Current through Reg. 50, No. 249, December 24, 2024
(1) Approval of
Course Accreditors. The Commission shall approve persons to serve as
accreditors of advanced training courses. Persons desiring to be accreditors
shall apply using the Register Accreditor function and associated online
screens, Form FBC-ED-001, effective September 10, 2010 adopted herein by
reference and available from the Building Code Information System at
www.floridabuilding.org/ce/ce_tporgapp_dtl1.aspx. Applications shall be
accompanied by an application fee of $100.00. Applications shall be approved by
the Commission if the applicant has demonstrated five years of Florida Building
Code expertise in the field for which approval is sought, or equivalent as
specified below, or possesses an active license issued pursuant to Section
471.015,
481.213, or
481.311; Chapter 489,
Part I or II, F.S.; or a standard certificate issued pursuant to Section
468.609,
F.S. Accreditors approved by the Commission under prior versions of this rule
are authorized to continue accreditation of building code courses. Equivalent
expertise or proficiency under this provision shall include:
(a) A four year college degree or graduate
degree in the field for which approval is sought;
(b) A letter verifying work experience in the
field for which approval is sought from a person who supervised the
applicant;
(c) A letter verifying
employment and specific position of the applicant in the field for which
approval is sought from the applicant's employer; or
(d) For an accreditor application submitted
to accredit only accessibility courses, demonstrated proficiency acceptable to
the Commission as a subject matter expert in the field of
accessibility.
(2)
Revocation of approval as an accreditor.
(a)
Any accreditor shall have his/her approval status revoked for any of the
following reasons:
1. Knowingly providing a
fraudulent application to the Commission, when applying for accreditor
status;
2. Suspension or revocation
of a trade license submitted to the Commission as part of the initially
approved accreditor application, which was not reported to the Commission at
the time of suspension or revocation;
3. Failure to effectively and/or accurately
accredit courses, specifically relating to the correctness of the course
building code content references;
4. Failure to remove him/herself from any
"conflict of interest" situations, such as accrediting courses in which the
accreditor has a financial interest; or
5. Failure of the accreditor to cooperate
with a Commission ordered investigation.
(b) The Commission may suspend the approval
status of any accreditor based on any provision of paragraph (2)(a) of this
rule, until such time as the accreditor demonstrates that the accreditor's
status is currently in compliance with the requirements of this rule.
(c) The Commission shall initiate an
investigation based on a written complaint submitted by any substantially
affected party and containing substantial material evidence of a violation of
this rule.
(d) The Commission shall
clearly post the status of an investigation on its website, the Florida
Building Codes Information System, www.floridabuilding.org.
(3) Training Provider Registration
and Requirements.
(a) Training providers
approved by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation who desire
Commission approval and accreditation for advanced building code courses shall
register with the Building Code Information System using the Register Training
Provider function and associated online screens, Form FBC-ED-002, effective
September 10, 2010, adopted herein by reference and available from the Building
Code Information System at www.floridabuilding.org/ce/ce_tporgapp_dtl1.aspx,
and pay a registration fee of $25.00.
(b) Registered training providers shall
submit materials and information pertaining to courses for which Commission
accreditation and approval is sought utilizing the Submit a Course Application
function and associated online screens, Form FBCED 2003-03, effective September
10, 2010, adopted herein by reference and available from the Building Code
Information System at www.floridabuilding.org.
(c) The provider shall select an approved
accreditor and shall provide payment for services directly to the accreditor.
The accreditor selected shall meet the criteria for independence identified in
paragraph (d) and shall be listed with the expertise in the field for which
approval is sought.
(d) Upon
submittal by a training provider, the selected accreditor shall receive an
e-mail notification from the Building Code Information System at
www.floridabuilding.org and shall review the materials provided by the provider
in accordance with the criteria identified herein. The accreditor shall
complete the application by providing comments containing the results of the
accreditor's review and updating the accreditation approval status on the
Building Code Information System. The accreditor shall also provide a
certification of independence that attests the person or entity does not have,
nor does it intend to acquire or will acquire, a financial interest in the
training provider seeking accreditation.
(e) The Building Code Information System
www.floridabuilding.org shall assign an accreditation number to the application
upon submittal. The application shall be accredited completely and placed in
the "Pending FBC Action" file on the Building Code Information System at
www.floridabuilding.org no later than 23 calendar days prior to the next
scheduled meeting of the Florida Building Commission. The Commission shall
finalize the accreditation process utilizing the Building Code Information
System at www.floridabuilding.org and notify the provider and accreditor within
3 business days of the Florida Building Commission's action on the
applications.
