Study guide
Electronic Handbook, Design Standards, Units, and Version Control
PE Civil: Structural Exam
Track your progress as you read
Finished sections get a check mark.
1 Exam Identity and Reference Workflow
2026 PE Civil: Structural Identity, Format, and Scoring Electronic Handbook, Design Standards, Units, and Version Control
2 Chapter 2: Gravity and Construction Loads
2.1 Dead Loads and Self-Weight 2.2 Live Loads, Reduction, and Load Placement 2.3 Construction-Stage Loads
3 Environmental Loads
Wind Loads and Pressure Paths Seismic Loads and Lateral Force Distribution Snow, Rain, and Ice Loads
4 Moving, Impact, and Lateral Soil Loads
Vehicular, Crane, and Other Moving Loads Impact and Dynamic Allowances Earth Pressure and Surcharge Loads
5 Chapter 5: Load Paths and Combinations
5.1 Tributary Areas and Complete Vertical/Lateral Load Paths 5.2 Strength and Service Load Combinations
6 Reactions, Diagrams, and Basic Axial Effects
Free-Body Diagrams, Reactions, Shear, and Moment Qualitative Diagrams, Influence Lines, and Critical Placement Axial Tension, Compression, and Deformation
7 Chapter 7: Axial Systems and Shear Effects
7.1 Trusses, Braces, and Column Axial Force 7.2 Shear Stress, Shear Flow, and Built-Up Sections 7.3 One-Way, Two-Way, Punching, and Interface Shear Effects
8 Flexure
Section Properties and Elastic Flexural Stress Beam and Slab Flexural Load Effects Biaxial and Unsymmetrical Flexure
9 Combined Stress and Deflection
Combined Axial and Flexural Stress Principal Stress, Mohr's Circle, and Combined Shear Elastic Deflection Methods
10 Chapter 10: Serviceability, Torsion, and Stability
10.1 Serviceability: Deflection, Drift, Vibration, and Ponding 10.2 Torsion and Warping Effects 10.3 Buckling, Effective Length, and Second-Order Stability
11 Fatigue, Robustness, Thermal, and Bearing Effects
Fatigue and Progressive-Collapse Concepts Thermal Deformation and Bearing/Contact Stress
12 Inspections, Submittals, and Adjacent Facilities
Special Inspections and Verification Duties Shop Drawings, Submittals, RFIs, and Delegated Design Construction Effects on Adjacent Facilities
13 Chapter 13: Temporary Works and Safety
13.1 Formwork, Falsework, Scaffolding, Shoring/Reshoring, Bracing, and Anchorage 13.2 Construction, Roadside, and Work-Zone Safety
14 Soils and Core Concrete Properties
Soil Phase Relationships and Classification Soil Strength, Permeability, and Compressibility Fresh and Hardened Concrete Properties
15 Chapter 15: Prestressed Concrete and Steel Properties
15.1 Reinforced, Precast, Pretensioned, and Post-Tensioned Concrete Materials 15.2 Structural and Cold-Formed Steel Properties 15.3 Steel Toughness, Weldability, Corrosion, and Temperature Effects
16 Timber, Masonry, and Material Conformance
Timber Properties and ASD Design Values Masonry, CMU, Mortar, Grout, and Brick Veneer Properties Concrete and Masonry Test Methods Steel, Timber, and Other Material Specification Conformance
17 Horizontal Members I
Steel Beams and Girders Reinforced Concrete Beams and Slabs Timber and Masonry Horizontal Members
18 Chapter 18: Diaphragms and Vertical Members
18.1 Diaphragms, Collectors, Struts, and Composite Slabs 18.2 Steel Columns and Beam-Columns 18.3 Concrete Columns and Bearing Walls
19 Shear Walls, Trusses, and Frames
Shear Walls and Vertical Lateral Members Trusses and Braced Systems Moment Frames and Stability Systems
20 Composite/Bridge Systems and Bolted Connections
Composite Construction and Structural System Selection Bridge Systems and Load Distribution Bolted Steel Connections
21 Chapter 21: Welded, Embedded, and Anchored Connections
21.1 Welded Steel Connections 21.2 Bearing, Embedded, and Precast Connections 21.3 Anchors, Post-Installed Anchors, and Wood/Masonry Connections
22 Shallow Foundations
Isolated, Spread, and Strip Footings Combined and Strap Footings Mat Foundations and Foundation Slabs
23 Deep Foundations
Driven Piles: Axial Capacity and Settlement Drilled Shafts, Piers, and Caissons Pile Groups, Caps, and Lateral Deep-Foundation Response
24 Chapter 24: Retaining Structures
24.1 Lateral Earth/Water Pressure and Drainage 24.2 Sliding, Overturning, Bearing, and Global Stability 24.3 Concrete Cantilever, Gravity, and Basement Walls 24.4 Sheet-Pile, Anchored, and Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls
Electronic Handbook, Design Standards, Units, and Version Control
Key Takeaways Explain This Topic AI
For a 2026 test date, use the Civil–Structural specification and standard editions effective before April 2027
The exam is closed book: only the electronic PE Civil Reference Handbook and NCEES-listed standards are available
Standards are supplied as separate searchable chapters, and only one standard chapter can be opened and searched at a time
Both SI and USCS appear, so every solution should track a coherent unit system from input through answer
Version control is part of solving the problem because answers based on a different standard edition may not receive credit
Last updated: July 2026
Electronic Handbook, Design Standards, Units, and Version Control
Date controls the reference set: A candidate testing in 2026 uses the Civil–Structural design standards effective before April 2027 . The newer set becomes effective beginning with the April 2027 examination and must not leak into 2026 solutions.
