Delivering CPD 

For builders and swimming pool builders

Organisations planning to offer CPD activities should read the following information. NSW Fair Trading cannot and does not endorse any provider of training and/or CPD.

What are the CPD requirements for licence or certificate holders?

Licence and certificate holders must undertake 12 points of CPD activity each year in order to be able to renew their licence or certificate. The points structure and requirements of the CPD program are set out in the Director-General's Guidelines for Continuing Professional Development.

Do I need to be a Registered Training Organisation to deliver CPD?

Not necessarily. Activities from Learning Category 1, as set out in the Commissioner‘s Guidelines can be delivered by any training provider. This learning earns 1 point per hour. Training providers must comply with the Director-General's Guidelines if they market or represent the activity as eligible for CPD points.

Is it up to the training provider to decide the topic areas for CPD activities?

While training providers will make a commercial decision about the CPD activities they wish to conduct, they should be mindful of the requirements set out in the Director-General's Guidelines.

The Guidelines contain the broad learning areas that activities must fall within to be eligible as CPD. Training providers should also be aware that from time to time the Director-General may determine certain subject matter as compulsory topics.

What is the difference between the broad learning areas and compulsory topics?

To renew their licence or certificate, licence and certificate holders must complete 12 points of CPD which covers subject matter specified by the Director-General. These learning areas and topics will be reviewed each year.

If compulsory topics have been specified for CPD, these topics have priority over broad learning areas. Where there are no compulsory topics, the licence or certificate holder may choose from the list of broad learning areas. The broad learning areas and compulsory topics are developed by an Industry Consultative Reference Group and recommended to the Director-General.

What is best practice advertising for CPD activities?

Best practice information to be included in advertising and marketing would include:

1. Name of the CPD activity
2. The broad learning area the activity relates to
3. Indicate the participant that the activity is relevant for eg. builder or swimming pool builder
4. Indicate the learning category and whether any assessment is involved
5. Indicate the number of CPD points the participant would be entitled to claim.

What kind of documentation do I need to provide for participants to show they have completed a CPD activity with my organisation?

You should provide participants with a record of attendance. It should contain:

1. The participants' name, contact details and their licence or certificate number
2. Title of the course/event/activity/training which also identifies the broad learning area covered
3. Course code (if any)
4. Date, time and place of the course/event/activity/training
5. Duration of the course/event/activity/training
6. Type of assessment (if applicable)
7. Name of the trainer and training provider organisation
8. Points earned.

Participants should keep a diary of their CPD activities.

If training was provided by a registered training organisation, the participant will also receive a qualification or a statement of attainment or when there is partial completion, a statement of achievement / statement of attendance specifying what had been assessed or for University study, a transcript of results.

Can a licence or certificate holder carry over CPD points from one year to the next?

The requirement is to complete 12 points each year and a maximum of 11 surplus points can be carried forward for twelve months.

Why were changes made to the CPD program?

An evaluation of the CPD program operating in the property and home building industries found that some change would make the requirements more relevant, accessible and cost effective.

How can I comply with the nominal hour requirement if I deliver training by distance education?

As a training provider you should have some mechanism in place that allows you to estimate the length of time it would take a learner to read and comprehend material and undertake any set assignments required from the learning. Accordingly, a training provider would probably need to trial or test online learning products or validate the assessment process and base their timeframes on the outcome of the trial or testing.

Although all participants learn at a different rate, timeframes should be based on the number of hours required by the average participant to be able to learn and/or achieve competency in the topic or unit.

What if I have any questions?

Call Fair Trading on 13 32 20.