Certified Engineer Process

MDOT Certified Engineer Process

MDOT maintains a four-year Engineer Certification Program, approved by the FHWA, for construction engineers, licensed assistant construction engineers, licensed consultant project engineers and licensed local agency project engineers. Engineers who obtain certification have demonstrated proficiency in the oversight, administration, and proper documentation of federal-aid construction projects.

Certified engineers in good standing may close out projects they have overseen without an MDOT Final Project Review. To maintain the integrity of the certification program, certified engineers are also subject to random audits to verify compliance with proper documentation requirements and established project administration procedures..

Engineer certification is independent of the engineer’s work location and is transferable to other projects, offices, and teams where the engineer is responsible for construction project administration . Regardless of the composition of the project team or the length of time the engineer has been assigned to the project, the certified engineer is ultimately responsible for the project's documentation and compliance.

Certified engineers must complete the recertification process before their current certification expires to maintain their certification status. They are also required to keep their contact and employment information current with the Construction Field Services (CFS) Construction Contracts Unit Certification Engineer to ensure their certification remains active.

Current Certified Engineers

See the revised record certification list (August 2026) below.

Certified Engineer Application Process

The process to apply for certified engineer status is as follows:

• Submit electronic request to the CFS Certification Engineer requesting certification application.
• Submit certification application and required supporting documents to the CFS Certification Engineer.

Certified Engineer Application Requirements

Required supporting documents for Certified Engineer Application:

• Copy of current professional engineer license as issued by the State of Michigan
• MDOT Office Technician certification. Provide either:
  • Current Office Technician Certificate of Completion OR
  • Expired Office Technician Certificate of Completion and Current Office Technician Exam (Recertification) Certificate of Completion
• The applicant must submit a list of all projects for which they have been in responsible charge during the previous two years, as well as all projects they are currently administering. Engineers will not be eligible for Engineer Certification until they can provide two completed projects and one active project for review that have occurred within the past two years. Projects eligible for engineer certification application must meet the following criteria:
  • The engineer must have been in responsible charge (including contract change orders, pay estimates, extensions of time, notices of non-compliance, and other contract administration activities.) for the majority (51% or more) of the project’s duration and through project closeout.
  • Projects must include major items of work from multiple divisions of the Standard Specifications for Construction. Projects with all major work under a single pay item or division will only be considered if the other submitted projects contain a more diverse cross section of work across multiple divisions.
  • The CFS Certification Engineer will examine two completed or closed projects that have had Final Project Reviews completed and one active project (final estimate not generated) from the list submitted.

The CFS Certification Engineer, with approval from the CFS Construction Contracts Engineer, may waive specific certification requirements under special circumstances, such as when an engineer has been assigned to a single large multi-year project or when other unique circumstances justify an exception.

Certified Engineer Application Review Procedures

• The CFS Certification Engineer will review the applicant’s recent history of timely project closeout and evaluate the applicant’s recent Final Project Review reports.
• The CFS Certification Engineer will compare the applicants submitted project list with the central office project list and select the 3 projects for review, consisting of TWO completed projects and ONE active project
• Project reviews will be performed on the project documentation “as submitted”. Any deficient items identified during the review will receive a negative score.
• All deficiencies identified during the review must be corrected by the engineer seeking certification.
• All deficiencies identified during the review must be corrected by the engineer seeking certification.
  • Appeals regarding the scoring of deficient items must be submitted to the CFS Certification Engineer. If the issue cannot be resolved, the engineer may appeal to the CFS Construction Contracts Engineer, whose decision will be final. The discovery of any major deficiency during the review will result in denial of Engineer Certification. Refer to Project Closeout Escalation of Accountability Major Deficiency section for definitions and examples of major deficiencies.
• To obtain certification, the engineer must achieve a minimum score of 80 percent on Form 1117. Applicants who do not achieve a passing score must wait one year before reapplying. Projects reviewed as part of an initial certification application may not be resubmitted as part of a subsequent application if the applicant does not successfully obtain certification.

Certified Engineer Status

• Engineers may certify only those projects for which their certification was active before the project’s contract completion date.

• Engineers may not certify projects where they were not in responsible charge for a majority (51% or more) of the project duration and through project closeout.

• Engineer certification is valid for a period of four years unless it is revoked or the engineer is placed on probation before the certification period expires.
• Engineers who are on probation may not certify any projects. Engineers whose certification has been revoked or has otherwise expired may not certify projects unless specifically authorized by Construction Field Services (CFS).

Certified Engineer Review Audits

The CFS Certification Engineer or a designated representative (consultant) will conduct periodic engineer certification review audits to verify that certified engineers are maintaining project documentation in accordance with MDOT requirements. These audits help ensure the integrity and consistency of the Engineer Certification Program throughout the four-year certification period.

The following requirements apply to Engineer Certification Review Audits:

• Review audits may be conducted on projects closed by the certified engineer within the previous 12 months
• If the certified engineer has not closed a project during the previous 12 months, the review audit will be postponed until the following year.
• Projects will be selected on a random basis without prior notice.
• Review audits will generally be conducted no more than once per year.
• Review audits may be performed remotely through ProjectWise.

Unsatisfactory Review Audit

If a review audit identifies unacceptable deficiencies, the following actions may be taken:

• The certified engineer may be placed on probation.
• Engineers on probation may not close out projects under their Engineer Certification.

Probation

While an engineer is on probation, the following process will apply:

• The CFS Certification Engineer will re-examine the deficient project after 30 days.
  • If the identified deficiencies have not been corrected, the engineer’s certification will be revoked.
  • If the project with deficiencies have been corrected, then a second randomly selected project will be reviewed.
    • If the second project passes the review, the engineer will be removed from probation.
    • If the second project fails the review, the engineer's certification will be revoked. The engineer will not be eligible to apply for recertification for a minimum of one year from the date that their certification was revoked.

Loss of certification

If an engineer's certification is revoked:

• All projects administered by the engineer from that point forward will be subject to the standard MDOT Final Project Review process.
• Any appeals on loss of certification must be submitted to the CFS Construction Contracts Engineer.

Certified Engineer Renewal Process

• The certified engineer status will continue for a duration of four-years providing the certified engineer has not lost their certified engineer status. After the four-year certification period, the certification must be renewed.
• The certified engineer wishing to renew their certification must:
  • Send the CFS Certification Engineer a request to renew certification a minimum of 3 months prior to the certification expiration date.
  • Send a list of all MDOT let projects where the engineer was in responsible charge over the previous two years. Note that certification will only be allowable if the Certified Engineer has a minimum of 2 closed and 1 open project to show in the past two years, similar to Certified Engineer Application Requirements..
• A sample of projects will be selected for review using the same requirements as the initial certification application.
• The engineer’s performance on audit reviews may be reviewed.

Engineers seeking renewal of their MDOT certified engineer status must submit: Certificate of completion for the full five-day course for MDOT Certified Office Technician certification within the prior four years;

OR

Expired Certificate of Completion for Certified Office Technician AND Current Certificate of Completion for Certified Office Technician (Recertification) Exam.

Applicants failing the certified engineer renewal process will follow procedures of the certified engineer application process after one year.

The CFS Certification Engineer, with approval from the CFS Construction Contracts Engineer, may waive specific requirements in special circumstances for renewal.

LAP Project Considerations

If a local agency engineer performs federally funded local agency projects by non-competitive bid contract (force account) projects, one of these force account projects must be selected for review as part of their Certified Engineer application or renewal.

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