La. Admin. Code tit. 46 § XL-121

Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 11, November 20, 2024

Section XL-121 - Continuing Education; Instructors

1. As a condition of license renewal, a licensee, (not renewing a license for the first time) must certify completion of at least 20 hours of continuing education during the previous licensing period, in courses approved by the board. No more than 10 hours of live and or interactive live streaming continuing education credit may be carried over into the following year. Board-approved continuing education instructors may be given continuing education credit for course preparation and other activities as set forth in Paragraph F.3, below.

2. As a condition of license renewal, a first year inspector, renewing a license for the first time, must certify completion of at least 30 hours of continuing education during the previous licensing period.

B. Continuing Education Courses

1. The same continuing education course may be taken only once for continuing education credit during any two year period, unless otherwise approved by the board.

2. For each license period the board may specify mandatory subject matter for one course, such course to be not less than two or more than four credit hours. The remaining courses shall be elective courses covering subject matter to be chosen by the licensee and meeting all other criteria specified in this Chapter.

3. Each course shall last at least one hour and comprise of at least one credit hour.

4. In order to receive credit for completing a continuing education course, a licensee must attend at least 90 percent of the scheduled hours of the course, regardless of the length of the course.

5. The licensee may receive up to eight hours of continuing education credit per licensing period for courses taught by a board certified continuing education provider, dealing with the construction industry, but outside the scope of the standards of practice.

6. The licensee may receive up to ten hours of continuing education credit per licensing period for attending a quarterly or special board meeting or for serving on a committee appointed by the board and up to three hours of credit per appointment and six hours per licensing period for acting as a special investigating entity as described in §707

7. The licensee may receive up to eight hours of continuing education credit per licensing period for each class taught by a non-approved instructor which subject matter deals with the construction industry, provided that the licensee has requested and received the approval of the Education Committee chairperson prior to the LHIs participation in the course.

8. The licensee may receive up to a maximum of 10 hours of continuing education credit per licensing period for any combination of the following types of classes as set forth in Paragraphs 5-8 of this Subsection:

a. online courses;

b. courses given by an unapproved instructor and courses which are outside the scope of the standards of practice but deal with the construction industry;

c. courses designated for pre-licensing education as set forth in §119.C.1 of this Chapter.

9. Continuing education courses must be taught by continuing education providers who meet the criteria set forth in §121.F.1 Qualified guest lecturers may teach courses on behalf of continuing education provider instructors. The continuing education provider shall be responsible for confirming the qualifications of the guest lecturer.

10. Any remaining balance of continuing education hours must be obtained by participation in live in-person or interactive live-streaming video CE classes taught by a board-certified education provider.

11. All licensees must attend a board-approved report writing and standards of practice seminar at least once every three years.

1. The board may approve online, streaming video, and other means of electronic delivery of continuing education courses. Courses taught by online education providers must be certified by the Distance Education Training Council, the International Distance Education Certification Center or the Louisiana Board of Regents and such certification must be submitted with the education provider's application.

2. All online, streaming video and other electronic delivery courses must be within the scope of the standards of practice.

3. All online, streaming video and other electronic delivery continuing education instructors must meet all continuing education instructor requirements, unless exempt under Paragraph F.2.

4. Streaming video courses must be live and interactive, with the ability for the LHI to communicate immediately with the instructor and ask questions. The instructor must have the ability to immediately verify that the LHI's presence and participation in the course. If the instructor cannot verify the LHI's presence and participation, the instructor must dismiss the LHI from the course. No credit will be given for the entire course if the LHI is dismissed.

1. The board shall deny continuing education credit claimed by a licensee, and shall withdraw continuing education credit previously awarded by the Board to a licensee if:

a. the licensee provided incorrect or incomplete information to the board concerning continuing education or compliance with this Section;

b. the licensee was mistakenly awarded continuing education credit because of an administrative error; or

c. the licensee failed to comply with the attendance requirement established by Paragraph C of this Section.

2. When continuing education credit is denied or withdrawn by the board under Subsection D of this Section, the licensee remains responsible for satisfying the continuing education requirement. Any license may be suspended until proof of compliance is submitted.

