815 KAR 20:034. Requirements for
approval of continuing education courses and providers.
RELATES TO: KRS
318.054, 318.130
STATUTORY
AUTHORITY: KRS 318.130, 318.054
NECESSITY,
FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 318.054 authorizes the department, after review
by the State Plumbing Code Committee, to adopt continuing education
requirements for plumbers. This administrative regulation establishes the
process by which providers of continuing education courses are approved and
registered with the department and continuing education courses approved.
Section 1.
Requirements for Continuing Education Providers. (1) Continuing education
providers shall either be a:
(a) Trade
association with affiliation to the plumbing trade;
(b) Trade school;
(c) College;
(d) Technical
school;
(e) Business
dedicated solely to providing continuing education and that provides at least
one (1) course quarterly within each congressional district;
(f) Plumbing
contracting company that employs full-time training personnel to conduct
continuing education programs providing continuing education for journeymen
only; or
(g) Plumbing
manufacturer or distributor that employs full-time training personnel to
conduct continuing education programs providing continuing education for
journeymen only.
(2) Provider
Registration. The department shall maintain a list of approved continuing
education course providers. An approved provider shall meet the criteria
established in Section 2 of this administrative regulation.
(3)(a) Each
continuing education course provider shall register with the department as
required by subsection (3) of this section before submitting course materials
for department approval.
(b) Registration
shall be valid for two (2) years from the date of issuance.
(4) Course providers
shall register on Form PLB-3 provided by the department and shall include the
following:
(a) The company
name, mailing address, email address, telephone, and fax numbers of the
provider;
(b) Contact
person; and
(c) The fee, if
any, to be charged to participants.
(5) Each course
provider shall report to the department any change to the information submitted
in the initial application within thirty (30) days after the change takes
effect.
(6) For each
course approved the provider shall distribute to each applicant in attendance a
questionnaire for the purpose of rating the course.
(a) Questionnaires
shall include:
1. Name of the
course;
2. Date the course
was taken;
3. Questions
ranking the quality of the course;
4. Questions
ranking the quality of the course materials provided; and
5. Questions
ranking the quality of the instructor.
(b) Completed
questionnaires shall be submitted with license renewal applications.
Section 2.
Continuing Education Course Approval. (1) A separate application for approval
shall be submitted to the department on Form PLB-4 provided by the department
for each course offered by a course provider.
(2) An application
for approval of a continuing education course shall be submitted only by
approved providers registered with the department. Applications shall be
submitted at least thirty (30) days prior to the course offering.
(3) A continuing
education course shall provide instruction in at least one (1) of the subject
areas specified in Section 3 of this administrative regulation.
(4) The course
application shall include the following:
(a) A course
syllabus;
(b) Name of the
course;
(c) Name and
registration number of the provider;
(d) Name of the
instructor or presenter along with his or her qualifications;
(e) The amount of
actual time needed to present the course;
(f) The objectives
of the course; and
(g) A statement of
the practicality of the course to the plumbing trade.
(5) Content
changes made to the course shall require subsequent submission to the department
for review and approval.
(6) Course
approval shall be valid for two (2) years from the date approved by the
department.
(7) The office
shall issue a course number for each approved course. The course number and the
provider’s number shall appear on all advertisements and certificates for the
course.
(8) Providers
shall submit to the department a quarterly schedule including date and
locations of courses by January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1 annually and
the department shall be notified at least thirty (30) days prior to a course's
offering of changes made to scheduled courses.
(9) Providers may
submit additional courses to their quarterly schedule if done at least thirty
(30) days prior to the course offerings.
(10) The
department shall receive written notification of scheduling changes at least
ten (10) working days prior to the originally scheduled course date by fax or
e-mail to the Director of Plumbing.
(11)
Cancellations.
(a) The provider
shall give notice of cancellation no less than five (5) working days prior to a
scheduled class unless the Governor declares a state of emergency or other
conditions exist that would preclude a five (5) day notification of cancellation;
(b) If the
scheduled class is canceled, providers shall, at the option of the registrant,
issue a full refund or allow the registrant to attend a rescheduled course;
(c) A registrant
who notifies a provider of cancellation prior to five (5) working days of a
scheduled course may choose either a full refund or to attend a subsequent
course; and
(d) Providers
shall not cancel a course with ten (10) or more registrants, unless
cancellation is the result of an emergency.
