Professional Development

Nevada Administrative Code:  NAC 625

NAC 625.430 Requirements for renewal of license. (NRS 625.398)

1.  Except as otherwise provided in NAC 625.440 and 625.450, a licensee who, on or after January 1, 1999, applies for the renewal of his license, must submit proof deemed acceptable by the board that he has completed at least 30 professional development hours within the biennial renewal period, including any professional development hours carried forward from the previous biennial renewal period pursuant to subsection 2. If the licensee does not submit such proof to the board or, after being notified by the board that a deficiency exists, does not complete the number of professional development hours which are deficient pursuant to NAC 625.490, the board will deny his application for the renewal of his license.
2. If a licensee has submitted to the board proof deemed acceptable by the board that he has completed more than 30 professional development hours in a biennial renewal period, he may carry forward to the next biennial renewal period not more than 15 of his excess professional development hours.
3. A licensee who is licensed as a professional engineer and who wishes to renew his license is required to complete only 30 professional development hours, regardless of the number of disciplines of professional engineering within which he is licensed.
4. A licensee who is licensed as a professional engineer and a professional land surveyor and who wishes to renew or reinstate both licenses must complete a total of at least 30 professional development hours in activities related to professional engineering and professional land surveying. The professional development hours must include at least:

1. Ten professional development hours in activities related to professional engineering; and
2. Ten professional development hours in activities related to professional land surveying.

(Added to NAC by Bd. of Professional Eng’rs & Land Surv., eff. 11-14-97)

NAC 625.440 Exceptions to requirements for renewal of license. (NRS 625.398)  A licensee who applies for the renewal of his license is not required to comply with the requirements of NAC 625.430 for a biennial renewal period if:

1. The licensee was issued his initial license during the biennial renewal period or less than 2 years before the beginning of the biennial renewal period; or
2. The licensee served more than 120 consecutive days on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States during the biennial renewal period

(Added to NAC by Bd. of Professional Eng’rs & Land Surv., eff. 11-14-97)

NAC 625.450  Waiver of requirements for renewal of license. (NRS 625.398)  The board may waive the requirements set forth in NAC 625.430 for a licensee if the board determines that:

1. The licensee has satisfied the requirements for continuing education in his discipline in another state during the biennial renewal period; and
2. The requirements for continuing education in that state are substantially equivalent to the requirements for continuing education set forth in this chapter.

(Added to NAC by Bd. of Professional Eng’rs & Land Surv., eff. 11-14-97)

NAC 625.460  Inactive status: Requirements for renewal of identification card. (NRS 625.390, 625.398)  The identification card issued to a licensee who has changed his status to inactive status pursuant to NAC 625.420 expires on the same date as his license would expire if the licensee were on active status. To renew his identification card, a licensee who has changed his status to inactive pursuant to NAC 625.420 must comply with the requirements of NAC 625.430 in the same manner as a licensee who is on active status.

(Added to NAC by Bd. of Professional Eng’rs & Land Surv., eff. 11-14-97)

NAC 625.470 Assignment of professional development hours to certain activities. (NRS 625.398)

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, a licensee who successfully completes an activity to maintain, improve or expand the skills and knowledge relevant to his discipline is entitled to the number of professional development hours assigned to the activity in accordance with the following schedule, subject to modification by the board:

•  A licensee who teaches the same course on more than one occasion may not obtain any professional development hours for teaching that course a second or subsequent time. A licensee who is a full-time member of the faculty of any institution of the University and Community College System of Nevada or any other public or private institution of learning may not obtain any professional development hours for teaching at that institution.

(Added to NAC by Bd. of Professional Eng’rs & Land Surv., eff. 11-14-97)

NAC 625.480 Proof of completion of professional development hours; form. (NRS 625.398)

1. Proof of the completion of professional development hours must be accompanied by a form prescribed by the board for submission with such proof.
2. A licensee shall:
1. Retain, for at least 3 years, a copy of the completed form submitted to the board pursuant to subsection 1 and the proof that he completed the professional development hours.
2. Upon request, submit a copy of the completed form and the proof of completion to the board.
3. Proof of completion of professional development hours may include, without limitation:
1. A certificate or other document verifying that the licensee successfully completed an activity for which 1 or more professional development hours are claimed.
2. A literary reference to, or a copy of, a published paper, article or book.
3. A literary reference to, or copy of, a patent issued to the licensee.
4. The board may refuse to accept professional development hours for which proof of completion is submitted pursuant to subsection 1 if the board determines that the proof of completion is insufficient.

