Continuing Competency Q & A

1. How many hours of continuing competency do I have to complete?

       If you got your builder or M&A license BEFORE January 1, 2009 you are only required to complete 3 hours of continuing competency activities per license cycle, regardless of the number of years you have had your license. You must have one hour of activity in each of the following areas: Building Codes, Safety and Legal. You must have completed these activities by the time you send in your license renewal. All current licenses must be renewed by May 31.
       If you got your builder or M&A license on or after January 1, 2009 you are required to have 21 hours of continuing competency per 3‐year time period for the first 6 years of licensure as follows: at least 3 hours per calendar year; a total of 21 hours over a 3 year period; and 3 of the total 21 hours must include 1 hour of building codes and laws related to the licensed occupation, 1 hour of safety and 1 hour of changes in construction and business management laws.
       Now here’s the tricky part. Your 21 total hours are not necessarily tied to the license renewal cycle. Instead they must be completed by the 3rd anniversary date of the issuance of your license and then again over the following 3 calendar years. As an example, if you were licensed on February 15, 2010 you would have until February 15, 2013 to complete your entire continuing competency requirements. At the time of the 2011 license renewal you would only have to have completed three hours of continuing competency.

2. What kind of proof do I need and who do I need to send it to?
       
       The law requires you to keep documentation, for at least 5 years, of activities you have participated in to meet the continuing competency requirements. You do not need to provide this documentation to the state but you need to have it to show if requested. The state will be doing a random number of audits of licensees to make sure the continuing competency requirements are being followed. If you have any sort of complaint filed against your license you will also be required to produce proof of continuing competency activities.

3. What constitutes continuing competency?

       This is continuing competency, not continuing education. While classes may qualify as a continuing competency activity, there is NO requirement in the law for any licensee to take any classes to fulfill their continuing competency requirements.
       Unlike prelicensure education, continuing competency activities and providers do not need approval from any government agency.
       There will be a wide range of activities that will count toward continuing competency. Two examples: Any licensee who has taken the EPA‐required lead classes can count that class as a safety continuing competency activity. Any licensee who participated in either the July 22, 2009 of July 20, 2010 Bureau of Construction code hearings on the 2009 MRC can count that participation as a code continuing competency requirement.
       Any continuing competency activity a licensee has engaged in on or since January 1, 2009 may count toward this cycle’s requirements.
       Below are the rules governing continuing competency activities and providers as presented at August 5, 2010 public hearing:

R 338.1564. Continuing competency; activities; courses; alternate activities.
Rule 64.

(1) Activities demonstrating continuing competency as required under MCL 339.2404b, such as courses and alternate activities, may include any of the following:
 

• Courses referenced in MCL 339.2404b(4).

• Successful completion of a college course.

• Successful completion of a comprehensive test being administered by the department or by a third party under contract with the department to offer prelicensure examinations.

• Participation in a school‐sponsored mentoring program.

• Presenting or attending a seminar, in‐house course, workshop, or technical presentation made at a meeting, convention, or conference by a trade association, research institute, risk management entity, manufacturer, supplier, governmental agency, consulting agency, or other entity.

• Publication of an article in a trade journal or a regional magazine as an expert in the field.

• Active participation in an occupational or technical society, state advisory or review committee.

• Serving as a member or attending a state board of residential builders’ and maintenance and alteration contractors' meeting.      

• Serving as a member or attending a state construction code commission meeting.

• Participating in a company sponsored seminar or training to enhance professional development.

• Participating in a code hearing conducted by the international code council or bureau of construction codes.

• Participating in research conducted in conjunction with a college or university, trade association, or manufacturer.

(2) The subject matter of courses and alternate activities shall meet the minimum requirements of MCL 339.2404b(2), and any additional requirements shall be relevant to the licensed occupation and may include any of the following:

       (a) Prelicensure course areas listed in MCL 339.2404b(1).
       (b) The residential maintenance and alteration contractor crafts and trades listed in MCL 339.2404(3). (c) Accounting and safekeeping for monies received from a customer, including requirements of 1931 PA 259, MCL 570.151, regarding building contract fund.
       (d) Accounting, finance, and taxes.
       (e) Personnel management.
       (f) Communication and customer service.
       (g) Environmental or land use analysis.
       (h) Life safety.
       (i) “Green” building.
       (j) Zoning and governance policies and procedures.
       (k) Mold, lead, asbestos, or other hazardous material mitigation.

R 338.1566 Distance learning; prelicensure; continuing competency.
Rule 66.

(1) A distance learning course shall contain all of the following:

• A course where instructor and student may be apart and instruction takes place through on‐line or electronic media.

• A course which includes, but is not limited to, instruction presented through an interactive classroom, job site, computer conferencing, or an interactive computer system and which fulfills the requirements in section 2404b of the act.

• Individual modules of interactive instruction which provide access to an instructor, offered through on‐line or electronic media.

• A list of at least 1 learning objective for each module of instruction. The learning objective or objectives shall ensure the entire content of the course is understood.

• A structured learning method that enables the student to attain each learning objective.

• A method of assessment of the student’s performance during each module of instruction.

• A remediation of any student who is deficient in the assessment to repeat the module until the student understands the course content material.

• An acceptable method of ensuring that the student achieves the approved hours in the course.

• An acceptable method of remedying hardware and software failures.

• Documentation demonstrating successful completion of a course.

(2) A prelicensure course may be earned through distance learning.
       
(3) A continuing competency course or an alternate activity may be earned through distance learning.

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