Ala. Admin. Code r. 330-X-13-.02
Current through Register Vol. 43, No. 1, October 31, 2024
Section 330-X-13-.02 - Continuing Professional Competency(1) Purpose - In order to help safeguard health, life, safety, welfare and property, the practices of professional engineering and land surveying in Alabama require continuing professional competency in accordance with Code of Ala. 1975, Section 34-11-8(a)(2) and this Rule.(2) Scope - Each in-state and out-of-state licensee shall be required to meet the continuing professional competency requirements of these regulations for professional development as a condition for licensure renewal. Continuing professional competency obtained by a licensee should maintain, improve, or expand skills and knowledge obtained prior to initial licensure or develop new and relevant skills and knowledge. Regular duties are not considered qualified activities.(3) Definitions - Terms used in this section are defined as follows:(a) Professional Development Hour (PDH) - A contact (clock) hour consisting of not less than 50 minutes of instruction or presentation and which further meets the requirements of these rules. The minimum acceptable fraction of a PDH will be .5 which is equivalent to 30 minutes of instruction time.(b) Sponsor - An individual, organization, association, institution, or other entity which provides an educational activity for the purpose of fulfilling the continuing professional competency requirements of this rule.(4) Requirements - To demonstrate that a licensed professional engineer or professional land surveyor maintains an acceptable level of competency, a licensee must obtain the number of Professional Development Hours (PDH) per renewal period as shown below. The requirement must be satisfied during the current renewal period. Professional development hours must not be anticipated and cannot be used for more than one renewal period. PDH credits may include:(a) The carryover permitted,(b) PDH earned during the previous renewal period after the date of submitting the previous renewal to the Board office,(c) PDH earned during current renewal period, and(d) PDH earned in the following renewal period if renewing after renewal deadline. 1. A licensed professional engineer or licensed professional land surveyor must earn a minimum of fifteen PDH per annual renewal period or thirty if biennial renewal period except for the carryover permitted. The number of professional development hours which may be carried forward into the next renewal period shall not exceed fifteen whether on an annual or biennial period.2. A licensee who has both a professional engineer's license and a professional land surveyor's license can cross claim PDH's when course material is applicable to both licenses.3. All professional land surveyors are required to earn a minimum of 4 PDH on the Standards of Practice for Surveying in the State of Alabama every two years. All new professional land surveyor licensees shall complete this requirement within 2 years of becoming licensed in Alabama. Credit will be given for courses taken within 2 years of obtaining licensure in Alabama. Credit for these courses/seminars will count toward the annual or biennial PDH requirements as required by the Code of Ala. 1975, § 34-11-6.4. All professional land surveyors are required to complete 1 PDH on ethics every year. All new professional land surveyor licensees shall complete the 1 PDH of ethics within 1 year of becoming licensed in Alabama as required by the Code of Ala. 1975, § 34-11-6.(5) Activities - Continuing professional competency activities which satisfy the professional development requirement shall include, but not be limited to:(a) Successfully completing or auditing college or university sponsored courses,(b) Successfully completing courses which are awarded continuing educational units (CEU),(c) Successfully completing tutorials, short courses, correspondence courses, televised courses, internet courses, or videotaped courses,(d) Attending seminars, in-house programs, workshops, or professional or technical presentations made at meetings, conventions, or conferences,(e) Teaching, presenting, or instructing as described in (a) through (d) above,(f) Authoring published papers, articles, books, or accepted licensing examination items, and(g) Receiving a United States patent.(h) Actively participating in professional or technical societies as defined in 330-X-13.02(8)(f).(i) Serving the Board as a volunteer Technical Advisor as defined in 330-X-13.02(8)(g).(j) Active participation in educational outreach activities pertaining to professional licensure or the surveying/engineering professions that involve K-12 or higher education students. All activities as described in (a) through (j) above must be relevant to the practice of engineering or land surveying and may include technical, ethical, or managerial content. The Board does not preapprove or endorse any CPC activities. It is the responsibility of each licensee to assure that all PDH credits claimed meet the requirements as specified in 330-X-13.02.
