California engineer license lookup

Civil and structural engineers in California are licensed by the Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists (BPELSG). If your project has structural drawings, check the engineer who stamps them, not only your architect or designer.

Search our records

We cover engineers and architects named on San Francisco permits: license status, board actions and the firms they've worked under. For anyone else, use the state's DCA License Search.

Civil engineer or structural engineer?

Civil engineering plans and calculations, including structural ones, must be prepared by or under a licensed civil engineer. Plans submitted for a permit must carry the engineer's signature, stamp and date on every sheet (B&P Code §6735).

“Structural engineer” is a protected title. Only a licensed civil engineer the board has also qualified as a structural engineer may use it (B&P Code §6736). So a structural engineer also holds a civil license, and may show up twice in a search.

The letter before the number tells you the license type (BPELSG):

CCivil Engineer
SStructural Engineer
GEGeotechnical Engineer (soils)

What a license check tells you

Whether the person holds a California engineering license, its type and number.
The license status, issue date and expiration date.
Formal disciplinary actions, with a link to more information.

The board licenses people, not businesses, so searching a firm name returns nothing (BPELSG). Look up the engineer named on the drawings or the proposal.

How to read the license status

These are the board's own status names, in plain terms:

Status	What it means
Clear	Current and valid. The board notes that a clear license can still have complaints or disciplinary actions in its history.
Delinquent	The expiration date has passed and the license hasn't been renewed. No right to practice.
Cancelled	Delinquent, and the right to practice has expired.
Retired	The engineer holds a retired license and may no longer practice.
Suspended	Barred from practicing for a set period, as the result of a disciplinary action.
Revoked	The license is terminated as the result of a disciplinary action.
Voluntary Surrender	The license was returned to the board as the result of a disciplinary action. The right to practice has ended.

Source: BPELSG License Status Definitions. The board says not all enforcement information is online, and lists a phone number and email on that page for checking a license's full history.

Verify it on the official site

Open DCA License Search.
Under “Boards and Bureaus”, choose “Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, and Geologists, Board for”. Pick “Civil Engineer” or “Structural Engineer” as the license type.
Enter the license number as digits only, with no letters and no leading zeros (BPELSG search tips). The same number can belong to different license types, so check the type in the results.
Open “More details”. An icon on that button means the record has public record or disciplinary actions (DCA Search FAQ).

What if you can't find a license?

For some wood-frame homes, California doesn't require a licensed engineer, and a designer without a license may prepare the plans.

No license on record doesn't mean someone broke the law

California lets people without a license prepare plans for some buildings: a wood-frame house of up to two stories plus a basement, wood-frame housing of up to four units and the same height, and garages or other structures that go with them (B&P Code §5537, §6737.1).

Any part that departs from conventional wood framing still needs drawings stamped and signed by a licensed architect or engineer. Ask who will stamp that part. Architect vs building designer

Checking the architect too? Use the architect license lookup.

Statutes quoted from the official California Legislative Information site, checked Nov 5, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice.