I downvoted because this sanctification of engineering (guild, not practice) is as tedious as the idea that credentialing is a silver bullet for software quality.

I've worked on enough projects with "real engineers" to see that rigor varies significantly with the person. I've seen a dropout with more engineering rigor than a Waterloo grad (granted, this was at a company with a very selective interview process...)

In practice, you do whatever and then pay a licensed PE with an absolutely massive liability insurance policy to stamp your design. If something goes wrong, they take the fall and go sip drinks on a beach somewhere.

As usual, incentives rule everything around us.