PE Civil Exam Topics: Complete Breakdown of All 5 Modules

The PE Civil exam is different from every other PE exam in one important way: you don't take a single general exam. You choose one of five distinct modules, each focused on a specific subdiscipline of civil engineering.

Understanding what's actually tested in each module — and how much of it — is the starting point for any serious prep strategy.

The Five PE Civil Modules

1. Construction

This module targets engineers working in construction management, project delivery, and site coordination. Topics include:

• Project planning (scheduling, resource allocation, cost management)
• Means and methods (earthwork, foundation work, concrete formwork)
• Health and safety (OSHA standards, safety programs)
• Quality control and commissioning
• Legal and contractual considerations

Construction has relatively strong overlap with field practice, but don't underestimate the scheduling and cost-management calculation questions — they require specific methodology knowledge.

2. Geotechnical

One of the more technically demanding modules, Geotechnical covers:

• Site characterization and soil testing (SPT, CPT, Atterberg limits)
• Soil mechanics (stress, settlement, consolidation)
• Earth retaining structures (gravity walls, sheet piles, soldier piles)
• Shallow and deep foundations
• Slope stability analysis
• Groundwater and seepage

If you've been in geotechnical practice, the material is familiar — but the exam tests the full breadth of the discipline, including areas that many practitioners rarely touch (e.g., advanced consolidation theory, seepage analysis).

3. Structural

Structural is one of the most popular PE Civil modules. Topics include:

• Loads and load combinations (ASCE 7)
• Analysis of determinate and indeterminate structures
• Steel design (AISC)
• Concrete design (ACI 318)
• Foundation design
• Lateral force resisting systems

The Structural module requires facility with both ACI 318 and AISC standards. Knowing where to find provisions quickly in those references is as important as knowing the design procedure.

4. Transportation

Transportation covers traffic engineering, highway design, and system planning:

• Traffic capacity and operations (HCM)
• Geometric design (sight distance, curve design, intersection layout)
• Pavement design (flexible and rigid)
• Traffic control and signal timing
• Transportation planning fundamentals

Candidates from highway and traffic backgrounds tend to have strong capacity analysis skills but weaker pavement design depth. Reverse is true for pavement-focused engineers. Know your gaps.

5. Water Resources and Environmental

This module spans both civil water systems and environmental engineering:

• Closed-conduit flow (pipe networks, pumps)
• Open-channel hydraulics (Manning's equation, specific energy)
• Hydrology (frequency analysis, runoff calculation, hydrographs)
• Groundwater (Darcy's Law, pump tests, contaminant transport)
• Water and wastewater treatment processes

The breadth here is significant. Water Resources candidates who haven't touched environmental topics in years often find treatment process questions the hardest part of the exam.

How the Exam Is Structured

Each PE Civil module exam is:

• 80 questions total
• 9 hours (split into AM and PM sessions of 4.5 hours each under the CBT format)
• Open-book — you can bring approved reference materials

The open-book format changes the prep strategy. You're not memorizing formulas — you're building speed and efficiency with your references. Every practice session should be open-reference.

Building Your Study Strategy Around the Module Structure

The most common mistake: treating the PE Civil exam like a general civil engineering test and spreading study effort evenly across all five disciplines.

Your exam is one module. Study that module deeply. Only spend time on the other four to the extent they appear in your chosen module's specifications (some overlap exists).

Within your module, use the NCEES exam specifications to find the exact topic weightings, then allocate study time accordingly. High-weight areas should receive proportionally more practice problem time.

How StampPrep Supports PE Civil Prep

StampPrep's PE Civil section organizes practice questions by module and topic, calibrated to NCEES specification weightings. You can see at a glance which areas you've covered and which are still under-practiced — before the exam reveals them.

Start your PE Civil prep with StampPrep. Pick your module and build a targeted plan.