(6) Criteria - Continuing professional competency activities must meet the following criteria:(a) There is a clear purpose and objective for each activity which will maintain, improve, or expand skills and knowledge obtained prior to initial licensure or to develop new and relevant skills and knowledge.(b) The content of each presentation is well organized and presented in a sequential manner.(c) There is evidence of preplanning which should include the opportunity for input by the target group to be served.(d) The presentation will be made by persons who are well qualified by education or experience.(e) There is a provision for individual participant registration which will include information required for record keeping and reporting.(7) Units - The conversion to PDH units from other units is as follows: 1 University semester hour of credit... | 45 PDH |
1 University quarter hour of credit... | 30 PDH |
1 Continuing Educational Unit (CEU)... 1 Hour of acceptable professional development education... | 10 PDH 1 PDH |
Active participation in professional and technical society (each organization maximum 2 PDH per organization not to exceed 6 PDH total) |
1 hour of outreach activities | 1 PDH (not to exceed 3 PDH/s) |
(8) Credits - The Board has final authority with respect to approval of courses, credit, PDH value for courses, and other methods of earning credit. Credit for qualifying courses successfully completed which offer PDHs based on semester hours, quarter hours, or CEUs is as specified above. All other activities permit the earning of one PDH credit for each contact hour with the following exceptions:(a) Successful auditing of university or college courses permits PDH credit of 1/3 that shown in (7) above.(b) Teaching or instructing qualifying courses or seminars or making presentations at technical meetings can earn PDH credit at twice that of participants. For non-faculty -Teaching credit is valid only for the first offering of the course/presentation. Faculty may not claim teaching credit associated with their regular duties.(c) Authorship of papers, articles, or books cannot be claimed until actually published. Receipt of a US patent cannot be claimed until the patent is actually awarded. Credit earned will equal preparation time spent not to exceed 10 PDH per publication or patent.(d) For meeting the continuing professional competency requirements through correspondence, video, audio, or on-line courses, the course must require the participant to show evidence of completion.(e) The Board will not accept self study, regular employment including repetitive teaching of the same course without updating course material, service club meetings, equipment demonstrations, membership on Boards or Committees, enrollment without attending the course, conversational language courses for personal use, and other activities not relevant to engineering or land surveying and not educational in nature.(f) Credit for active participation in professional and technical societies (limited to 2 PDH per organization, per year but a maximum of 6 PDH total per renewal cycle), requires that a licensee serve as an officer and/or actively participate in a committee of the organization.(g) Credit for service to the Board as a volunteer Technical Advisor may be earned on an hourly basis not to exceed 10 PDH per year.(9) Exemptions - A licensee may be exempt from the professional development educational requirements for one of the following reasons:(a) A military licensee serving on active duty in the armed forces of the United States for a period of time exceeding one hundred twenty (120) days in a renewal period shall be exempt from obtaining the professional development hours required during that period.(b) A licensee employed as a professional engineer or professional land surveyor and assigned to duty outside the United States for a period of time exceeding one hundred twenty (120) consecutive days in a renewal period shall be exempt from obtaining the professional development hours required during that year.(c) A licensee who has experienced during the past year a serious illness or injury of a nature and duration which has prohibited completing continuing professional competency requirements this past renewal period may be exempted in order to give the licensee sufficient time to recuperate and begin to earn the necessary professional development hours for the next renewal period. Supporting documentation such as a letter from a physician must be furnished to the Board.(d) Licensees who list their occupation as Inactive on the Board approved renewal form and who certify that they are not currently practicing engineering or land surveying shall be exempt from the professional development hours required.(e) New Licensees. A new licensee is to be awarded 30 PDH toward their first renewal.(10) Reinstating Expired or Inactive Licenses. In the event a licensee elects to return to active practice of professional engineering or professional land surveying, thirty professional development hours must be earned. The hours required for reinstatement are to bring the license to active status. When the license renewal is due, the licensee will also be required to obtain the professional development hours for the renewal period. Professional Land Surveyor licensees must also meet the PDH requirements contained in Section 330-X-13-.02(4) 3 and 4.(11) Forms - All renewal applications will require the listing of the PDH credit claimed unless the licensee is exempt from the continuing education requirement. The licensee must certify and sign the renewal application.(12) Records - The responsibility of maintaining records which can be used to support credits claimed is the responsibility of the licensee. Records required are documents from the sponsoring organization showing course completion or presentation, or completion certificates showing PDH credits earned. These records must be maintained for a period of four years and copies must be furnished, if requested, to the Board for audit verification purposes. These records should not be furnished with the renewal application.(13) Disallowance - If the Board disallows claimed PDH credit during the renewal or reinstatement process, the licensee must substantiate the original claim or to earn other credit to meet the requirement.(14) Audit - The Board will conduct a random audit of renewals submitted for compliance with the continuing education requirements.(a) Those licensees selected for audit will be notified and will be required to provide the documents as outlined in subsection (12) above.(b) Licensees should respond to audit inquiries within 30 days of notification. Failure to respond to an audit inquiry, and/or provide requested documentation, will result in a reinstatement fee being applied to the renewal fee on February 1st.(c) Falsification of documentation is grounds for disciplinary action.Ala. Admin. Code r. 330-X-13-.02
Filed July 13, 1992. Amended: Filed September 13, 1994; effective October 18, 1994. Amended: Filed September 23, 1998; effective October 28, 1998. Amended: Filed June 18, 2002; effective July 23, 2002. Amended: Filed April 29, 2003; effective June 3, 2003. Amended: Filed December 15, 2004; effective January 19, 2005. Amended: Filed August 29, 2005; effective October 3, 2005. Amended: Filed December 26, 2007; effective January 30, 2008. Amended: Filed June 22, 2012; effective July 27, 2012.Amended by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XXXII, Issue No. 11, August 29, 2014, eff. 9/3/2014.Amended by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XXXIII, Issue No. 11, August 31, 2015, eff. 9/9/2015.Amended by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XXXVI, Issue No. 01, October 31, 2017, eff. 11/27/2017.Amended by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XXXVII, Issue No. 02, November 30, 2018, eff. 12/31/2018.Amended by Alabama Administrative Monthly Volume XLI, Issue No. 02, November 30, 2022, eff. 1/14/2023.Author: William R. Huett (Executive Director), Bonnie Kelly
Statutory Authority:Code of Ala. 1975, §§ 34-11-8, 34-11-35.