During each renewal period beginning with the 2017-2019 biennium (from June 1, 2017, through May 31, 2019) and continuing thereafter, a licensee shall complete 24 clock hours of continuing education.
The Board will exempt from the continuing education requirement a licensee who received a license within 2 years preceding the licensee’s first application for biennial renewal.
Only courses approved by the Board will be accepted for continuing education credit. The licensee shall be responsible for ascertaining the approved status of the course before undertaking a continuing education activity.
Acceptable subject matter for continuing education courses is limited to courses pertaining to the enhancement of the landscape architect’s professional skills. The Board will not approve courses in office management.
A maximum of 1/2 of the required clock hours per biennium will be accepted in courses consisting of satellite seminars, electronic presentations and correspondence courses.
The American Nursery & Landscape Association and its chapters.
The American Planning Association and its chapters.
The American Institute of Architects and its chapters.
The National Society of Professional Engineers and its chapters.
The National Recreation and Parks Association and its chapters.
The Pennsylvania Society of Land Surveyors.
Accredited landscape architect programs or programs in fields related to landscape architecture in colleges and universities.
Agencies of the Commonwealth and Federal government offering training programs in landscape architecture and its related fields.
Licensee shall retain copies of licensure renewal forms and the certificates, transcripts or other acceptable documentation of completion of the prescribed number of clock hours for 6 years following completion of the course. Records and documentation shall be produced upon demand by the Board or its auditing agents.
The Board will utilize a random audit of renewals to determine compliance with the continuing education requirement.
The Board may waive all or part of the continuing education requirement for biennial renewal upon written documentation by a licensee of illness, emergency or hardship.
A waiver request will be evaluated by the Board on a case-by-case basis. The Board will send written notification of its approval or denial of a waiver request.
In order for a licensee to qualify for license renewal as a landscape architect in Delaware, the licensee must have completed 20 hours of continuing education acceptable to the Board within the previous two years, or be granted an extension by the Board for reasons of hardship. Such continuing education shall be obtained by active participation in courses, seminars, sessions, programs or self-directed activities approved by the Board.
Each licensed landscape architect shall complete, biennially, 20 units of continuing education as a condition of license renewal.
The continuing education period will be from February 1 to January 31 of each biennial licensing period.
All courses, seminars, sessions and programs are acceptable for continuing education credit if sponsored by organizations listed below. All other continuing education credits will be reviewed at the time of renewal. All self-directed activities for continuing education credit allowed (ref. rule 7.6) must be pre-approved and submitted by the licensee 6 months prior to license renewal.
Delaware Department of Natural Resources (DNREC) Division of Soil and Water Conservation, seminars or educational programs dealing with sediment erosion and control.
Self-directed Activities: The Board will have the authority to allow self-directed activities to fulfill the continuing education requirements of the licensees. However, these activities must result in a book draft, published article, delivered paper, workshop, symposium, or public address within the two (2) year reporting period. Self-directed activities must advance the practitioner’s knowledge of the field and be beyond the practitioner’s normal work duties. Instructors will not be granted CE credit for studies customarily associated with their usual university or college instruction teaching loads.
Audit. Each biennium, the Division of Professional Regulation shall randomly select from the list of renewed licensees a percentage, determined by the Board, of the licensees to be audited. The Board may also audit based on complaints or charges against an individual license, relative to compliance with continuing education requirements or based on a finding of past non-compliance during prior audits.
Documentation and Audit by the Board. When a licensee’s name or number appears on the audit list, the Board shall obtain documentation from the licensee showing detailed accounting of the various CEU’s claimed by the licensee. Licensees selected for audit are required to supplement the attestation with supporting materials which may include a syllabus, agenda, itinerary or brochure published by the sponsor of the activity and a document showing proof of attendance (i.e., certificate, a signed letter from the sponsor attesting to attendance, report of passing test score). The Board reserves the right to request additional information and/or documentation to verify continuing education compliance.
Exemptions: New licensees by way of uniform national examination or by way of reciprocity shall be exempt from the continuing education requirements set forth herein for their first renewal period. Statutory Authority: 24 Del.C. §205(12).