E. It is the duty of every licensee to provide proof of compliance with continuing education requirements on a timely basis. In order to receive credit from the board for completion of continuing education courses under this Section, proof of compliance in the form of a certificate of completion issued by a certified continuing education provider must be submitted.

1. In order to qualify as a continuing education provider instructor, an applicant shall:

a. pay the required continuing education provider fee(s);

b. be a licensed home inspector from a state requiring licensure for at least three years; or, if the applicant resides in a state that does not require licensing, provide verifiable proof that the applicant has been actively engaged in the performance of home inspections for at least three years;

c. provide evidence that he has completed at least 500 legal home inspections;

d. not have been found guilty of substantially violating these rules or the home inspector licensing law within the three years prior to his application; and

e. agree, in writing, to defend, indemnify and hold the board harmless against any claim or suit alleging negligent or intentional acts or omissions of the education provider in its training, or otherwise on a form prepared by the board and available for download from the boards website;

f. be current on all other fees (if applicable); and

g. be approved by the board.

2. Professional trade organizations, accredited technical schools and colleges and certain industry companies may be approved by the board on a case by case basis as a continuing education provider without meeting the requirements set forth in Paragraph F.1 above. However, these entities must submit a completed continuing education instructor application, pay the requisite fee and meet all other requirements set forth in these rules.

3. A licensee, who is also a board-approved continuing education instructor, may qualify to receive up to 10 hours of continuing education requirements per licensing period by presenting satisfactory evidence to the board of participation, other than as a student, in educational processes and programs in home inspection practices or techniques, including but not limited to any combination of teaching, program development, and preparation of textbooks, monographs, articles, or other instructional material subject to approval of the board.

a. A certified continuing education provider shall be authorized to offer any continuing education courses that teach items specifically covered within the standards of practice, without applying for prior approval of the chief operating officer and/or board. The continuing education provider shall be responsible for verifying that the course work falls within the scope of the standards of practice or building construction field.

b. a certified continuing education provider wishing to offer the report writing seminar must be approved by the board prior. The provider must notify the board of their intent and provide the board with an outline of their classroom presentation. The presentation must cover all the items included in the board-approved report writing seminar outline.

c. all certified continuing education providers approved by the board to offer the report writing seminar must attend a board-approved report writing instructor train the trainer seminar at least once every three years.

5. All continuing education providers shall provide sign-in sheets, whether electronic or otherwise, for LHIs to complete upon entering a class, joining a streaming lecture, or participating online. Within five days of completion of a class, the instructor shall provide the LHI with a certificate of completion. Sign-in sheets and certificates of completion shall include the date and time of the course, the number of hours of credit assigned to each course by the board, and the name of the instructor teaching the course or courses. The continuing education provider shall forward all sign-in sheets to the board immediately upon request by the board.

6. The continuing education provider shall forward copies of all sign-in sheets to the board within two weeks of the completion of the continuing education class. The continuing education provider shall retain copies of these sign-in sheets for three years from the date of completion of the continuing education class.

7. The names and contact information for all approved continuing education providers will be posted on the board's official website.

8. All continuing education classes to be attended by three or more students must be reported to the LSBHI at least 10 days prior to the date the class will be held.

9. All certified continuing education providers shall offer a minimum of eight in-person hours of home inspection industry offerings each year in order to retain board approval to provide continuing education.

La. Admin. Code tit. 46, § XL-121

Promulgated by the Department of Economic Development, Board of Home Inspectors, LR 26:2742 (December 2000), amended by the Office of the Governor, Board of Home Inspectors, LR 36:2860 (December 2010), LR 37:2405 (August 2011), LR 38:2531 (October 2012), LR 40:1003 (May 2014), Amended by the Office of the Governor, Board of Home Inspectors, LR 43313 (2/1/2017), Amended by Office of the Governor, Board of Home Inspectors, LR 431911 (10/1/2017), Amended LR 482288 (9/1/2022), Amended LR 50779 (6/1/2024), Amended LR 501265 (9/1/2024), LR 501466 (10/1/2024).

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 37:1477 and R.S. 37:1479-1480.