(f) On or before the
effective date of changes to the Florida Building Code, providers shall either
designate on the Building Code Information System at www.floridabuilding.org
that the course is not affected by the code changes or update the existing
accredited courses affected by the code changes and submit for accreditation.
If the course is not affected by the code changes, the course's status shall
remain active. The code version that initiated the update and reaccreditation
process must be noted on the application. Accreditation of revisions to
approved accredited courses shall be accomplished in the same manner as
described in paragraphs (a) through (f) hereof, except that only the revision
submitted shall be subject to review and these courses shall be approved by the
administrator of the education program subject to ratification by the Florida
Building Commission.
(g) If an
approved accredited course requires revision to correct or update a reference,
table, diagram, or quoted provision of code, law, or administrative rule, the
training provider may submit the revised course and complete Form FBC-ED-002,
effective September 10, 2010, adopted herein by reference and available from
the Building Code Information System at www.floridabuilding.org. The training
provider must list the exact change, the specific location of the change, and
reason for the change in the course and affirm this is the only change. The
changes to the course shall be approved by the administrator of the education
program subject to ratification by the Florida Building Commission.
(h) A change to the delivery format of an
approved accredited course must be submitted for accreditation.
(4) Course Content and Accreditor
Review. Accreditors shall review courses submitted by registered providers to
determine if the course accurately presents the technical and administrative
responsibilities reflected in the current edition of the Florida Building Code,
or future editions of the Code if the accreditor is reviewing a course revised
to comply with an updated edition of the Florida Building Code in accordance
with paragraph (3)(f) of this rule or Florida Statutes or rules related to the
Florida Building Code. Accreditors shall not mutually accredit each others'
courses. The accreditor shall determine if the course meets the following
minimum criteria:
(a) Course title and
number. The word "advanced" and, if appropriate, "internet" shall be in the
title;
(c) Name, address,
telephone number and e-mail address of the provider;
(d) Course description completely describing
what the particular course is designed to address;
(e) Course/learning objectives;
(f) Course time allotments for course
content;
(g) Course outline and
instructional methods - detailed description of course content in sequence of
how taught and methods used to teach that content. The following instructional
methods are authorized, but are not limited to: exercises, quizzes, discussion
groups, reading assignments, projects, simulations and presentations;
(h) Code edition to which the course
relates;
(i) Course references
cited in the outline;
(j) Method of
course evaluations;
(k) A minimum
of 50% of the actual training materials content shall be related to the Florida
Building Code or Florida Statutes or rules related to the Florida Building
Code;
(l) Course materials shall
accurately reflect the Florida Building Code and other topics under the
jurisdiction of the Florida Building Commission; and
(m) Course materials provided to the attendee
shall be provided by the accreditor.
(5) Course Accreditation by the Florida
Building Commission. Accredited courses are to effectively and accurately
address the technical and administrative responsibilities in the effective
execution of the Florida Building Code or Florida Statutes or rules related to
the Florida Building Code.
(6) The
Commission shall audit a minimum of 2% of all accredited courses. The courses
selected for audit may not be those of only one provider or reviewed by only
one accreditor. Any course submitted for accreditation or re-accreditation
determined to not accurately reflect the current or adopted Florida Building
Code edition; or Florida Statutes or rules related to the Florida Building Code
shall be reported to the Commission for further action. All approved advanced
building code courses must reflect the current or adopted Florida Building Code
edition; or Florida Statutes or rules related to the Florida Building Code. Any
courses accredited and determined by audit or any means to not accurately
reflect the current or adopted Florida Building Code edition; or Florida
Statutes or rules related to the Florida Building Code or accredited by an
accreditor outside the approved areas of expertise shall have the accreditation
revoked, the status of the course communicated to the respective licensing
board or boards, and the provider will be required to file a new application
for accreditation.
(7) In the event
the Commission identifies areas or topics of advanced building code education
with an insufficient number of courses available through existing resources,
the Commission shall report the areas or topics to the appropriate licensing
board. If additional courses do not become available within six months of
notification to the licensing board, upon a finding that the absence of course
work in the identified subject area is detrimental to the effective
administration and enforcement of the Florida Building Code, and funds are
available in the Commission's budget for course development, the Commission
will develop a minimum of one (1) course that will be made available to
training providers.
Rulemaking Authority
553.841(2)
FS. Law Implemented
553.841
FS.
