FE Civil · study guide · July 2020 specification
FE Civil exam prep, weighted by the specification
Split your study time the way the exam splits its questions. Midpoints of the NCEES ranges put almost half of the exam in five civil design areas, a quarter in shared mechanics and the rest in short sections. Below: that split as a plan, the order to work in, and one trap per civil area.
FE Civil practice test Exam facts
Updated Oct 29, 2026 · Not affiliated with NCEES.
- ExamFE Civil
- sections14
- five civil design areas≈ 47%
- specificationJuly 2020
- Checked
Where the questions are
Shares below are the midpoints of the NCEES question ranges divided by their total, rounded; use them to divide whatever hours you have.
- Five civil design areas, ≈ 47%. Structural, Geotechnical and Water Resources (10–15 questions each), Transportation (9–14), Construction (8–12).
- Shared mechanics, ≈ 25%. Statics (8–12), Mechanics of Materials (7–11), Fluid Mechanics (6–9), Dynamics (4–6).
- Common FE topics, ≈ 17%. Mathematics and Statistics (8–12), Engineering Economics (5–8), Ethics (4–6).
- Two short civil sections, ≈ 11%. Surveying (6–9) and Materials (5–8).
Section ranges and our problems
| № | Section | Items on the exam | Our questions | Practice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Mathematics and StatisticsCommon to every FE discipline | 8–12 | 35 | FE practice test |
| 02 | Ethics and Professional PracticeCommon to every FE discipline | 4–6 | 22 | FE practice test |
| 03 | Engineering EconomicsCommon to every FE discipline | 5–8 | 28 | Engineering economics |
| 04 | StaticsCovered in Structural engineering | 8–12 | 5 | Practice |
| 05 | DynamicsShared with FE Mechanical | 4–6 | 2 | Dynamics and vibrations |
| 06 | Mechanics of MaterialsCovered in Structural engineering | 7–11 | 4 | Practice |
| 07 | Materials | 5–8 | 19 | Practice |
| 08 | Fluid MechanicsCovered in Water resources | 6–9 | 7 | Practice |
| 09 | Surveying | 6–9 | 19 | Practice |
| 10 | Water Resources and Environmental Engineering | 10–15 | 21 | Practice |
| 11 | Structural Engineering | 10–15 | 26 | Practice |
| 12 | Geotechnical Engineering | 10–15 | 25 | Practice |
| 13 | Transportation Engineering | 9–14 | 23 | Practice |
| 14 | Construction Engineering | 8–12 | 21 | Practice |
A four-phase plan
- Diagnose. Take the practice test cold with the Handbook PDF open, and note your misses by section.
- Shared foundations first. Statics and mechanics of materials feed structural and geotechnical work, and math feeds everything. Learn them on FE Mechanical statics, mechanics of materials and the FE math section; economics has its own page.
- Civil areas by size and by your misses. Work the section pages in order of range: structural, geotechnical, water resources, transportation, construction, then surveying and materials. Solve every problem from the Handbook, not from a review book, because the Handbook is all you get in the room.
- Rehearse. One or both NCEES practice exams under time, then the problems you missed again. The general plan, schedules and what to do the week before: FE exam prep.
One trap per civil area
- Structural: effective length in column buckling depends on the end conditions, and the same column changes capacity with them (more).
- Geotechnical: below the water table, strength and settlement work in effective stress, not total (more).
- Water resources: rational-method intensity is read at a duration equal to the time of concentration (more).
- Transportation: crest and sag vertical curves use different length formulas (more).
- Construction: bank, loose and compacted cubic yards are three different volumes of the same soil (more).
- Surveying: a bearing is not an azimuth (more).
- Materials: aggregate moisture changes the water you batch (more).
Construction doubled in 2020
Under the January 2014 outline construction had 4–6 questions; the July 2020 specification gives it 8–12. Review material printed for the old outline underweights scheduling, earned value and estimating. Check the edition before you rely on it.
Review manuals and courses
A discipline review manual or a course is optional. Whatever you use, it should name the July 2020 specification, and you should do the problems with the NCEES Handbook rather than the book’s own tables. NCEES’s practice exams come from the organization that writes the exam.
Questions people ask
Is two months enough to study for the FE Civil?
It depends on how recently you studied the core courses; NCEES designs the exam for students near graduation and recent graduates. Take the practice test first: your misses by section tell you how many hours you need more reliably than any calendar.
Which civil sections come first in a study plan?
Statics, mechanics of materials and math, because the structural and geotechnical sections build on them; then the civil design areas in order of their question ranges.
Civil problems for short study blocks
FE Civil questions, answers and worked solutions in a study app.
Not affiliated with NCEES.