SECTION 158:50-9-7. Continuing Education

(a)   Continuing Education Requirements:

(1)   No contractor or journeyman license shall be renewed unless the licensee has completed at least six (6) hours of continuing education ("CE") every three (3) years or thirty-six (36) months preceding the license expiration date. The continuing education course and instructor shall be approved in advance by the Committee. Exceptions to advance approval, or post-course approval, may be allowed by the Committee, or its designee, for substitute instructors in emergency situations when written notice of the emergency is provided to the Committee or its designee within seven (7) days of the course. The continuing education material shall cover codes and revisions adopted by the OUBCC and/or other trade related subject matters appropriate for topics of continuing education for licensees and approved by the Committee including: examination materials, manufacturers' installation of equipment or parts, the licensing Act, the trade regulations as set forth in this Chapter as well as the rules of the Construction Industries Board in OAC 158:10, and other trade or safety related subject matters approved by the Committee.

(2)   If a license expires before the licensee completes the CE requirement, any CE that is completed while the license is expired will be applied to the CE requirement for the thirty-six (36) months preceding the date the license expired. Six (6) hours of CE will still have to be completed in order to meet the CE requirement for the subsequent thirty-six (36) month period.

(3)   Credit will be given for CE programs approved by the Committee, or its designee.

(4)   Except as provided herein, this Section shall apply to every licensed mechanical journeyman or contractor.

(5)   A licensee is exempt from the education requirements of this Section for three (3) years from the date he or she passed their current licensing exam.

(6)   The continuing education requirement provisions for Fueled Hearth Product Work corresponds with NFI certification requirements and are described in OAC 158:50-5-2(b)(10).

(b)   Standards. The following standards will govern the approval of continuing education programs by the Committee.

(1)   The program provider shall submit evidence that the provider and instructional staff are qualified by reason of education, experience or training. The training provider and instructors will be of good reputation and of good moral character.

(2)   Any written material that is distributed during the session shall be readable, of high quality and shall be made available to all attendees.

(3)   The program shall be presented in a comfortable location such as hotel/motel conference room, corporate meeting room, or regular classroom.

(4)   The training session shall be presented outside the regular workplace or after regular working hours. An onsite conference room, that meets standards imposed by (3) of this subsection, shall be considered outside the regular workplace.

(5)   A credit hour means at least fifty (50) minutes of classroom instruction with a ten (10) minute break.

(6)   CE courses shall be presented in one of the following formats.

(A)   Six (6) credit hours presented in one (1) day.

(B)   Two (2) sessions of three (3) credit hours each presented within a seven (7) day period.

(C)   One (1) session of two (2) credit hours of trade related instruction, Mechanical Licensing Act and/or Mechanical Industry Regulations.

(D)   An approved correspondence course.

(E)   Another format approved by the Committee.

(7)   Verification of Credit.

(A)   The Course Provider shall verify the total number of continuing education hours completed by each attendee.

(B)   Continuing education providers shall require attendees to present a photo I.D. prior to the attendee signing the sign-in sheet provided by the Construction Industries Board. Sign-in sheets shall include the name and license number of each licensee in attendance.

(C)   As soon as practicable but in any event on or before seven (7) days following an approved continuing education program, the provider shall furnish the original sign-in sheets from the course to the Mechanical License Unit of the Construction Industries Board.

(D)   Providers shall maintain copies of all sign-in sheets for a period of two (2) years following the conclusion of the course.

(E)   Complaint Procedure.

(i)   A person, government, or private organization may submit a written complaint to the Committee, or its designee, charging a provider of continuing education with a violation of this Section, and specifying the grounds for the complaint.

(ii)   Complaints must be in writing and include contact information, and shall be filed on the proper complaint form prescribed by the Construction Industries Board, or its designee.

(iii)   The Committee may consider an unsigned or anonymous complaint for further investigation.

(iv)   Upon receipt of a signed complaint form, a copy shall be sent to the continuing education provider addressed in the complaint. The continuing education provider shall provide a written response within fifteen (15) days. Upon receipt of the continuing education provider's written response, both complaint and response shall be considered by the Committee, or its designee, for appropriate action including dismissal of the complaint, further investigation, or a finding of violation of the Act or this Chapter. The Committee, or its designee, shall notify both complainant and continuing education provider of the determination made by the Committee. Failure of the continuing education provider to respond will be considered as a violation of this Section.

(v)   If a reasonable cause violation determination is made by the Committee, the Oklahoma Administrative Procedure Act shall be followed for all disciplinary proceedings undertaken.

(8)   Course providers or instructors may not advertise or promote the sale of any goods, products or services between the opening and closing of any Continuing Education Course.

(c)   Application Procedures.

(1)   A completed application form, with all supporting documentation, shall be submitted to the Construction Industries Board at least fifteen (15) days prior to the date of the Regular meeting of the Committee from which the provider wants the course to be considered for approval, and at least thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled start date. Supporting documents shall include the following:

(A)   A resume or brief summary of qualifications of all course developers and instructors.

(B)   A course agenda designating the beginning and ending of actual instruction times, sign-in times, breaks, lunches and evaluation time.

(C)   A course curriculum indicating the subject or code areas to be taught with sufficient detail to determine which code revisions are to be addressed or the trade related instruction being provided.

(2)   An application is to be submitted for each date, or dates, that constitute a single course.

(3)   Each course must be included on a separate application.