(Added to NAC by Bd. of Professional Eng’rs & Land Surv., eff. 11-14-97)

NAC 625.490 Notification of failure to complete required number of professional development hours. (NRS 625.398)  If the board accepts less than 30 professional development hours for which a licensee submits proof of completion pursuant to NAC 625.430, the board will notify the licensee not later than 60 days after the date on which he submitted his application for renewal that:

1. He must successfully complete the number of professional development hours which are deficient within 6 months after the date on which he submitted his application; and
2. His failure to complete those professional development hours will result in the licensee being placed on inactive status.

(Added to NAC by Bd. of Professional Eng’rs & Land Surv., eff. 11-14-97)

CPC GUIDELINES

  The following information is provided to aid licensees in determining which activities are eligible to be claimed as qualifying CPC activities. This section supplements the statute and regulation and gives a more complete understanding of their intent. This information may be useful to licensees who are attempting to meet the requirements; to suppliers or sponsors of CPC activities; and to employers of licensees who may consider becoming sponsors of qualifying “in-house” CPC activities.

Credit Criteria for All Qualifying CPC Activities

The primary purpose of licensing for professional engineers and professional land surveyors is to protect the public from unqualified or unethical practitioners. The requirement for continuing professional competency (CPC) is also intended to protect the public by reinforcing the need for lifelong learning in order to stay more current with changing technology, equipment, procedures, processes, tools, and established technical and business standards. The rule specifying qualifying CPC activities was designed to give flexibility in selecting among a broad range of subjects that are intended to strengthen or maintain competency in technical, managerial (business), or ethical fields.

Licensees are encouraged to select meaningful CPC activities which will be of benefit in the pursuit of their chosen fields. The regulation provides a definition of a Professional Development Hour (PDH) as one hour in which a licensee or former licensee takes part in an activity to maintain, improve, or expand the skills and knowledge relevant to his discipline.” (Underlined for emphasis.)

In the remainder of this section, all references to CPC activities or credits assume that such activities or credits are qualifying as described above. Examples of typical qualifying and non-qualifying activities are listed later in this section.        

Professional Development Hour(s)

The term Professional Development Hour(s) (abbreviated PDH) is defined as a contact hour (nominal) of instruction or presentation. It is the common denominator for the other units of credit. Experience in jurisdictions having CPC reveals that a number of erroneous interpretations concerning this definition of a PDH can occur. For example, consider a one-day seminar that begins at 8 am and ends at 5 pm with a one hour break for lunch. The regulation intends that themaximum PDH units that can be earned for this seminar is eight. But the question invariably arises, “What about a morning and afternoon break of about 20 minutes each?”. The general understanding is that short term breaks are permissible as long as a minimum of 50 minutes of presentation/participation per hour is undertaken. If there are no breaks or breaks of less than 10 minutes per hour are included, no additional time may be claimed. Seminar presenters may attempt to take the number of elapsed minutes (such as 8 hours times 60 minutes) and then divide by 50 to arrive at the PDH units for which the seminar is advertised. This would result in over nine PDH in an eight-hour period which is not permitted. The general rule is that PDH units cannot exceed the actual contact clock hours.

The regulation is silent about how to handle fractions of hours. It is recommended that PDH units be rounded and reported to the nearest half hour and that no activity of under a half hour be accepted as qualifying for PDH credit. For example, a qualifying activity of 50 minutes would be reported as one PDH and an activity of 40 minutes would be reported as 0.5 PDH.

  PDH Credit/Carryover Requirements  

The rule specifies that every licensee is required to obtain 30 PDH for each two-year renewal period. If a licensee exceeds the annual requirement in any renewal period, a maximum of 15 PDH units may be carried forward into the next renewal period. The question arises, “Can a licensee who earns (say) 55 PDH in a two-year biennial period carry forward 25 into the next biennial period?” The answer is no. A carryover of only 15 PDH into the subsequent renewal period is permitted, regardless of whether the next renewal period is one year or two years.  This rule also applies to new licensees who are exempt and voluntarily report PDH with their license renewal.

  Continuing Education Unit (CEU)  

The Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is a nationally recognized and uniform unit of measure for continuing education and training. Since one CEU is awarded for each 10 contact hours of instruction, it logically follows that one CEU is equivalent to 10 PDH. For the purpose of CPC activity for professional engineers and professional land surveyors, the CEU must further meet the requirements as defined below for Course/Activity. When a sponsor of CPC qualifying activities fully follows the requirements of the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) in awarding CEUs, all requirements for PDH will be met. However, boards and licensee should be aware that some organizations may advertise CEU credit without having met all the requirements of the IACET.

