What changes in the PE Civil design standards in April 2027?

NCEES has posted PE Civil specifications effective beginning April 2027. The knowledge areas and question ranges match the April 2024 specifications. The design standards supplied in the exam move to newer editions, including ASCE 7-22, the AISC Steel Construction Manual 16th edition (2022), the Highway Capacity Manual 7th edition (2022), and the MUTCD 11th edition (2023). Questions that reference a standard are scored on the edition in the specifications, and answers based on other standards get no credit.

What changes and what stays the same

The five PE Civil exams remain Construction, Geotechnical, Structural, Transportation, and Water Resources and Environmental. What changes is the set of design standards supplied in each exam: newer editions on some lines, added documents on some exams, and a shorter list where a 2024 document does not appear in the 2027 document.

Study the list for your depth exam and your exam date, since a manual you use at work can be the wrong reference when the specifications for your date name a different edition. What references you can use on the PE exam explains how supplied references work with these lists.

Design standards by PE Civil exam

Each depth exam has its own design-standard list. An edition change or an added document on one exam stays on that exam unless the other list names it too. Use the subsection for the exam you are taking, then match it to the effective date in the next section.

Construction

The Construction list changes formwork citations, steel, temporary traffic control, and the CFR set, and it adds a concrete code. ACI SP-4 stays the 8th edition (2014), but on the April 2027 list that edition includes ACI 347R, while the April 2024 list names ACI 347R (2014) as its own line.

ASCE 37-14 (2015) and PCA EB001, 17th edition (2021), are on both Construction lists in those same editions. Pair the edition list with what is on the PE Civil Construction exam.

Geotechnical

The posted Geotechnical update replaces ASCE 7-16 with ASCE 7-22, updates CFR Title 29 to 2024, and adds two documents. The April 2024 Geotechnical citation for CFR Title 29 is Part 1926 (July 2020). The added documents are FHWA-NHI-07-092 Geosynthetic Design and Construction Guidelines (2008) and UFC 3-220-20 Foundations and Earth Structures (2025).

The posted update does not include these other standards from the April 2024 Geotechnical list: USACE EM 1110-2-1902 Slope Stability (2003), NAVFAC DM-7.02 (1986), UFC 3-220-05 (2004), UFC 3-220-10 (2022), FHWA NHI-05-037 (2006), FHWA NHI-06-088 and NHI-06-089 Soils and Foundations (2006), FHWA-NHI-11-032 GEC No. 3 (2011), FHWA NHI-16-009 and NHI-16-010 GEC No. 12 driven piles (2016), FHWA NHI-16-072 GEC No. 5 site characterization (2017), and FHWA NHI-18-024 GEC No. 10 drilled shafts (2018). Scope for this exam is covered in what is on the PE Civil Geotechnical exam.

Structural

Structural carries the longest run of new edition numbers. Wood design stays ASD only on both the April 2024 list and the April 2027 list. CFR Title 29 moves from Parts 1910 and 1926 (July 2020) to CFR Title 29 (2024). PCI Design Handbook moves from the 7th edition (2010) to the 8th edition (2017), and TMS 402/602-16 becomes TMS 402/602-22.

What is on the PE Civil Structural exam is the outline to use with the edition column that matches your date.

Transportation

Transportation has two replacements in the posted update. The Highway Capacity Manual 7th edition (2022) replaces the 6th edition (2016), and the MUTCD 11th edition (2023) replaces the 2009 edition with Revisions 1 and 2, May 2012.

The posted update does not include the rest of the April 2024 transportation list: AASHTO GDHS-7 (2018), AASHTO GDPS-4-M (1993 with the 1998 supplement), AASHTO GPF-2 (2021), AASHTO HSM-1 (2010 with the 2014 supplement), AASHTO MEPDG-3 (2020), AASHTO RSDG-4 (2011), and FHWA HIF-12-026 HDS 5 culverts (2012). Keep those on your checklist when your exam still uses the April 2024 specifications, and keep them in view for April 2027 unless a later NCEES posting says otherwise. What is on the PE Civil Transportation exam describes that exam.

Water resources and environmental

TSS Recommended Standards for Water Works 2022 replaces the 2018 edition. TSS Recommended Standards for Wastewater Facilities (2014) is not part of the posted change. The April 2027 list adds four documents:

• CFR Title 29 Part 1926 (2024)
• USACE EM 1110-2-1902 Slope Stability (2003)
• FHWA HDS 5 culverts (2012)
• FHWA HEC No. 14 (2006)

Those four titles are part of the scoring set only after the April 2027 specifications take effect. What is on the PE Civil Water Resources and Environmental exam is the matching topic page.