(d)   Mechanical Examiners Committee Acceptance.

(1)   The Committee, or its designee, will review each application for completeness of form and supporting documentation, as well as course content.

(2)   The approval of any course will be made by a majority vote of the Committee at a regularly scheduled meeting of the Mechanical Examiners Committee.

(3)   The Committee's designee may approve additional dates and locations after the course has been approved by Committee vote. Substantive change to course content must be brought before the Committee.

(4)   The applicant will be notified in writing whether the program is approved or disapproved, detailing the basis of the decision if disapproved.

(5)   Approval is rescinded upon the adoption of a different statewide code and a new application showing updates of new code is necessary.

(e)   Committee Rejection and Reevaluation of a Course.

(1)   The Committee, or its designee, may refuse to accept any application for approval if the supporting documentation is insufficient or incomplete. The Committee may deny or revoke approval of an application for any of the following reasons.

(A)   Failure to comply with the continuing education provisions.

(B)   Inadequate application or supporting documentation.

(C)   Failure to instruct on topic approved.

(D)   Inadequate experience of program developer or instructor.

(E)   Unsatisfactory evaluation of the course instructor or materials from previous classes.

(2)   The Committee may, at any time, re-evaluate and grant or revoke approval of application or course.

(A)   The Committee may, at any time, review courses for quality of instruction. The Committee may also investigate complaints regarding approved courses. The Committee may then take appropriate action, up to and including revocation of authority to provide CE courses.

(B)   A provider's failure to comply with this Section constitutes grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including revocation of authority to provide CE, against the provider or for denial of future applications for course work.

(3)   The Committee, or its designee, will notify the provider, in writing, of any changes in approval status.

(f)   Appeals.

(1)   Applicants denied approval of a course may appeal such a decision by submitting a written letter of appeal to the Committee within fifteen (15) days of the receipt of the notice.

(2)   All appeals will be heard by the Committee at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

(g)   Course Presentation.

(1)   The program, including the named advertised participants, shall be conducted as approved, including lunch and breaks shown on the approved agenda, subject to emergency withdrawals and minor alterations.

(2)   Changes including but not limited to location, date, instructors, or cancellations must be requested from the Committee, or its designee, in writing prior to start of class. All requests for change must include the course ID number.

(h)   Course Advertisement.

(1)   All advertising must include the course ID number.

(2)   Approved program courses may be advertised.

(3)   The provider of an approved continuing education program may announce or indicate as follows: Course #____ has been approved by the Construction Industries Board Mechanical Examiners Committee for ____ hours of CE credit.

(i)   Correspondence and Online Courses.

(1)   Applications, approvals and rejections, and appeals of all correspondence and online courses shall be the same as for classroom-based courses.

(2)   Correspondence courses shall be required to comply with all requirements of continuing education courses, except sign-in sheets.

(3)   Providers of an on-line course shall submit verification of six (6) hours of real time on-line instruction.

(4)   Course providers shall provide a student with a document of completion which certifies completion of approved correspondence course.

(5)   Applications shall be resubmitted annually, from date of approval, for review and approval.

(j)   Alternate Credit Accrual.

(1)   Credit may be earned through teaching an approved continuing education course. The Committee may award up to six (6) hours of CE credit, not to exceed the number of approved hours for that CE course.

(2)   Credit may also be earned through teaching a course in an accredited trade school or a trade-specific program approved by the Committee. The Committee may award up to six (6) hours of CE credit for each semester of academic credit awarded by the academic institution for the course.

(3)   Credit may also be earned through participating as a designate of a technical committee appointed by the OUBCC to review and recommend adoption of building codes. The Committee may award up to six (6) hours of continuing education for completing a code review as designee in the code listed as the standard for the license held and upon completion of the code review receiving a certificate of completion from the OUBCC. A copy of the certificate will be required to be provided to CIB to receive continuing education credits.

(k)   Continuing Education Not Required for Petroleum Refinery Journeyman. Subsections (a) through (j) of this Section shall not apply to the license category of Petroleum Refinery Journeyman. The Petroleum Refinery Journeyman license may be renewed without continuing education.

(l)   Continuing Education Not Required for Ground Source Piping. Subsections (a) through (j) of this Section shall not apply to the license category of Ground Source Piping. The Ground Source Piping category license may be renewed without continuing education provided that a current approved certification is submitted.

(m)   Continuing Education Not Required for Medical Gas. Subsections (a) through (j) of this Section shall not apply to the license category of Medical Gas. The Medical Gas category may be renewed without continuing education provided that a current approved certification is submitted.

[Source: Added at 21 Ok Reg 768, eff 4-26-04; Amended at 25 Ok Reg 1863, eff 6-26-08; Amended at 27 Ok Reg 2087, eff 7-11-10; Amended at 30 Ok Reg 783, eff 10-22-12 (emergency); Amended at 30 Ok Reg 776, eff 10-30-12 (emergency); Amended at 30 Ok Reg 1543, eff 7-11-13; Amended at 31 Ok Reg 920, eff 9-12-14; Amended at 32 Ok Reg 1636, eff 9-11-15; Amended at 33 Ok Reg 582, eff 8-25-16; Amended at 34 Ok Reg 885, eff 10-1-17; Amended at 36 Ok Reg 1420, eff 10-1-19; Amended at 37 Ok Reg 1055, eff 10-1-20]