In addition, it is reported that on occasion, some organizations report one CEU of credit for each contact hour of instruction. If this is known to be the case, action should be taken to prevent over-reporting of PDH units earned.  

College/Unit Semester/Quarter Hour Credit for ABET approved courses

The allowance for college/university qualifying courses is as follows:

One college or university qualifying semester hour ….45 PDH
One college or university qualifying quarter hour……..30 PDH

To qualify for this credit, a course must be regularly offered and testing with a passing grade required. One semester hour generally consists of 15 class meetings of 50 or 55 minutes duration. It is assumed that generally, twice as much study time is required as class contact time, thus equating to 45 PDH. Similarly, a quarter hour qualifying course meets 10 times and thus 30 PDH are allowed. Monitoring or auditing courses does not require testing, and thus, only the actual class contact hours are allowed.

Technical college or university courses should be part of a program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Non-technical courses should be part of an appropriately accredited program. On occasion, educational institutions may offer a one-day seminar and award fractional quarter hour credit (such as ½ of a quarter hour). These courses do not qualify on the quarter hour basis since they are not part of the regular curriculum of the educational institution, do not require testing, and have no provision for additional out-of-class study requirements. For courses such as this, only actual contact time would be allowed for PDH credit.   Other Courses and CPC Activities

Other qualifying courses, seminars, corporate sponsored educational activities, programs, and activities as specified in the regulation provide one PDH of credit for each contact hour. It is not intended that these courses or activities be undertaken in private, such as a videotaped program in one’s home, but rather be conducted in a group setting. A qualifying correspondence course should require the participant to show evidence of achievement and completion, and include a final, graded test.

Teaching Credits

Teaching of qualifying courses, seminars, or tutorials earns PDH credits for the instructor at twice that of the students. However, it is not intended that repetitive teaching of the same course will earn any credit. PDH credit does not apply for teaching if the registrant is a full-time faculty member.

Credit for a Published Paper, Article, or Book 

The author must have his/her work actually published before credit can be claimed. A published paper must be a serious effort to qualify. For example, a “news” article in a technical or professional or technical bulletin is not considered a published paper.

It is recognized that often many more hours are spent in being an author of a publication; however, the PDH credit is established at a fixed 10 PDH.

  Active Participation in Professional and Technical Societies  

This item in the rule is intended to encourage licensees to participate fully in appropriate technical and professional societies. Contact with one’s peers at such meetings is considered one way of staying abreast of current topics, issues, technical developments, ethical situations, and learning opportunities. This is considered a vital part of continuing professional competency, and thus 2 PDH of credit per calendar year can be earned per organization if the licensee is an officer or committee member who actively participates within the organization or committee. (Credit of 4 PDH in one organization cannot be claimed if a licensee is both an officer and a committee member.) The technical and professional societies include engineering and land surveying societies such as AIChE, ASCE, ASME, IEEE, NSPE, NSPS, etc., but do not include civic or trade organizations.

Credit for qualifying seminars and workshops will be based on one PDH unit for each hour of attendance. Attendance at qualifying programs presented at a professional and/or technical society meeting will earn PDH units for the actual time of each program. This provision applies to all licensees, not just to officers or committee members. Programs must be educational in nature, relevant to the licensees’ practice of engineering or surveying, and meet all requirements of qualification. Programs at technical or professional societies that are presented on topics that do not qualify, or by speakers/ presenters that are not well prepared should not be claimed for PDH credit.

Patents

Credit for 10 PDH can be claimed after a patent is issued and the inventor submits details to the Board. The invention must be related to engineering or land surveying professions.   

Examples of Qualifying and Non-qualifying Activities  

In order to clarify further the definition of qualifying and non-qualifying activities, the following examples are given:

Typical Qualifying Activities  

• Completing or attending courses, seminars, instruction, in-house programs, or training of an engineering or land surveying content which relate to the registrant’s field of practice.
• Attending technical or professional society meetings when an engineering/land surveying topic is presented as a principal part of the program.
• Teaching a course for the first time or if substantial time has been spent in updating material if previously taught.
• Attending satellite down-link video courses where attendance is verified and program material meets the requirements.
• Computer software instructional courses which relate to the improvement of one’s business or profession.
• Language courses which relate to the improvement of one’s business or profession.
• Management or ethical courses which relate to the improvement of one’s business or profession.
• Correspondence courses on an engineering/land surveying topic where lessons are prepared, returned for correction and/or grading and testing at the end of the course is required.
• Writing “Accepted” Professional exam problems (4 PDH per question.  10 PDH maximum per year)

Typical Non-qualifying Activities 

• Regular employment.
• Real estate licensing courses.
• Personal, estate, or financial planning.
• Self study or reading trade journals or magazines
• Personal self improvement.
• Service club meetings or activities.
• Equipment demonstrations or trade show displays.
• Topics not relevant to engineering or land surveying professions.
• Enrollment without attendance at courses, seminars, etc.
• Repetitive attendance at the same course.
• Repetitive teaching of the same course.
• Attending committee meetings or general business meetings of any organization.
• Conversational language courses for personal use.
• Taking professional or required examinations.

