Probably something more like a PE. From the NSPE website a PE entails: "To become licensed, engineers must complete a four-year college degree, work under a Pr

Probably something more like a PE. From the NSPE website a PE entails: "To become licensed, engineers must complete a four-year college degree, work under a Professional Engineer for at least four years, pass two intensive competency exams and earn a license from their state's licensure board. Then, to retain their licenses, PEs must continually maintain and improve their skills throughout their careers." Most PEs that I have worked with are very diligent. You don't get yahoos going that far. Generally, they are top-notch engineers. Think '10X' engineers, but for oil wells and churches. I mean, look at any large structure on Wikipedia, most of the time you'll find the engineer's name in the side placard, not just the firm's name. PEs are serious, dedicated, and smart people. I mean, their stamp is on those documents and they go to jail when the bridge fails. So, for software, if you have an exam of the PE's caliber, you essentially guarantee '10X' engineers. The workforce is more highly paid, yes, but it is of a much higher quality. Bugs get solved faster, stand-ups don't last 30 minutes, the wiki is updated by everyone, etc. Employers know that their candidates really are good stuff, less whiteboards or take-homes are needed. Also, possibly when something messes up, the engineer is the one responsible, not the company. So offloading the insurance to the employees is not the worst thing for a company. Honestly, it would not be a bad system and I think would be a much calmer and better one.