FE Reference Handbook: Free Download and How to Use It

The FE Reference Handbook is supplied onscreen during the FE exam, and NCEES gives it to you free as a PDF. Download it from MyNCEES, check the version for your exam date, then use the lookup drill below to practice the way you'll test.

Get the free PDF

Open NCEES's free handbook download — you'll need to sign in to MyNCEES.

1. Open the link above.
2. Sign in to MyNCEES. If you've ever registered for an NCEES exam since October 2010, you already have an account, so don't make a second one. NCEES locks duplicate accounts. If you have never had an account, use the account-creation option. (MyNCEES FAQs)
3. Choose the FE Reference Handbook and note the version shown.
4. Save the PDF to the device you study on.

If NCEES's link ever moves, its handbook help page has the current route.

Landed on a paid listing instead? The official PDF costs nothing. Use the free handbook link above.

Why we don't host the PDF: NCEES lets you print the handbook for personal use, but it doesn't allow copies to be reposted or shared online without its permission. (NCEES help) Copies on file-sharing sites may also be out of date.

Which version do I need?

Use the FE Reference Handbook that applies to your exam date. NCEES supplies the current version onscreen and makes it available through MyNCEES. Check the version shown there and any NCEES notice giving its exam-use date. (NCEES Examinee Guide, May 2026, p. 10)

NCEES switches versions on announced dates. For example, it said version 10.4 would be used for exams beginning July 2024. So the copy you saved months ago may not be the one on your screen.

Keep a quick record of your study copy:

Recheck when you schedule your exam and again a couple of weeks before it. If a different version applies to your exam date, switch to that copy and redo a few drill items below.

How the handbook works on exam day

Source: NCEES Examinee Guide, May 2026, pp. 8–10.

Want to see the search panel before test day? NCEES has a short video: how to search the onscreen NCEES reference handbook.

One habit to break early: when you study with your downloaded PDF, click into your reader's search box instead of pressing Ctrl+F. You won't have the shortcut on exam day.

Lookup drill: where would you find it?

Original practice from Castleport Test Prep, not NCEES questions. Open your own copy of the handbook beside this drill.

These 30 ungraded lookups build your own section map. Each item names something you might need mid-problem. Pick a starting section, then search your copy with the suggested term to see it for yourself.

The suggested starting points are editorial guidance, not a current-edition contents list. More than one section may be useful. Record the actual heading and the requested check for each lookup. If a search comes up empty, record "not found" and the terms and sections you tried.

The NCEES 10.3 and 10.4 correction lists cited below document those editions only; they do not establish locations in your copy.

Use your notes to repeat lookups that were slow or unsuccessful. There is no score: the suggested starting section is not a correctness test, and these 30 lookups do not measure FE readiness or cover the full exam.

Finding a formula isn't the same as choosing it

A search hit gets you to a matching passage. You still have to check that the formula matches what the problem asks for. Here's a short original example.

Example FH-EX-01. Three measurements from a sample are 2, 4, and 6 mm. Find the sample standard deviation.

Search standard deviation or variance in your copy, then read the definitions next to the result before you calculate. The word that matters is sample: the sum of squared deviations is divided by n − 1, and standard deviation is the square root of variance. (NIST/SEMATECH e-Handbook, Measures of Scale)

• Mean: (2 + 4 + 6) ÷ 3 = 4 mm
• Squared deviations: (2 − 4)² + (4 − 4)² + (6 − 4)² = 4 + 0 + 4 = 8 mm²
• Sample variance: 8 ÷ (3 − 1) = 4 mm²
• Sample standard deviation: √4 = 2 mm

Two easy ways to miss it: stop at 4 mm², which is the variance, or divide by 3 instead of 2, which gives the population version (√(8/3) ≈ 1.63 mm). Finding the entry is only the start. The check is what earns the point.