The Determination of Qualifying Activities  

The question most asked by licensees is, “How do I know what is acceptable to the Board?” Many are looking for assurance that efforts spent will qualify for PDH credit. With the broad range of opportunities for earning PDH credits, the Board has elected to distribute information on the requirement of what is and is not acceptable and leave it up to the licensee to assure that the activity qualifies. This permits the widest range of opportunity for licensees to earn PDH credit.

Dual Registrants 

The requirement of 15 PDH per year (or 30 per biennial) is the same for single or dual licensees. In other words, a dual licensee is not required to obtain more than 30 PDH per biennium because of the dual licensure. However, the rule specifies that a minimum of one-third of the required PDH must be earned in each profession.

Recordkeeping 

As stated in the regulation, the requirement to keep adequate records is the responsibility of the licensee and the records must be maintained by the licensee for a minimum of three years. This permits the Board to conduct random audits of licensees. Do not send these records to the Board unless requested for audit; keep them in your files.

Records required include, but are not limited to:

(1) A log showing the type of activity claimed, sponsoring organization, location, duration, instructor’s or speaker’s name, and PDH credits earned.

This is intended to require specific information on each CPC activity where PDH credit is claimed. For example, simply stating “attending educational activities at ABC Company” is notacceptable. Specific information on each activity is required. The log will assist in proper completion of the CPC activities form at the time of renewal.

(2) Attendance verification records in the form of completion certificates, or other documents supporting evidence of attendance.

The question arises, “Does each activity require attendance verification?”. The answer is that a good faith effort should result in obtaining verification for most activities attended. Certainly, those that are of a longer duration (such as over an hour) should definitely have verification. On occasion, it is recognized that short activities, such as a meeting of a technical or professional society, might include a 30 minute speaker and verification was not provided in the meeting. This should be an unlikely exception and the general rule is that the licensee must have sufficient verification for credits claimed.

(3) Records as maintained by the Professional Development Registry for Engineers and Surveyors (PDRES).

This is a computerized continuing professional development recordkeeping and accreditation system sponsored by the National Society of Professional Engineers. Participants taking continuing education courses or other activities can furnish information to the registry and have credit for those courses recorded and stored on their behalf. PDRES will furnish a summary of these credits upon request to the licensee so that he/she may include the summary in lieu of the recommended log when submitting the application for licensing. There are fees associated with the recording of each PDH activity and for receiving the summary form. Licensees may contact PDRES at:  National Society of Professional Engineers, 1420 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-2794.  There may be other record keeping systems available acceptable to boards.

  Audit Processes

The auditing of a percentage of CPC renewal forms will be done on a random selection basis. Although it is anticipated that most licensees will attempt to meet the requirements of the rule with a good faith effort, there is a need for auditing to verify that the law and rules are being met and to identify any communication problems between the Board and the licensees. Several opportunities for checks and audits have been identified:  

Cursory review of forms by Board staff – Upon receipt of the CPC form, a cursory scan of the form by trained staff personnel can reveal obvious errors in the listing of activities, additions, rounding of PDH hours, carry-over errors, and omitted signatures. Form letters may be used to return forms containing errors to licensees for correction or explanation.

Randomly selected licensees for audit – This is the “official” audit to be conducted by the Board after each renewal period. Licensees may be selected by generating random lists of names or license numbers. Each selected licensee will be asked to furnish evidence of attendance or completion of the listed activities. This would include resident and non-resident licensees. Fraudulently reported activities can result in disciplinary action against a licensee.&nsbp&nsbp

Instructions for Completing the License Renewal Form

You must complete Parts I, II, III, and IV of the License renewal form.

If you are exempt from the continuing professional competency requirement, please note:                                                        exemption from the continuing professional competency requirement does not exempt one from the renewal fee.  

Who may claim an exemption -

(1) New Licensees  

- New licensee – a licensee is exempt from the PDH requirement if the first license period is less than 2 years in length.   If the first license period is 2 years or more, 30 PDH will be required with the first license renewal.

