Florida Administrative Code › 69 - DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES › 69A - Division of State Fire Marshal › Chapter 69A-46 - FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEM CONTRACTORS AND SYSTEMS › Section 69A-46.017 - Required Continuing Education

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) Fire
				Protection System Contractors shall complete a continuing education course or
				combination of courses in compliance with section
				 633.332, F.S., within each
				biennial license period, except that a contractor who completes the competency
				examination and receives a license issued for 1 year or less shall be required
				to complete a continuing education course or combination of courses prorated at
				50 percent of the required hours for a biennial license.
(2) The continuing education course or
				combination of courses shall be in a fire protection discipline related to the
				Certificate of Competency held by the Fire Protection System Contractor. All
				licensed Fire Protection System Contractors are required to complete an
				approved course or courses providing one hour of workplace safety, one hour of
				business practices, and one hour of a workers' compensation as part of the
				required continuing education for each biennial renewal period.
(3) The course or combination of courses
				shall be conducted by persons approved by the Regulatory Licensing Section.
				Approval of such persons shall be based on the person's training, experience
				and expertise in fire protection under Florida law. The instructor must be
				qualified by education or experience to teach the course, or parts of a course,
				to which the instructor is assigned. Any person with a four year college or
				graduate degree is qualified to teach any course in his or her field of study.
				Any state certified fire protection system contractor with at least five years'
				experience may teach any technical course within the scope of the contractor
				license held; however, no contractor whose license is suspended or revoked as a
				result of administrative action shall teach or serve as a continuing education
				instructor. The Regulatory Licensing Section is not permitted to reject a
				course based upon the proposed instructor, but is permitted to approve a course
				contingent on certification that all instructors meet those minimum
				requirements before conducting the course and before advertising that the
				course is approved for continuing education credit.
(4) Written instructional materials and any
				audio-visual aids must provide instruction relevant to fire protection under
				Florida law.
(5) The course or
				combination of courses shall be approved by the Regulatory Licensing Section.
				The Regulatory Licensing Section shall approve any course, seminar, or
				conference in the technical areas provided by any university, community
				college, vocational-technical center, public or private school, firm,
				association, person, corporation or entity which meets the criteria provided in
				this rule.
(6) The number of
				contact hours assigned to any course shall be determined by the Regulatory
				Licensing Section based on the course content and length of the course.
(a) Requests for approval shall be submitted
				on Form DFS-K3-1239 (3/00), "Request for Approval of Fire Protection System
				Contractor Continuing Education Coursework" as adopted and incorporated herein
				by reference.
(b) Forms are
				available from and submissions shall be sent to: Regulatory Licensing Section,
				200 East Gaines Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0342.
(c) Each Fire Protection System Contractor
				shall be notified by the Regulatory Licensing Section, in writing, if the
				coursework does not satisfy the continuing education requirement in section
				 633.332, F.S. No notification
				will be given over the telephone.
(d) The application shall include the total
				number of classroom or interactive distance learning hours, the course
				syllabus, a detailed outline of the contents of the course, and the name and
				qualifications of all instructors. The Regulatory Licensing Section shall
				approve continuing education courses which appropriately relate to the
				technical skills required of fire protection contractors and contain sufficient
				educational content to improve the quality of the contractor's performance and
				are taught by qualified instructors. Continuing education coursework approval
				shall be valid for two years from the date of issue, provided that no
				substantial change is made in the approved coursework.
(e) The number of classroom hours must be
				devoted to course content and does not include registration periods, meals, and
				keynote speakers or similar nonsubstantive time periods.
(f) Examples of courses which will be
				approved if the criteria and procedures of this rule are met:
1. Florida Fire Sprinkler Association
				trainings and seminars;
2. American
				Fire Sprinkler Association trainings and seminars;
3. NFPA seminars; and,
4. Training sessions conducted by
				manufacturers.
(g) The
				Regulatory Licensing Section shall approve continuing education courses within
				90 days from the date of receipt. Such approval will be based upon the
				submission of coursework which relates to the technical skills of the fire
				protection system contractors and which contains educational content to improve
				the quality of work being performed.
(h) Each approved course will be assigned a
				course number and the course will be identified by course title as submitted
				and the number of continuing education hours awarded. A listing of approved
				courses will be available from the Regulatory Licensing Section. The course
				list will include the course number, the course title, the course submitter,
				and the type of course.
(i) Within
				90 days of the conclusion of each approved course, the organization or person
				offering the course shall inform the Regulatory Licensing Section that the
				course was completed and shall supply the Regulatory Licensing Section with a
				sign-in sheet or roster. The sign-in sheet or roster shall contain:
1. The course name;
2. The course number;
3. The course provider;
4. The date the course was offered;
5. The duration of the course;
6. The contractor's name;
7. The contractor's license number;
8. The contractor's signature.
For interactive distance learning courses, in lieu of the
				  original sign-in sheet required above, the course provider shall maintain and
				  provide a record of the registration login, course access log, and course
				  completion, which shall include the information required in subparagraphs 1.
				  through 7., above. In lieu of providing a document bearing the contractor's
				  signature, the course provider shall provide the contractor's identity
				  verification data which shall include the contractor's password and the
				  contractor's mother's maiden name.
(j) Each person who completes an approved
				course shall be issued a certificate of completion by the course provider. The
				certificate of completion shall contain the name of the person who completed
				the course, the course provider's name, the course name as approved by the
				Regulatory Licensing Section, the course number, the date the course was taken,
				and the number of continuing education hours awarded for the course as approved
				for the course by the Regulatory Licensing Section. The course provider shall
				maintain a list of the names and license number of each person who completes
				each course conducted by the course provider for four years from the date of
				the course.