How to study with the handbook

1. Keep the PDF open for every practice problem, even ones you can do from memory. You're training the lookup, not just the math.
2. Search short nouns, not sentences. Try Moody for a pipe-friction chart. If a search fails, try a simpler word or scroll the section you expect.
3. When a search misses, write down the word the handbook actually uses. Reuse those terms when you practice again.
4. Learn sections, not page numbers. Page numbers shift between versions. Check the headings again when your applicable version changes.
5. Read Units and Ethics once, front to back. Both apply to every FE discipline.
6. Check conditions before calculating, like the example above: sample or population, gauge or absolute, SI or US units.
7. Separate a slow lookup from a concept gap. If you found the right formula but couldn't use it, that's a topic to review, not a search problem.

For a full study plan and practice problems, see FE exam prep.

Is there a separate handbook for FE Civil or FE Mechanical?

NCEES directs FE candidates to the FE Reference Handbook and lists separate exam specifications for all seven FE exams: Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Computer, Environmental, Industrial and Systems, Mechanical, and Other Disciplines. (NCEES FE exam page) Choose the FE Reference Handbook in MyNCEES.

What differs is which sections you'll use most. Your discipline's exam specification lists the topics your exam covers, so use it to decide what to practice and the handbook to solve. You'll find the specifications on the NCEES FE exam page.

If you're studying for a specific discipline, these free pages pair well with the handbook: FE Civil exam prep, FE Electrical and Computer exam prep, and FE Chemical exam prep.

Trouble with the PDF?

I can't log in to MyNCEES

Follow the onscreen prompts to recover your username or password. If you no longer have the email or phone number on the account, contact NCEES Client Services to update it rather than opening a new account. (MyNCEES FAQs)

Formulas or symbols look wrong

Save the PDF to your computer and open the saved file instead of viewing it in your browser. That's NCEES's suggested fix. (NCEES help)

Can I print or highlight my study copy?

Yes. You can print it for personal use. If you save the PDF and open it in Adobe Acrobat, you can highlight and add comments. (Printing, annotating) None of that carries into the exam: you'll use NCEES's onscreen copy, and your own copy stays outside. Do most of your practice with the PDF, because that's how you'll use it on exam day.

Common questions

Does a new handbook version mean the exam changed?

Not by itself. The handbook is reference material. What the exam covers is set by the separate discipline specifications on the NCEES FE exam page.

Does the handbook have every formula I'll need?

Don't count on it. Knowing your core concepts still matters. Use your discipline's exam specification to decide what to study, then check what your current handbook contains. A search hit still has to match the problem's conditions and units.

Sources

• NCEES Examinee Guide, May 2026, p. 8 (calculator and prohibited items), p. 9 (scratch materials), and p. 10 (reference materials, tutorial, reporting problems). Current guide linked from the NCEES Examinee Guide page.
• NCEES: Exam Reference Handbooks, updated November 4, 2024 (free download, printing, redistribution, display problems)
• NCEES: Editable Handbook, updated October 7, 2022 (highlighting a saved copy)
• MyNCEES login and FAQs (existing accounts, recovery, duplicate accounts)
• NCEES FE Reference Handbook 10.4 changes, posted May 1, 2024, and 10.3 changes, posted June 1, 2023 (historical corrections and section labels; the July 2024 exam-use date for version 10.4)
• NCEES FE exam page (the seven FE disciplines, exam specifications, and handbook access)
• NCEES video: how to search the onscreen reference handbook
• NIST/SEMATECH e-Handbook, §1.3.5.6 Measures of Scale (sample standard deviation)
• NIST periodic table publication and NIST cross-site scripting glossary (lookup concepts, not handbook locations)
• NI: Measuring Strain with Strain Gages, "Measuring Strain" (the resistance-and-strain lookup concept)
• NIST Digital Library of Mathematical Functions, §3.8 and §1.10 (Newton's method and Taylor series)

Last verified October 7, 2026: NCEES's handbook access instructions and exam-day reference rules. Check the version for your exam in MyNCEES.

By the Castleport Test Prep Editorial Team. See how we build and check our pages in our methodology.

AI tools assisted with drafting, source checking, and consistency checks. This is not a professional engineering review. See our editorial standards.

Castleport Test Prep is an independent exam prep publisher. We're not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by NCEES. Exam and credential names are used to identify the exam and its owner, and trademarks belong to their respective owners. The lookup drill and worked example are original and unofficial, and we don't reproduce the handbook.