Free power engineering textbooks: the official book list

The textbooks power engineers study from are now free. After PanGlobal ceased operations in 2025, ownership of the learning materials passed to NAIT, SAIT, and BCIT, who released the full set to the public under a Creative Commons licence. This page links the official sources, class by class, plus the official SOPEEC syllabi.

What happened to PanGlobal

PanGlobal Training Systems Ltd. ceased operations on June 30, 2025. Ownership of the Power Engineering Learning Materials previously published through PanGlobal is now jointly held by the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).

The three institutes released the books free to the public under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). That means you may download, read, and share the books for free for non-commercial use, with attribution. The licence terms appear in the preface of each book.

SteamTicket links to the official BCIT repository pages below. We do not host, sell, or repackage these books. Every link goes to the institute that owns the material, so you are always getting the current edition from the source.

• Full collection: BCIT Power Engineering Open Learning Materials

4th Class books (24 units)

The 4th Class set is published unit by unit: twelve Part A units covering the theory papers and Part B units covering plant and equipment. Each link below opens the official download page for that unit.

• Part A, Unit 1: Elementary mechanics and dynamics
• Part A, Unit 2: Elementary physical, chemical, and thermodynamic principles
• Part A, Unit 3: Introduction to power engineering and its governance in Canada
• Part A, Unit 4: Introduction to plant and fire safety
• Part A, Unit 5: Introduction to plant operations and the environment
• Part A, Unit 6: Elements of material science and welding technology
• Part A, Unit 7: Introductory fluid handling technology
• Part A, Unit 8: Basic concepts in electrotechnology
• Part A, Unit 9: Energy plant instrumentation and controls
• Part A, Unit 10: Fundamental industrial communication skills
• Part A, Unit 11: Introduction to boiler designs
• Part A, Unit 12: Elements of boiler systems
• Part B, Unit 1: Lubrication and bearings
• Part B, Unit 2: Pumps and compressors
• Part B, Unit 3: Boiler safety devices
• More Part B units are being added to the repository as they are released. See the full 4th Class collection for the current list.

3rd Class books (four papers)

• Part A1: Mathematics, mechanics, and materials
• Part A2: Legislation, codes, and administration
• Part B1: Boilers and steam generation
• Part B2: Prime movers and rotating equipment

2nd Class books (six papers)

• Part A1: ASME code calculations and legislation
• Part A2: Thermodynamics and metallurgy
• Part A3: Boilers and water treatment
• Part B1: Prime movers, lubrication, and piping
• Part B2: Combustion and plant systems
• Part B3: Electricity and refrigeration

5th Class, 1st Class, and reference books

• 5th Class books: BCIT 5th Class collection
• 1st Class books: BCIT 1st Class collection
• Reference books, including preparatory math: additional resource books

Free textbooks and separate code extracts

The free textbook collection does not include every reference used in a power engineering exam. SOPEEC's reference-materials list lists the Extract for CSA B51 & B52 Codes and the ASME Academic Extract & Supplement as separate resources. The textbook links above are not download links for those extracts.

For code extracts and supplements, check the publisher's authorised purchase options or ask your school or library about access. Confirm the edition you need before buying. SteamTicket does not host or distribute these reference materials.

Before exam day, check your provincial regulator's allowed-reference list for your specific paper. For example, TSASK's power engineer exam guidance requires reference materials in hard copy and does not permit digital copies. That is Saskatchewan's rule; check the requirements in your own jurisdiction.

Official SOPEEC syllabi

The syllabus is the exam. SOPEEC publishes a reference syllabus for every class that lists exactly what each paper covers. Download the one for your class and keep it beside the books: the syllabus tells you what to study, the books teach it, and the syllabus order is how the questions are organized.

Download the reference syllabi from SOPEEC for the 2nd Class, 3rd Class, and 4th Class papers. SOPEEC does not publish per-topic question counts, so anyone quoting an exact split of the 100 questions is estimating. Our own per-paper guides follow the syllabus sections as published.

Books teach. Practice passes.

A textbook explains the material. It does not rehearse you against the clock, and it cannot tell you why the answer you picked was wrong. Not every SOPEEC paper is 100 multiple choice. First Class is mostly long-answer (A1 to A4, B1 to B3); B4 is 100 multiple choice in 3 hours as of January 2026. The pass mark is 65%. The free books contain no timed practice exams with explanations.

SteamTicket complements the free books: question banks organized by the same chapters, 100 question timed mocks in the real format, and a step by step explanation on every question you miss. Start with 20 free questions, no signup, or see the full bank list.

Common questions