Which edition applies to your exam date

The current PE Civil specifications are effective beginning April 2024, and the updated design standards take effect beginning April 2027. Work from the April 2024 column if your exam date falls under the current specifications, and from the April 2027 column once your exam falls under the specifications effective that month. When you own both editions, work exam problems in the edition named for your date, and check the depth-exam list again if your exam month changes, because Construction, Geotechnical, Structural, Transportation, and Water Resources and Environmental do not share one combined library.

When NCEES posts a new standard list

NCEES posts PE specifications and design standards 6 months before they take effect, so the April 2027 PE Civil specifications are already public. Full specifications change once every 5 to 7 years, while design standards change more often. This posting follows the second pattern: NCEES issued new specification documents and a revised design-standard list, not a change to the knowledge areas or question ranges.

Before you buy a manual or retire an old PDF, read the list for your exam and your month. A standard that changed on the Structural list, such as ASCE 7 or the AISC Steel Construction Manual, is a different line from the Transportation replacements (Highway Capacity Manual and MUTCD) and from the documents added only on Geotechnical or Water Resources and Environmental.

If you test before April 2027

Prepare from the April 2024 design standards for the depth exam you are taking. The April 2027 editions are not the scoring references yet, including ASCE 7-22, the AISC 16th edition (2022), IBC 2024, ACI 318-19 (2022), the Highway Capacity Manual 7th edition (2022), and the MUTCD 11th edition (2023). Documents that show up as additions on the April 2027 lists are in the same category until that effective date: ACI 318 on Construction, the two Geotechnical additions, and the four Water Resources and Environmental additions.

Build one checklist from the April 2024 column and solve referenced problems to that edition. If your exam will fall under the specifications effective beginning April 2027, switch the whole checklist, not only the titles that got a new edition number. Added documents are part of the supplied set for that date, and missing them leaves a gap that the older list does not fill.

Frequently asked questions

When do the new PE Civil design standards take effect?

They take effect beginning April 2027. Until then, the current PE Civil specifications are the ones effective beginning April 2024. NCEES posts specifications and design standards 6 months before they take effect, and the April 2027 PE Civil specifications are already posted.

Do the PE Civil topics change in 2027?

The knowledge areas and question ranges in the April 2027 specifications are the same as in the April 2024 specifications. The five exams remain Construction, Geotechnical, Structural, Transportation, and Water Resources and Environmental. The change is the design standards: editions, and on some exams the documents included on the list.

Which ASCE 7 edition is on the PE Civil exam?

On Structural and Geotechnical, the April 2024 specifications list ASCE 7-16, and the specifications effective beginning April 2027 list ASCE 7-22. The Construction, Transportation, and Water Resources and Environmental lists in these postings do not name ASCE 7. Use the design-standard list for the depth exam you are taking.

What should I study if my exam is before April 2027?

Study the April 2024 design standards for your depth exam. Questions that reference a standard are scored on the edition in the specifications in effect for your exam, and answers based on other standards get no credit. Move to the April 2027 list only when your exam is under the specifications effective beginning April 2027.

Do the same edition changes apply to every PE Civil exam?

No. Each of the five exams has its own list. ASCE 7-22 and the AISC Steel Construction Manual 16th edition (2022) are Structural updates, and ASCE 7-22 is also the Geotechnical replacement for ASCE 7-16. Transportation replaces the Highway Capacity Manual and the MUTCD. Water Resources and Environmental updates TSS Recommended Standards for Water Works and adds four documents. Construction has its own mix, including MUTCD Part 6 and the AISC manual, plus ACI 318-19 (2022).

Sources

1. NCEES: PE Civil exam. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
2. NCEES PE Civil: Structural specifications and design standards, effective April 2027 (PDF). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
3. NCEES PE Civil: Transportation specifications and design standards, effective April 2027 (PDF). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
4. NCEES PE Civil: Construction specifications and design standards, effective April 2027 (PDF). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
5. NCEES PE Civil: Geotechnical specifications and design standards, effective April 2027 (PDF). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
6. NCEES PE Civil: Water Resources and Environmental specifications and design standards, effective April 2027 (PDF). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
7. NCEES PE Civil: Structural exam specifications, effective April 2024 (PDF). Retrieved October 3, 2026.