- What the PE Naval Architecture and Marine Exam Actually Is
- Who Runs It and How Licensure Fits Around It
- Exam Format, Timing, and Question Types
- The 13 Official Domains and Their Question Ranges
- Where the Question Count Concentrates
- Scoring and Pass-Rate Data
- Fees, Registration, and Test-Day Logistics
- Who Hires Licensed Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
- Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Blueprint
- Frequently Asked Questions
- PE-NA&M here is the NCEES Principles and Practice of Engineering exam in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, a licensure exam.
- The exam has 85 questions across 13 domains; Hydrostatics and Stability carries the largest range at 10-15 questions.
- Testing is 8 hours 30 minutes, computer-based at Pearson VUE, with a supplied searchable reference handbook and no personal references.
- NCEES charges US$400 per attempt; your licensing board sets eligibility, application fees, and renewal rules.
What the PE Naval Architecture and Marine Exam Actually Is
The acronym PE-NA&M stands for Principles and Practice of Engineering - Naval Architecture and Marine. NCEES lists the exam as PE Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. It is the licensing exam a U.S. engineer takes to earn Professional Engineer status in the naval architecture and marine engineering discipline. It is not a vendor badge, a society membership, or an optional add-on credential. It is one required step on the path to a state or territorial PE license.
If you are comparing sources, keep this distinction in mind: this article covers only the NCEES licensure exam. If you want the same topic from other angles, the site also covers the PE-NA&M meaning and what PE-NA&M stands for, and you can go straight to the main practice test site when you are ready to test yourself.
The discipline itself spans two halves that share a hull. Naval architecture concerns the vessel as a floating structure: how it floats, stays upright, moves through water, resists loads, and is arranged. Marine engineering concerns what makes the vessel work: propulsion, power generation, piping, auxiliary machinery, and electrical systems. The exam adds a "common" group covering outfitting, materials and corrosion, and rules and regulations. A licensed PE in this field is expected to be credible across all of it, even if their day job concentrates in one corner.
Who Runs It and How Licensure Fits Around It
The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) writes and administers the exam. It does not, however, decide who may sit for it or who gets a license. That authority belongs to the state or territorial licensing board you select.
A common pathway, not a universal rule
A frequently used route to licensure runs through an EAC/ABET-accredited engineering bachelor's degree, the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, four years of acceptable engineering experience, and then the PE exam. Treat that as a typical pattern rather than a requirement that applies everywhere. Your board's rules control exam-sitting eligibility, experience credit, and any approval step required before you can schedule. Our PE-NA&M requirements guide walks through how to qualify and what to confirm with your board.
Related to this, NCEES Records applications for engineering use five U.S.-licensed engineer references. That is a feature of the NCEES Record, not a blanket prerequisite for taking the exam. Again, your board's application requirements govern.
No separate renewal clock
Because this is a licensure exam rather than a standalone certification, you do not "renew" the exam result on a cycle. Once you pass and are licensed, your issuing board sets the PE license renewal period and any continuing-professional-competency requirements. That is why cost and career-value questions are really about licensure as a whole, a point explored in the PE-NA&M certification ROI analysis.
Exam Format, Timing, and Question Types
The exam is a single-day, computer-based test delivered in person at approved Pearson VUE test centers. It is offered once a year, and the scheduled administration is October 27, 2026. Every examinee in the administration receives the same question set.
| Feature | PE Naval Architecture and Marine |
|---|---|
| Total questions | 85, including unidentified unscored pretest items |
| Testing time | 8 hours 30 minutes |
| Total appointment | 9 hours 30 minutes |
| Included in appointment | 2-minute NDA, 8-minute tutorial, 50-minute scheduled break |
| Delivery | In-person computer-based testing at Pearson VUE |
| Units | SI and USCS |
| Reference policy | Closed book with supplied searchable electronic handbook |
| Calculator | One NCEES-approved calculator |
Question styles you will see
Beyond standard multiple choice, the exam uses alternative item types: multiple-correct (select all that apply), point-and-click, drag-and-drop, and numerical fill-in. Scored items receive correct or incorrect credit with no partial credit. That matters for calculation-heavy problems. A multi-step stability or powering calculation that is right in method but wrong in the final number earns nothing, so unit discipline and a sanity check on magnitude are worth practicing deliberately.
Two further structural points deserve attention. First, the exam is divided into two sections that share the testing clock, and a submitted section cannot be reopened. Second, because the 85-question count includes unscored pretest items that are not identified, you cannot sort questions into "ones that count" and "ones that don't." Treat every item as scored.
