|
Florida - Continuing Educational Requirements:
|
| Hours Required:
|
18 PDH biennially (1 PDH unit = 1 CPC unit = 1 CPD unit)
|
Renewal Date:
|
February 28th (each odd-numbered year - valid for all engineers)
|
| Board Approved Course Providers?
|
Florida pre-approves providers/sponsors of continuing education activities, but not specific courses or activities. An activity or course must be presented by a board-approved provider/sponsor in order for the activity to be accepted. Each approved course provider is issued a Continuing Education Provider (CEP) number.
Online-PDH is presently approved as a CEP (continuing educational provider) for the state of Florida:
Our Florida CEP License for the 2021-2023 cycle is: #686
Provider# is: 0007223
FBPE Approved Ethics Course: 0010487
FBPE Approved Laws and Rules: 0010488
|
| Approved Subject Matter:
|
Effective as of March 1, 2015, new requirements specify that the licensee must earn:
- 1 PDH must relate to Florida Approved Engineering Laws and Rules (2021-2023 cycle)
- 1 PDH must relate to Florida Approved Professional Engineering Ethics (2021-2023)
- 4 PDH must directly relate to the licensee’s area of practice
- Remaining hours may relate to any topic relative to the practice of engineering
|
| Are Online Courses Allowed?
|
Online, web-based courses are specifically listed as an approved activity, with no limit on the amount of hours received through online continuing education.
|
| PDH Carryover:
|
Zero (0) hours can be carried over to the following renewal period.
|
| Other Specific Requirements:
|
- CE Requirement Changes: (effective as of March 1, 2015 for renewal date February 28, 2017) Revisions include a change in the total number of PDH required with 1 PDH required in Laws and Rules, 1 PDH in ethics is now required, and 4 PDH must directly relate to the licensee’s area of practice. In addition, the Board will no longer require reports of continuing education completion from course sponsors or providers.
- Unacceptable CPC Units: The Board specifically stated that personal self-improvement courses, equipment demonstrations, trade shows, and personal, estate, or financial planning courses will not be allowed for PDH credit. Additionally, substandard courses with content below the level of knowledge and skill that reflects the responsibility of engineer in charge will be disallowed.
- Continuing education providers must furnish each participant with an individual certificate of attendance.
- Recordkeeping for Audit Purposes: PDH completion records must be maintained for a minimum of 4 years for audit purposes.
- REPORTING CONTINUOUS EDUCATION FOR CREDIT
With the commencement of the continuing education audit process following licensure renewal in 2013, CE providers are no longer required to report CE credits for engineers to the FBPE.
Rule 61G15-22.008, F.A.C., Record Keeping, was changed requiring engineer licensees to maintain sufficient records demonstrating completion of qualifying professional development hours for at least two licensure cycles or four years.Rule 61G15-22.008, F.A.C., Record Keeping, states that engineer licensees are responsible for maintaining sufficient records demonstrating completion of qualifying professional development hours for at least two (2) licensure cycles or four (4) years).
Although CE reporting to the Board is no longer necessary, all CE providers are still required to provide completion and attendance certificates to course participants / licensees, and accurately maintain those records for a period of four years. In the event a licensee is selected during the CE audit process, the licensee will provide the appropriate certificate to the FBPE. Please refer to Rule 61G15-22.012, F.A.C., Obligations of Continuing Education Providers. Failure to comply with this rule may result in a loss of the provider license and the ability to provide continuing education courses to Florida engineers.
The most current statutes and rules as it relates to the practice of engineering can be found on the Statutes and Rules page under the Legal section of the FBPE website.
|