FE discipline
FE Civil
Civil candidates work mainly inside the civil engineering section, which is the largest in the handbook, plus statics, mechanics of materials and fluid mechanics. Four of the fourteen civil knowledge areas map onto neighbourhoods inside that one long section.
The trap
Water resources questions can be answered from either the fluid mechanics section or the hydrology block inside the civil section, and they carry different material. Knowing which one to open is worth real time.
Sections you will be working in
Ordered by how central they are to this exam. Page ranges come from the handbook version this build is calibrated to.
- Civil Engineering
Geotechnical, structural, water resources, transportation, and construction
- Statics
Forces, moments, centroids, moments of inertia, and friction
- Mechanics of Materials
Stress, strain, torsion, beams, and columns
- Fluid Mechanics
Statics of fluids, flow principles, losses, machinery, and measurement
- Materials Science/Structure of Matter
Bonding, corrosion, diffusion, material properties, and phase diagrams
- Engineering Economics
Time value of money, depreciation, and benefit-cost analysis
Knowledge areas on this exam
The knowledge-area names and question counts published by NCEES in the FE exam specifications for this discipline. 14 areas in total.
| # | Knowledge area | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mathematics and Statistics | 8-12 |
| 2 | Ethics and Professional Practice | 4-6 |
| 3 | Engineering Economics | 5-8 |
| 4 | Statics | 8-12 |
| 5 | Dynamics | 4-6 |
| 6 | Mechanics of Materials | 7-11 |
| 7 | Materials | 5-8 |
| 8 | Fluid Mechanics | 6-9 |
| 9 | Surveying | 6-9 |
| 10 | Water Resources and Environmental Engineering | 10-15 |
| 11 | Structural Engineering | 10-15 |
| 12 | Geotechnical Engineering | 10-15 |
| 13 | Transportation Engineering | 9-14 |
| 14 | Construction Engineering | 8-12 |
Page numbers here are read from handbook version 10.5 (seventh printing, April 2025), which runs to 502 pages. NCEES revises the handbook and page numbers move with it, which is why the drill asks which section a topic lives in rather than which page. Check the version of your own copy, downloaded free from NCEES.