The 13 Official Domains and Their Question Ranges
The current blueprint (NCEES specifications effective beginning October 2025) organizes content into 13 numbered domains. These are official exam objectives, not a suggested study curriculum, and the subtopics listed beneath them in the specification are illustrative rather than exhaustive. Importantly, NCEES publishes question-count ranges per domain rather than fixed percentage weights, so any percentage you see quoted elsewhere is not an NCEES domain weight.
| # | Domain | Question range |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Naval Architecture: Hydrostatics and Stability | 10-15 |
| 2 | Naval Architecture: Hydrodynamics | 6-9 |
| 3 | Naval Architecture: Ocean Engineering | 4-6 |
| 4 | Naval Architecture: Structural Design | 7-11 |
| 5 | Naval Architecture: General Arrangements | 5-8 |
| 6 | Marine Engineering: Propulsion and Power Generation | 6-9 |
| 7 | Marine Engineering: Piping System Design | 5-8 |
| 8 | Marine Engineering: Auxiliary Equipment Selection | 5-8 |
| 9 | Marine Engineering: Electrical Systems | 5-8 |
| 10 | Marine Engineering: Environmental Considerations | 4-6 |
| 11 | Common: Hull Outfitting | 4-6 |
| 12 | Common: Materials, Corrosion, Welds, and Connections | 4-6 |
| 13 | Common: Rules and Regulations | 5-8 |
For a deeper domain-by-domain treatment, see the complete guide to all 13 content areas. Below is a quick orientation to what each cluster demands.
Naval Architecture Domains (1-5)
These treat the ship as a floating, moving, structural body.
- Hydrostatics and Stability: buoyancy, centers of gravity and buoyancy, metacentric height, righting arms, trim, and damage and intact stability concepts.
- Hydrodynamics: resistance, powering, propeller interaction, maneuvering, and seakeeping fundamentals.
- Ocean Engineering: environmental loads, mooring, and offshore-oriented considerations.
- Structural Design: hull girder strength, plating and stiffener design, and load paths.
- General Arrangements: spatial layout, tank and compartment planning, and how arrangement affects stability and function.
Marine Engineering Domains (6-10)
These cover the machinery and systems that make a vessel operate.
- Propulsion and Power Generation: prime movers, shafting, gearing, and matching power plants to demand.
- Piping System Design: sizing, pressure-drop reasoning, and system layout for fluids aboard.
- Auxiliary Equipment Selection: pumps, compressors, heat exchangers, and similar support machinery.
- Electrical Systems: generation, distribution, and load analysis for shipboard power.
- Environmental Considerations: emissions, discharge, and regulatory-driven design choices.
Common Domains (11-13)
These cut across both disciplines.
- Hull Outfitting: equipment and fittings installed to the hull and structure.
- Materials, Corrosion, Welds, and Connections: material selection, corrosion control, and joint behavior.
- Rules and Regulations: classification and regulatory requirements that constrain design.
Where the Question Count Concentrates
Two domains stand out. Hydrostatics and Stability (Domain 1) has the widest range at 10-15 questions, and Structural Design (Domain 4) follows at 7-11. Together, their ranges account for a meaningful slice of an 85-question exam. A candidate who is strong on stability and hull structure has banked a lot of scoring opportunity before touching the machinery side.
That said, do not read the ranges as permission to skip anything. The remaining domains each sit in the roughly 4-9 question band, and because the exam is closed book with no partial credit, a domain you ignore can quietly cost you several questions. Breadth matters in this exam precisely because the marine engineering half and the common domains together are large.
Key Takeaway
Use the question ranges to decide where to spend deep practice time, but cover all 13 domains. A weak marine engineering half can erase the advantage of strong naval architecture fundamentals, and vice versa.
Scoring and Pass-Rate Data
NCEES reports results as pass or fail, based on a scaled score that meets its minimum-competence standard. There is no deduction for wrong answers, so you should never leave an item blank. NCEES does not publish a numerical passing score, which is why the PE-NA&M passing score guide focuses on how the standard works rather than a magic number.
On historical performance, the NCEES table (updated January 2026) shows a 63% first-time pass rate across 46 examinees and a 38% repeat pass rate across 8 examinees. Two cautions apply. These figures come from a prior October administration, not the upcoming October 2026 sitting. And the examinee counts are small, so a single cohort can move the percentage noticeably. For fuller context on how to read these numbers, see what the pass-rate data shows and the difficulty guide.
