to finishing an undergraduate engineering degree from an EAC/ABET-accredited program", has 110 questions and a six-hour appointment, and the "$225 exam fee is payable directly to NCEES" (NCEES). The PE exam "is designed for engineers who have gained a minimum of four years post-college work experience in their chosen engineering discipline" (NCEES); for civil it is 80 questions in an eight-hour exam and "A $400 exam fee is payable directly to NCEES" — and "Some licensing boards may require you to file a separate application and pay an application fee as part of the approval process" (NCEES). The license itself is the state's: Texas charges a $75 application fee and $50 a year, or $100 for two, to renew, and $15 for the engineer-in-training certificate (Texas Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors); Illinois $175 to apply and $125 for the biennial renewal (68 Ill. Adm. Code 1380.275). For a second state, build the NCEES Record: "There is no charge to complete the application process and no annual renewal fee", the "First transmittal for comity licensure" is $175 and "All subsequent transmittals" $100 each (NCEES Records).

Do you need a license to start an engineering firm — and does the firm need one too? In the US the engineer's license is the state's, and so is the rule for the firm. The boards' own pages, state by state:

• Texas registers the firm as well as the engineer: "Section 1001.405 of the Texas Engineering Practice Act requires, that a 'business entity' which engages in the practice of professional engineering in this state must be registered with the Board" — a sole practitioner included: "A sole practitioner is a single employee (P.E.) that operates the firm. The registration fee set by the Board for Sole Practitioners is $25." A registration "is active for 1 year", and "all engineering work and services must be performed by, done, or directly supervised by a professional engineer licensed in Texas who is a regular, full-time employee of the firm" (Texas Board firm FAQ). The firm fee for every other entity is $150, renewed at $150 a year or $300 for two (Texas Board fee page; Texas Board firms page).
• Florida replaced its certificates of authorization on October 1, 2019: firms "register their business with the Board and be qualified by a Professional Engineer licensed in Florida", are "no longer be required to apply for a Certificate of Authorization and pay a fee", and "a qualifying engineer who leaves an engineering firm must notify the Board within 24 hours" (Florida Board of Professional Engineers, 2019); "There is no fee to register, and engineering firms no longer have to renew their registration" (Florida Board, October 2019).
• New York requires a professional entity and a certificate: "Section 7210 of the New York State Education Law requires that all business entities (not individual licensees) legally permitted to provide professional engineering services in New York State obtain a 'Certificate of Authorization' from the State Education Department" — a professional service corporation, a design professional corporation or a professional service limited liability company, where for a PLLC "all of the shareholders, officers and directors must be licensed by New York State"; an ordinary LLC or business corporation may not offer engineering (New York State Education Department). The Certificate of Authorization is $125 for the first certificate and $75 every three years, and the Education Department's consent for a domestic PLLC is $10 per owner (NYSED fee schedule); the Department of State charges a "$200 filing fee for Articles of Organization", which must be "published in two newspapers for six consecutive weeks" (New York Department of State), then a "$50 filing fee for Certificate of Publication" within 120 days (New York Department of State). The newspapers' own charges aren't printed on the state's pages — our plan carries them as a planning figure.
• California has no firm license: "The law requires all licensees who offer civil, electrical, or mechanical engineering or land surveying services through a business entity to file an Organization Record (OR) form with the Board", there is no fee, and "The Board does not license businesses. Only the form needs to be kept on file" — with evidence of compliance with sections 6738 and 8729 attached since January 1, 2025 (California BPELS).
• Georgia: "All entities who practice or offer to practice professional engineering or land surveying in this State must file an application with the board and receive a Certificate of Authorization prior to practicing", with "one or more of the principals, officers, members or partners of the entity and all its personnel who act in its behalf" registered engineers; certificates "expire on June 30 of even-numbered years unless renewed", and a sole proprietor is exempt (Georgia Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors). The fee is not printed on the board's page, so we print none.
• Illinois registers the firm as a professional design firm: "The application fee for a certificate of registration as a professional design firm is $150" and the renewal is $150 for the period, in the rule amended July 23, 2025 (68 Ill. Adm. Code 1380.275).

Check your state engineering board before you print letterhead — the firm's name, the entity and the authorization are the board's call — and read our guide to whether you need a business license for the general one.

In the UK: GOV.UK's National Careers Service lists no license to practice: "You can get into this job through: a university course a college course an apprenticeship working towards this role", and "you could look to get incorporated or chartered engineer status" for positions with more responsibility; it puts a civil engineer's pay at £29,000 starting to £63,000 experienced (GOV.UK National Careers Service). In Australia: Victoria registers engineers by law — "Registration is now mandatory for all professional engineers across the five areas of engineering (fire safety, civil, structural, electrical and mechanical)" and "It is an offence under the Act to provide professional engineering services without being registered", unless under a registered engineer's direct supervision (Consumer Affairs Victoria); in Queensland "anyone carrying out a professional engineering service in Queensland or for Queensland must meet these standards and be registered as a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ)" (Board of Professional Engineers of Queensland). Other states and countries differ — check your local rules.