• A licensee in foreign employment or a noncareer military licensee serving on active duty for over 120 days may be exempted. Supporting documentation must be furnished to and approved by the Board.
• A licensee who has experienced serious illness or injury during the past year of a nature and duration which has prohibited completing continuing professional competency requirements may be exempted. Supporting documentation must be furnished to and approved by the Board.
• Any other exemption requested will require a letter of explanation and approval by the Board..

(2) Those who have or may qualify for the Inactive, or Retired Status:

Inactive Status:  

An individual who chooses to remain licensed, but not licensed to practice, in order to avoid the Continuing Professional Competency requirements may choose to place his license in “Inactive” status.  The inactive licensee will be identified in the roster as such and will continue to receive all Board communications. 

Current licensees who fail to submit a minimum of 30 PDH with their license renewal form will have their license placed on “Inactive” status until the requirement is satisfied.  Current licensees who submitted PDH’s with their current renewal, found to be unacceptable by the Board, will be given a six month grace period to satisfy the CPC requirement.  Those licensees who have not met the requirement at the end of the six month grace period will have their license placed on “Inactive” status and will be unable to practice.  (NAC 625.430 & NAC 625.490)

An inactive licensee may reinstate to “Active” status at any time in the current licensing period by obtaining and reporting a minimum of 30 PDH.  

Retired Status:

A former licensee, as an individual, is not performing or offering to perform engineering or land surveying services or making engineering or land surveying decisions in Nevada.

Reciprocity

If you are currently licensed in and a resident of another jurisdiction which has mandatory continuing professional competency requirements, you may attach your log of PDH activities earned from that jurisdiction and certify under Part III that all Continuing Professional Competency and licensing requirements have been met in that jurisdiction:

Step 1 – Completion of Part I – Fee/Status

Check the desired status of licensure and enclose a check or money order for appropriate fee. Write the licensees’ name and license number on the check.

Step 2 – Completion of Part II – Name/Address Change

Print name/address changes for residence and/or business. (Required by NAC 625.615)

Step 3 – Completion of Part III, PDH Log

Listing of CPC Activities

List the total number of PDH activities completed for the previous 2 year period and the number of PDH carryover from the previous renewal.  If we request additional information about the PDH completed, complete a “PDH Activity Report”, providing the date, who sponsored activity, location, title of and a brief identifying description of the activity.

General Requirements

All activities for which PDH credit are claimed must be relevant to the practice of engineering or land surveying and may include technical, ethical, or managerial content. These activities should advance the professional or technical competence of the licensee.

Qualifying continuing professional competency activities may be sponsored or presented by colleges or universities, employers, government agencies, nationally affiliated engineering or land surveying technical/professional societies, or by various other organizations. The Board does not preapprove courses for PDH credit. It is your responsibility to assure that the activities in which you participate meet the CPC requirements as described.

Qualifying activities which meet Nevada’s Continuing Professional Competency requirement can be earned in any jurisdiction. A PDH credit is roughly equivalent to one clock hour of instruction and should be rounded to the nearest half hour. The table on the following page summarizes the PDH credits for various primary activities.

Typical activities which will qualify are as follows:

• Completing or attending qualifying courses, seminars, educational workshops, in-house programs, or training
• Attending technical or professional society meetings when an engineering or land surveying topic is presented as a principal part of the program
• Teaching a course for the first time or if substantial time has been spent in updating material if previously taught
• Attending satellite video courses where attendance is verified and program material meets the requirements
• Language courses or computer instructional courses which relate to the improvement of one’s business or profession
• Active participation in technical or professional organizations as an officer or committee member
• Writing “Accepted” Professional exam problems (4 PDH per question.  10 PDH maximum per year)

Typical activities which will not qualify are as follows:

• Regular employment
• Real estate licensing courses
• Personal, estate or financial planning
• Self study or personal self improvement courses
• Service club meetings or activities
• Equipment demonstrations or trade shows
• Reading trade journals or magazines
• Topics not relevant to engineering or land surveying
• Enrollment without attendance at courses, seminars, etc.

• Repetitive attendance at the same course

• Repetitive teaching of the same course without updating the course material
• Attending committee and business meetings of any organization
• Conversational language courses for personal use
• Engineering related activities will not qualify as meeting the requirements for land surveying and land surveying related activities will not qualify as meeting the requirements for engineering.

Step 4 – Completion of Part IV

Certification of Information

You must complete this section, sign, and date the form. We cannot process your renewal if Part IV is not completed.