WAC 296-400A-028   What are the requirements for continuing education and classroom training?  


What are the general and continuing education course requirements for journeyman, residential specialty plumbers, domestic pump specialty plumbers, and plumber trainees?


     (1) Journeyman, residential specialty plumber, domestic pump specialty plumber, and plumber trainee.

     (a) To be eligible for renewal of a journeyman plumber or residential specialty plumber certificate, the individual must have completed at least sixteen hours of approved continuing education for each two years of the prior certification period. Individuals will be required in the prior two-year period to have completed at least eight hours of plumbing code and at least four hours of electrical code from the currently adopted Washington state plumbing and electrical codes. The remaining four hours may be plumbing or electrical trade related classes.

     (b) Domestic pump specialty plumbers shall renew their domestic pump specialty certificate once every three years, on or before the individual's birthday. Individuals will be required to complete twenty-four hours of approved continuing education. The continuing education may comprise both electrical and plumbing education with a minimum of twelve of the required twenty-four hours of continuing education in plumbing for each three-year renewal cycle.

     (c) Plumber trainees must complete at least eight hours per year of classroom training from an approved continuing education course for each year of the prior certification period. Trainees will be required during a two-year period to complete at least eight hours of plumbing code and at least four hours of electrical code from the currently adopted Washington state plumbing and electrical codes. The remaining four hours may be plumbing or electrical trade related classes.

     (d) Any portion of a year of a prior plumber certification period is equal to one year for the purposes of the required continuing education.

     (2) An individual will not be given credit for the same approved continuing education course taken more than once in the two years prior to the renewal date. No credit will be granted for any course not approved by the department.

     (3) Continuing education requirements do not apply to backflow specialty plumbers under chapter 18.106 RCW and this chapter.


Approval process - continuing education course.


     (4) The advisory board of plumbers or plumbing board subcommittee will review each continuing education course. The advisory board of plumbers or plumbing board subcommittee will recommend approval or disapproval to the department. The department will either approve or disapprove the course.

     (5) To be considered for approval, a continuing education course must consist of not less than two hours of instruction and must be open to monitoring by a representative of the department and/or the plumbing board at no charge. If the department determines that the continuing education course does not meet or exceed the minimum requirements for approval, the department may revoke the course approval or reduce the number of credited hours.

     (6) Approved courses must be based on:

     (a) Currently adopted edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code and currently adopted National Electrical Code;

     (b) Chapters 18.106 or 19.28 RCW or chapters 296-400A or 296-46B WAC; or

     (c) Materials and methods as they pertain to the industrial practices of plumbing or electrical construction, building management systems, plumbing or electrical maintenance, or workplace health and safety.

     (7) Code-update courses must be based on the entire currently adopted Uniform Plumbing Code or currently adopted National Electrical Code.

     (a) Correspondence and on-line courses in the plumbing code require thirty-five questions per hour of credit.

     (b) Industry related electrical courses require twenty-five questions per hour of credit.

     (c) Classroom training requires one hour of instruction for each hour of credit.

     (d) Course outline must support the number of hours requested.


Application - for continuing education course approval.


     (8) All applications for course approval must be on forms provided by the department. The plumbing board and the department will only consider the written information submitted with the application when considering approval of the continuing education training course.

     (9) The department will provide continuing education application forms to sponsors upon request. The course sponsor must submit an original completed application for course approval and three copies (unless submitted electronically using department prescribed technology) to the department. The department must receive the complete course application from the sponsor in writing at least forty-five days before the first class requested for approval is offered.

     (10) A complete application for course approval must include:

     (a) The appropriate course application fee;

     (b) Course title, number of classroom instruction hours, and whether the training is open to the public;

     (c) Sponsor's name, address, contact's name and phone number;

     (d) Course outline (general description of the training, including specific Uniform Plumbing Code or currently adopted National Electrical Code articles referenced);

     (e) Lists of resources (texts, references, visual aids);

     (f) Names and qualifications of instructors. Course instructors must show prior instructor qualification and experience similar to that required by the work force training and education coordinating board under chapter 28C.10 RCW;

     (g) Any additional documentation to be considered; and

     (h) A sample copy of the completion certificate issued to the course participants.

     (11) The course sponsor seeking approval of a continuing education course will be notified of the subcommittee's decision within five days of the completed review of the application.

     (12) If the application is not approved, the rejection notice will include an explanation of the reason(s) for rejection. If the course sponsor disagrees with the subcommittee's decision, the course sponsor may request a reconsideration hearing by the full plumbing board. A request to appeal course rejection must be received by the department forty-five days before a regularly scheduled board meeting. The course sponsor must submit, to the department, any additional information to be considered during the hearing, in writing, at least thirty days before the board hearing. The course sponsor must provide at least twenty copies of any written information to be submitted to the board.


Offering - continuing education course.


     (13) The course sponsor may offer an approved course for up to three years without additional approval. However, if the course is classified as code-update or code-related and a new edition of the Uniform Plumbing Code or National Electrical Code is adopted within the course approval period, the course approval will be considered automatically revoked and the course sponsor must submit a new application for review by the department and approval by the plumbing board subcommittee.

     (14) A continuing education course attended or completed by an individual before final approval by the plumbing board subcommittee cannot be used to meet the plumbing certificate renewal requirements.


Documentation - Washington approved training course attendance/completion.


     (15) The department is not responsible for providing verification of an individual's continuing education history with the course sponsor.

     (16) The course sponsor must provide the department with an accurate and typed course attendance/completion roster for each course given.

     (a) The attendance/completion roster must be provided within thirty days of course completion.

     (b) In addition, the course sponsor must provide the attendance/completion roster in an electronic format provided by the department.

     (c) The attendance/completion roster must show each participant's name, Washington certificate number, course number, location of course, date of completion, and instructor's name. The typed roster must contain the signature of the course sponsor's authorized representative.

     (17) If the course sponsor fails to submit the required attendance/completion rosters within thirty days of the course completion, the department may revoke or suspend the course approval.

     (18) Course sponsors must award a certificate to each participant completing the course from which the participant will be able to obtain:

     (a) Name of course sponsor;

     (b) Name of course;

     (c) Date of course;

     (d) Course approval number;

     (e) The number of continuing education units; and

     (f) The type of continuing education units.

     (19) The department will only use a copy of the sponsor's attendance/completion roster as final evidence that the participant completed the training course.

     (20) The department will keep submitted rosters of the continuing education courses on file only for audit purposes. The department is not responsible for the original of any completion certificate issued.


Documentation - out-of-state training course attendance/completion.


     (21) To apply continuing education units earned out-of-state from course sponsors who do not have state of Washington approved courses, one of the following conditions must be met:

     (a) The individual must request that the course sponsor submit a complete continuing education course application and requirements as described in this section for in-state courses.

     Application for course approval will not be considered more than three years after the date of the course.

     (b) The department must have entered into a reciprocal agreement with the state providing course approval.

     The participant must provide a copy of an accurate and completed award or certificate from the course sponsor identifying the course location, date of completion, participant's name, and Washington certificate number. The department will only accept a copy of the sponsor's certificate or form as evidence that the participant attended and completed the course.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 18.106.040 and 18.106.140. 09-10-080, § 296-400A-028, filed 5/5/09, effective 6/5/09; 06-24-040, § 296-400A-028, filed 11/30/06, effective 12/31/06. Statutory Authority: RCW 18.106.040, 18.106.140, 2002 c 82, and 2003 c 399. 04-12-046, § 296-400A-028, filed 5/28/04, effective 6/30/04.]