What “Closed Book” Means
The PE Civil: Structural exam is closed book with electronic references. NCEES supplies the PE Civil Reference Handbook and every design standard listed in the applicable exam specification. Those are the only reference materials available during the exam; personal books, printouts, notes, and personal copies of standards cannot be brought into the room.
The handbook and standards remain available throughout the exam as searchable PDFs with navigation links. However, a large standard is presented as individual chapters , and only one chapter at a time can be opened and searched. This detail changes how you should practice. Searching an entire desktop copy at once can create a speed that the exam interface will not reproduce. Learn the likely chapter first, then search within it using distinctive technical terms.
The Controlling Standard Set for 2026
For a test date before April 2027, build your study library around this exact list:
- Area NCEES-supplied 2026 reference Version cue
- General civil formulas NCEES PE Civil Reference Handbook Version active for your test date
Bridges AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications and PE Exam Collection 8th edition, 2017; include May 2018 errata
- Building code International Building Code 2018, without supplements
- Loads ASCE 7 ASCE 7-16
- Concrete ACI 318 2014 edition
- Steel AISC Steel Construction Manual 15th edition, 2017
- Wood NDS and Supplement; SDPWS 2018 NDS/Supplement; 2015 SDPWS
- Safety Title 29 CFR excerpts named in the specification July 2020 listed portions of Parts 1910 and 1926
- Precast/prestressed concrete PCI Design Handbook 7th edition, 2010
- Masonry TMS 402/602 and commentaries 2016 edition
For wood questions, the specification directs examinees to use Allowable Stress Design only . Do not choose a method merely because a newer office standard or familiar software defaults to it. Likewise, an AASHTO solution must account for the specified eighth-edition package and its identified May 2018 errata.
Keep 2027 Material in a Quarantine Box
NCEES has also posted the set effective beginning April 2027. It includes later editions such as AASHTO 10th, IBC 2024, ASCE 7-22, AISC 16th, and TMS 402/602-22. Posting a future specification does not make it current early. A November 2026 candidate still uses the pre-April-2027 set; a candidate testing in April 2027 or later must confirm the newly effective document.
Use a simple version-control record on the first page of your notes:
- Field Your entry
- Scheduled test date Exact calendar date
- Applicable specification “Effective before April 2027” or its successor
- Handbook Current MyNCEES filename/version
- Standards Edition checklist copied from that specification
- Last verification Date you checked the NCEES Civil page
Label files and practice problems by edition. If a course uses ASCE 7-22 for a 2026 problem, isolate it rather than memorizing its provisions as current. Recheck the official page after rescheduling because moving the appointment across April 2027 can change the correct reference set.
A Fast Electronic-Reference Workflow
Reference skill is not the same as memorizing page numbers. Page numbering and PDF presentation can vary, while chapter organization and engineering vocabulary remain more useful. For each practice problem:
Classify the authority. Decide whether the needed item belongs in the handbook, a loading standard, a material standard, the building code, or another listed source.
Predict the chapter. Use the table of contents or navigation links before searching.
Search a distinctive phrase. “Compression member slenderness” is more selective than “steel”; a symbol alone may produce noisy results.
Read the surrounding provision. Confirm scope, definitions, exceptions, table notes, and referenced equations rather than copying the first highlighted value.
Record source and edition. On scratch work, note the standard, chapter or provision, and version cue.
Perform a reasonableness check. Verify units, sign, magnitude, and whether the selected provision fits the member and limit state.
Create a reference map during study: topic, controlling document, likely chapter, two useful search phrases, and one common trap. The purpose is retrieval practice, not unauthorized exam notes.
Control SI and USCS Deliberately
The specification says both SI and U.S. Customary System units are used. Do not assume every problem will match your preferred system. Treat units as part of the equation:
Write the requested answer unit before calculating.
Choose one coherent unit system for intermediate work.
Convert inputs at the boundary, not repeatedly inside the calculation.
Preserve force-versus-mass distinctions and squared or cubed conversion factors.
Check that stress, line load, area load, moment, and stiffness dimensions remain consistent.
For example, converting a length factor is not enough when converting an area or moment of inertia; the factor must be squared or raised to the fourth power, respectively. A correct formula with mixed ksi , psi , inches, and feet can still produce a wrong option. Use dimensional cancellation and estimate the expected order of magnitude before selecting the answer.
Practice Under the Real Constraint
Complete some timed sets using only the applicable handbook and one chapter of one standard at a time. After each set, log whether an error came from concept, edition, chapter choice, search wording, table notes, or units. That diagnosis tells you what to practice next. The goal is not to memorize every provision; it is to reach the correct current authority quickly, interpret it in context, and carry a consistent unit system to a defensible answer.