How to register an engineering business. The same steps in every state, with different fees and, in New York, a different entity. Form the business — an LLC is $40 in Kentucky (Kentucky SOS), $125 in Florida with the required registered-agent fee (Florida Division of Corporations), $300 in Texas (Texas SOS) and $70 in California plus a $20 statement of information (California SOS), where every LLC also owes an $800 yearly tax (California FTB). Get the free EIN (IRS) and open a business bank account. Get a city business license where your city wants one: Seattle's is $73 a year for a business with under $20,000 of revenue in the city and $147 from $20,000 to $499,999 in 2026 (City of Seattle). Our guide to whether you need an LLC walks through the choice state by state — and if your board wants a PLLC or a professional corporation, that guide's LLC is the wrong entity.

Insurance before the first seal. Professional liability — errors and omissions — is the policy the profession runs on: "Professional liability helps safeguard engineers when clients allege their work caused a loss" (Insureon). Insureon's averages for engineers are $197 a month ($2,365 a year) for professional liability with $1 million per occurrence and aggregate and a $2,500 deductible, $39 a month ($472 a year) for general liability, $61 a month ($731 a year) for a business owner's policy, $50 a month for workers' compensation, $231 a month for commercial auto and $84 a month for cyber cover (Insureon, October 2026); TechInsurance's are $168 a month ($2,010 a year) for professional liability, $38 a month ($450 a year) for general liability with $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, and $53 a month for a business owner's policy (TechInsurance). The policies are claims-made, so a firm that closes needs tail cover. One Texas rule works in your favor: a lawsuit over professional services needs a certificate of merit — "an affidavit of a third-party licensed architect, licensed professional engineer, registered landscape architect, or registered professional land surveyor who: (1) is competent to testify; (2) holds the same professional license or registration as the defendant; and (3) practices in the area of practice of the defendant" (Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code 150.002). Workers' compensation: California requires it from the first employee (California DIR); Texas leaves it optional for most private employers (Texas Department of Insurance).

The kit, from pages that print a price. An AutoCAD subscription is $2,095 a year on Autodesk's own page (Autodesk) and Civil 3D $2,870 a year, $360 by the month (Autodesk); Bluebeam is $260 (Basics), $330 (Core) or $440 (Complete) a user a year (Bluebeam). A 24-inch HP DesignJet T250 plotter is $1,159 at one dealer, against a regular price of $1,499 (CDW) — a print shop does the permit sets either way, so it waits. The workstation, the field kit, the marketing and the home office are planning ranges in our plan — no vendor's page prices the set. Site visits at 200 to 400 miles a month are $152 to $304 at the IRS's 76¢ a mile for the second half of 2026 (IRS).

How to charge: the hour, the sheet, and the multiple. Bill hourly with a retainer until you know the hours each job takes, then fix the fees for the repeating letters. The homeowner-side cost guides put a structural engineer at $70 to $250 an hour (HomeAdvisor, 2025 data) or $100 to $500 (Fixr, January 2025), stamped drawings at $500 to $5,000 per sheet and project fees at $2,000 to $8,500 (HomeAdvisor). The number the industry prices from is the billing multiple — "how many dollars of revenue you're generating for every dollar spent on direct labor" — and a company that sells software to engineering firms calls "a healthy billing multiple is somewhere between 3.0 and 3.5" (BQE, July 2026): a $50-an-hour engineer bills at $150 to $175. Our plan's sample firm bills 80 hours a month at $150. The listed engineering and construction firms' net margin is 5.94% (Damodaran, January 2026) — a one-engineer firm with no payroll keeps far more of each fee, which is the whole case for starting small.

Keep the license: continuing education by named state. Texas: "an engineer must have 15 continuing education (CE) credits/hours by their annual renewal date", including "a minimum of 1 credit/hour over the Act/Rules and/or Ethics that must be taken every year and cannot be carried over" (Texas Board). Florida: "18 continuing education (CE) course hours every two years", of which "one hour must relate to the Florida Laws and Rules of Professional Engineers from a Board-approved provider, and one hour must relate to professional ethics. Four hours must relate to area of practice" (Florida Board). New York: "36 contact hours of continuing education...in each three-year registration period", with at least one that "focuses substantially on ethics" (New York State Education Department). Bank the hours through the year, not in the renewal month.

Sales tax on engineering fees. In most states professional fees aren't taxed, but the states that tax services broadly tax them. South Dakota's Department of Revenue: "The gross receipts for architect, engineering, and surveying services are subject to state sales tax plus applicable municipal sales tax" — the state rate is 4.2% and municipal rates 1 to 2% — and "If the client does not receive the service at the architect or engineer's office, charge the sales tax rate at the customer's address" (South Dakota Department of Revenue, July 2023). New Mexico's gross receipts tax reaches "Performing services in New Mexico, and performing services outside of New Mexico, the product of which is initially used in New Mexico" (New Mexico Taxation and Revenue), and in Hawaii "Hawaii does not have a sales tax; instead, we have the GET, which is assessed on all business activities", at 4% for most of them (Hawaii Department of Taxation, January 2026). Ask an accountant before the first invoice.

The business. For one licensed engineer starting from a home office with residential structural work, small civil jobs and inspections, our free engineering firm business plan puts the start at $8,946–$21,325: the entity and the board's registration, a year of professional and general liability, the CAD seat and Bluebeam, the workstation and the field kit, the first marketing, the website, and two months of working capital — because the fee arrives when the letter does. The engineering website templates show what a good firm's site looks like, and Zarla's engineer website builder is how a homeowner searching for a structural engineer near them finds yours. If what you sell is advice rather than a seal, read our guide to starting a consulting business; if your partner on every set is the architect, starting an architecture firm is the same path from the other side of the drawing.