Professional Engineers?

I enjoy reading this forum regularly. I notice that many people here are running integration/retrofit companies.

I'm curious what percentage of the engineers running these companies and working for them are Professional Engineers (Licensed). If not licensed PEs, how difficult was it to obtain and renew E & O Insurance?

Thanks

I am the only employee of my company. I don't have a PE license. The last time I asked my agent to get quotes from multiple E&O carriers, two of the three quoted at their minimum premium rates. At least that's how I interpreted their "round number" quotes. The application form I had to fill out asked whether I hold any licenses, but the answer to the question didn't seem to have any bearing on the willingness of carriers to offer coverage.

I expect that the need for a PE license is more contingent on the nature of the work you do and the projects you bid on than anything else.

I'm a PE, the only one of four engineers here.

As Steve pointed out, the nature of your business and the risk assesed by the carrier is more significant than a license. If you only do industrial controls for machine shops your risk may be low. If you do elevators for public buildings, it may be quite high.

In some states you cannot do engineering for systems used by the public if you are not a PE. In some states you can't use the word "engineering" in your business name without a business engineering license, which you can't get unless an officer of the company is licensed.

So much of this varies by state that you would be well advised to get some guidance from your insurance carrier and your local licensing board.