Continuing Education Credits to Renew Inspection Certification

 

First, the certification is granted for two years from the date of the certification training.  

 

At the time of the anniversary date, the certified professional is required to show they have met the continuing education requirement during the two year period. This means that at some point ahead of the anniversary date they receive a notice it is time to renew and submit documentation they have received the required training. You can submit documentation any time during the two- year period, but the certification is renewed only at the time of the anniversary date. For the NAWT inspection program we only require 8 hours of credit, which is basically 1 day of training on inspection or related on site wastewater subjects. The policy is that we require the training occur at least 6 months after the certification or renewal date. This is to keep professionals from taking the inspection course in Louisville, following it with a day at Education Day or the Installer Course and meeting the certification requirement for 4 years within a matter of a few days.

 

Relative to what counts toward the 8 hours, up to now we have counted a wide range of sessions. It is in our best interest to continue to approve a wide range of activities. Basically we have approved hours that are related to on-site system inspection, installation, design, operation or maintenance as long as there is a certificate or other proof of attendance supplied with the application. The NAWT Education Committee has turned down some requests to count hours for municipal treatment plant training. This is legitimate because we do not have a large continuing education requirement so hours counted should be clearly related to decentralized on-site systems. Another question that has come up to the committee to address, is do we count business or marketing training toward the requirement. Here again NAWT thinks these are essential for running a business but since we do not have a large continuing education requirement that it should focus on the technical parts of the operation so NAWT does not count them toward renewal.

 

There is a one(1) year grace period after the expiration date of the certification in which an individual can achieve the continuing education credits necessary for recertification.  The individual will not be considered certified until the continuing education credits are approved by the NAWT Education Committee.  Once the continuing education credit requirement documentation is submitted and approved by the NAWT Education Committee the certification will be renewed with an expiration date two years from the previous anniversary date.  After the grace period the individual must begin the certification process as if he/she had never taken the NAWT training.

 

Summary of NAWT Recertification Requirements: 

  1. Renew only at the anniversary date.
  2. There is a Six month waiting period from the time of certification or recertification to begin accumulating continuing education credit hours. Sessions count as long as they pertain directly to decentralized on-site systems. Proprietary sessions and business sessions will not be approved. A subcommittee of three representatives from the education committee will review requests for approval.
  3. Documentation of attendance required through certificate or some other official document or letter. The committee suggests that where possible the request for approval be submitted before the event. This will help avoid the situation where someone is surprised after attending the event that it is not accepted.
  4. One (1) year grace period after the anniversary date for obtaining continuing education credits.  After the grace period the individual must begin the certification process as if he/she had never taken the NAWT training.