PE Architectural study guide
PE Architectural · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The PE Architectural Engineering exam is one of the NCEES Principles and Practice of Engineering (PE) examinations - a licensure test that measures a minimum level of competency in architectural engineering. It is designed for engineers with a minimum of four years of post-college work experience in the discipline who have been approved by their state licensing board. The exam is computer-based and administered on a single day once per year; the next test date listed is October 28, 2026. Candidates answer 85 questions within an 8.5-hour exam session, all inside a 9.5-hour appointment that also includes a nondisclosure agreement, a tutorial, and a 50-minute scheduled break. The PE Architectural study guide has 4 sections and about 2,087 words.
01Structural Systems
Every structural question is really a load-path question: deck or sheathing → joist or beam → girder → column → foundation → soil. Sketch the path before doing arithmetic; most wrong answers come from geometry mistakes, not math mistakes.
359 words, about 2 min02Mechanical Systems
Cooling load splits into sensible heat (temperature) and latent heat (moisture); heating load is mostly sensible plus infiltration. One ton of refrigeration equals 12,000 Btu/h - a unit candidates mix up with Btu/h constantly.
323 words, about 2 min03Electrical Systems
Ohm's law and power relationships drive most calculation items. Single-phase: P = V × I × PF.
354 words, about 2 min04Architectural Systems, Materials, and Project Management
The key idea is four continuous control layers - water, air, vapor and thermal - each must be uninterrupted from foundation to roof. Water control uses drainage planes and a rainscreen with flashings and weeps; vapor goes on the warm side of the insulation in cold climates (reversed in cooling-dominated climates); thermal continuity is broken by balconies, shelf angles and slab edges.
1,051 words, about 5 min