Section 3.
Continuing Education Course Content. (1) All courses shall contain information
beneficial in the day-to-day operation of a plumbing business.
(2) Courses
relating to business shall include one (1) or more of the following:
(a) Business law;
(b) Accounting
practices; or
(c) Insurance.
(3) Courses
relating to job safety shall directly relate to the construction trade.
(4) Courses
related to the Kentucky state plumbing code shall include one (1) or more of
the following:
(a) KRS Chapter
318;
(b) Basic plumbing
principles;
(c) 815 KAR 20:001
through 815 KAR 20:195;
(d) Kentucky
Building Code; or
(e) Kentucky
Residential Code.
(5) Providers requesting approval of courses for
topics not listed in this section shall demonstrate the relevancy of the topic
to the plumbing trade.
Section 4. Continuing Education Course Records. (1)
Each registered course provider shall establish and maintain for three (3)
years the following records for each approved course:
(a) Certificates of completion as provided in
subsection (2) of this section;
(b) An attendance sign-in and sign-out sheet; and
(c) A course
syllabus.
(2) Certificates
of completion.
(a) Each
registered course provider shall issue a certificate of completion for each
participant who enrolled and completed an approved continuing education course.
(b) Certificates
of completion shall contain the following information about the individual
participant:
1. Name;
2. Address;
3. License number
or numbers;
4. Date of
attendance; and
5. Course or
courses completed.
(c) One (1) copy
of each certificate of completion shall be:
1. Sent to the
department electronically;
2. Retained on
file by the provider in compliance with subsection (1) of this section; and
3. Given to the
participant upon completion of the course.
Section 5. Online
continuing education shall:
(1) Be provided by
a continuing education provider approved in accordance with Section 1 of this
administrative regulation;
(2) Include a
minimum of six (6) personal security questions, per course, consisting of:
(a) One (1) random
security question at each log-in; and
(b) Remaining security
questions at intervals not to exceed twenty (20) minutes;
(3) Allow course
participants access to the course for a minimum of thirty (30) days following
receipt of payment for the course;
(4) Make available
online the course certificate of completion for twelve (12) months to any
licensee who completes an online course;
(5) Retain a
record of all course applications and completions for a minimum of three (3)
years; and
(6) Be capable of
storing course content questions as follows:
(a) Stored content
questions shall equal 150 percent of the content questions required; and
(b) Duplicate questions
shall not be permitted.
(7) A minimum of
four (4) content questions, chosen randomly from stored content questions,
shall be answered during each twenty (20) minutes of continuing education
programming.
(8) Notification
of correct and incorrect answers, prior to completion of the online course and
issuance of a certificate of completion, shall not be permitted.
Section 6. Online
Courses. Online courses shall meet all requirements of this administrative
regulation and 815 KAR 20:032.
Section 7. Course
Audits. (1) Records requested in writing by the department shall be delivered
to the department within ten (10) days of the requesting date.
(2)
Representatives of the department may, at any time, attend an approved
continuing education course to ensure that the course meets the stated
objectives and that applicable requirements are being met.
Section 8.
Disciplinary Action. The department may deny, suspend, or revoke approval of
any course provider or may issue a fine to any course provider who:
(1) Obtains or
attempts to obtain registration or course approval through fraud, false
statements, or misrepresentation;
(2) Does not
provide complete and accurate information in either the initial registration or
in any notification of changes to the information;
(3) Advertises a
course as being approved by the department before the approval is received; or
(4) Fails to
comply with the requirements of this administrative regulation.
Section 9.
Incorporation by Reference. (1) The following material is incorporated by
reference:
(a) Form PLB-3,
"Application for Approval as a Plumbing Continuing Education Course
Provider", November 2010; and
(b) Form PLB-4,
"Application for a Plumbing Continuing Education Course Approval",
November 2010.
(2) This material
may be inspected, copied, or obtained, subject to applicable copyright law, at
the Department of Housing, Buildings and Construction, Division of Plumbing,
101 Sea Hero Road, Suite 100, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601-5405, Monday through
Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (34 Ky.R. 1331; 1749; eff. 2-1-2008; 37 Ky.R. 1568; 2017;
eff. 3-4-2011; 39 Ky.R. 325; eff. 11-2-12; 39 Ky.R. 2208; 40 Ky.R. 297; eff.
9-6-2013.)