Fees, Registration, and Test-Day Logistics
The NCEES exam fee is US$400 per attempt. Separate board application fees can apply, and these vary by jurisdiction, so budget for both. The PE-NA&M cost breakdown lays out the pricing components in more detail.
Practical sequence
- Choose your licensing board and confirm its eligibility rules and any required approval step.
- Complete the board's application and fee requirements.
- Register with NCEES and pay the exam fee once you are approved to test.
- Schedule your appointment at a Pearson VUE test center for the single annual administration.
- Review the NCEES Examinee Guide for current policies before test day.
Dates and deadlines change from cycle to cycle, so verify them directly rather than relying on a secondhand summary. The exam dates and scheduling guide tracks the details.
Practice material from the issuer
NCEES sells an official e-book practice exam for $59.95. It contains 85 questions with solutions, including alternative item types, runs 123 pages, and is based on the October 2025 specifications. Because it mirrors the issuer's format, it is a useful calibration tool for how items are worded and how alternative item types behave. The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) also publishes a PE study guide (July 2026 edition). Treat it as a secondary preparation aid: its categories and any percentage statements do not establish official NCEES domain weights or exhaustive coverage. The NCEES specification remains the controlling document.
Who Hires Licensed Naval Architects and Marine Engineers
Demand for this skill set comes from several directions. Typical employers and work settings include:
- Shipyards and shipbuilders that design, build, and repair commercial and government vessels.
- Naval architecture and marine engineering consultancies that produce stability analyses, structural calculations, and system designs for owners and yards.
- Government and defense organizations overseeing naval and other public-fleet programs.
- Classification societies and regulatory bodies that review designs against rules, a natural home for people strong in Domain 13.
- Offshore and ocean engineering firms working on floating structures, mooring, and environmental loading.
- Equipment manufacturers and system integrators specializing in propulsion, piping, auxiliary machinery, or electrical plants.
On compensation, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $112,230 for marine engineers and naval architects as of May 2025. That figure describes the occupation as a whole. It is not a PE-specific salary and does not measure a licensure premium, and it is distinct from ship engineers who operate onboard machinery. For how to think about earnings and what licensure may or may not change, see the earnings analysis, and browse PE-NA&M jobs for role-oriented context.
Sequencing Your Preparation Around the Blueprint
This is the one section on method, kept tied to the exam's structure. The logic is to build a stability foundation early, because stability concepts such as buoyancy, weights, and moments recur in arrangement, structural, and regulatory questions. Then move through the machinery domains, and finish with the cross-cutting and regulatory material that rewards recall. A full planning framework lives in the PE-NA&M study guide; here is an illustrative domain-ordered skeleton.
Hydrostatics, Stability, and General Arrangements
- Drill Domain 1 first: it has the widest question range.
- Tie arrangements (Domain 5) to tank and compartment effects on stability.
- Practice unit consistency across SI and USCS.
Structural Design and Hydrodynamics
- Work Domain 4 hull girder and plating problems.
- Cover resistance and powering basics in Domain 2.
- Add Ocean Engineering (Domain 3) load concepts.
Marine Engineering Systems
- Propulsion, piping, auxiliaries, electrical, and environmental (Domains 6-10).
- Practice sizing and selection problems with no partial credit in mind.
Common Domains and Full-Length Practice
- Review outfitting, materials, corrosion, welds, and regulations (Domains 11-13).
- Take timed practice and rehearse searching the electronic handbook.
- Use our practice tests to find weak domains, then loop back.
For a compact last-pass review, the one-page review of must-know facts is useful once you have done the underlying work. If you want structured coaching rather than self-study, see the overview of PE-NA&M training.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is a licensure examination administered by NCEES, not a separately renewable certification. Passing it is one step toward a PE license, which is issued and renewed by your state or territorial board.
There are 85 questions, including unidentified unscored pretest items. Testing time is 8 hours 30 minutes within a 9 hour 30 minute appointment that includes a 2-minute NDA, 8-minute tutorial, and 50-minute scheduled break.
Naval Architecture: Hydrostatics and Stability, with a range of 10-15 questions. Naval Architecture: Structural Design follows with 7-11. NCEES publishes ranges, not fixed percentage weights.
No. The exam is closed book. You use a supplied searchable electronic reference handbook and one NCEES-approved calculator. Personal reference materials are prohibited.
The NCEES fee is US$400 per attempt. Your licensing board may charge separate application fees, so check its requirements before budgeting.
If you are still orienting yourself to the terminology around this credential, you may also find the pages on what PE-NA&M certification is and the broader PE-NA&M certification topic helpful as companions to this overview.