Table of Contents - January 2010

• Message from Kristie & Chrissi
• Continuing Education 2010
• Construction CE Providers
• Important Dates
• Electrical CE Information
• Classifieds

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Message from the Gals

Happy New Year! We hope 2010 is proving to be a perfect "10" for you. This is one of our most important and most requested ETC issues - all about Continuing Education hours. Contractor license renewals are due by 8/31/10. This applies to everyone who has a construction or electrical contractor's license. The number of hours may differ, however, depending on when you obtained your license. Please check out our articles below with the information you need to know about CEs. We give a special shout-out to Patti Krell of Cam Tech School of Construction for writing the article on construction CEs.

In coming months, we'll provide a step-by-step breakdown of how to renew your license online. You can do the renewal and pay the fee at any time, but the license will not be renewed until DBPR has received proof that all CE requirements have been met (your CE provider will submit the hours upon completion) and all fees have been paid.

Please remember that company Annual Reports are different than license renewals - they are two very different parts of the State government. Every business is required to file an Annual Report with the Division of Corporations by May 1 of every year. This has nothing to do with your license, so don't forget to do both this year.

We hope this issue answers your questions about CEs. As always, feel free to contact us with any other questions.

Have a fabulous February!

Best regards,

Kristie & Chrissi

Construction Continuing Education 2010

By Patti Krell, Cam Tech School of Construction

CE, unfortunately, is one of those necessary things in life that you just have to do, whether you are a contractor, doctor, lawyer, or whatever. The purpose of CE is to keep you up to date on all the latest and greatest information, to help you stay on top of the State requirements and to prevent losing the license you worked so hard to get. With that being said, this article will give you the lowdown on what is required of you, when it is required and how it affects your license.

If you are a Florida State Certified contractor, you are required to obtain 14 hours of CE every two years on the even years. (2010, 2012, 2014 and so on) If you are a State Registered or County contractor, you are required to do the same except you must obtain every 2 years on the odd years. (2011, 2013 and so on) Your hours are calculated from September 1 of the previous year to August 31 of the current year.

For this year of 2010, if you activated your license after August 31 of 2009, you are not required to take any CE hours until 2012. If you activated your license on or before August 31, 2008, you must take 14 hours. If you activated your license after August 31, 2008, you need only take 7 hours.

For those required to take 14 hours, the following courses are required: 1 hour each of Business Practices, Workers Compensation, Workplace Safety, Laws & Rules, and Advanced Building Code. If you are either, a General, Builder, Residential, Roofer, Specialty Structure or Glass & Glazing, you must also take at least 1 hour of Wind Mitigation. The remainder of your hours must be construction related but are considered “general” hours. The 4 hour Building Code Administrative Core Course is no longer a requirement for first time licensees.

For those required to take only 7 hours, there are no specific required hours stated in the Florida Statutes but it is suggested that you take one hour each of Business Practices, Workers Compensation, Workplace Safety and Laws & Rules. Those of you who are Generals, Builders, Residentials, Roofers, Specialty Structures or Glass & Glazing contractors should also take the Wind Mitigation course for the valuable information it supplies.

Any overage of hours remains on your record but WILL NOT carry over to the next CE period. IF you are in arrears, any hours you take currently will post to the previous CE period first and remaining hours will post to the 2010 period. Go to www.myfloridalicense.com and if you haven’t done so already, set up your account so you can keep track of your hours. Your initial PIN is the last 4 digits of your Social Security Number.

Always take your CE hours with companies that are Certified Providers and make certain the courses you take carry a Course number. If you take a course that does not have a number and you take it from a non-certified provider, the courses will not count as CE hours. Always make certain the provider is legitimate and that they have been approved for your particular license.

Upon taking your CE classes, you will receive a certificate. In some cases you will receive more than one certificate. You are not required to submit a copy of your certificate to the State upon renewing your license but it is highly recommended that you keep these certificates in a safe place should they be needed in the future as proof. Some providers send certificates after you have taken the course and some will present you with one upon completion of the course on the same day. Your CE hours will be submitted electronically by the Provider to the State Bureau of Education and Testing. This process could take several days. Providers have at least 30 days to submit the hours electronically upon completion of the courses.

You can, at any time, submit your paperwork and pay the appropriate fees to the State to renew your license but you WILL NOT actually receive your new license until after the hours are submitted, received and processed and/or until you have paid the required fees.(Go to www.myfloridalicense.com ) It is only then that the State will issue the renewed license. Once you receive your new license, it will be good for 2 years.

Please remember that the State DOES NOT forward mail. If you change your address, you are responsible to notify the State, in writing. If you do not do this, you will not receive any information from the State and you could jeopardize your license.

If you have questions regarding your CE requirements or related information, please feel free to contact me at 800-875-7277, Ext. 302. We offer CE every 2 years on the even years only. Our classes this year are on April 17th & 18th and July 24th & 25th. Go to http://www.camtechschool.com/eregistration.php or CE Pre-Registration Form 2010.

* Did You Know? *

Help for Haiti!

One of our clients, Neal Horrell, has a friend, Mark Stokeland, who is the director of Haiti Bible Mission. Neal has been coordinating with Mark over the past few months planning to assist a group from Chicago who he will be going with to Haiti to help put a roof on a church/school. They are in need of all types of tools and
building supplies. If you have any used or new tools/supplies, or know of anyone who may, please email him at: Neal@Greenexteriors.com. He has a rough list of basic tools that will help. Obviously the recent and
devistating earthquake has made this situation even more important to all who are involved. Mark and his Haiti Bible Mission are joining forces with other missions to assist in relief efforts throughout Haiti. Please think of this as a perfect way to get involved and help others who are less fortunate and even more suffering from a major crisis. For more information, visit http://haitibiblemission.org/

Construction Continuing Education Providers

Recommended:

• CamTech School of Construction - Classroom training
• Palm Construction School - Classroom and online training
• RedVector - Online training

For all Board-approved providers: http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/servop/testing/documents/ce_prov.pdf

Important Dates

• Next CILB meeting is February 10-12 in Tampa.
• Next exam dates are February 16-17.
• Next Electrical Board meeting is March 17-19 in Cocoa Beach.
• Annual Reports due by May 1.
• Contractor license renewals due by August 31.

Electrical Continuing Education

The requirements for electrical license renewals and continuing education are similar to those for construction. If you've had your license for less than a year as of 8/31, you only need to pay the renewal fee and do not need to obtain CEs. If you've had your license for more than a year, but less than 2 years, you need 7 hours of CEs. If you've had your license for more than 2 years as of 8/31, you'll need to complete 14 hours. A maximum of 7 hours can be completed as home-study.

The electrical board has specific requirements for what those hours must entail:

• 7 hours technical
• 1 hour workers’ compensation
• 1 hour workplace safety
• 1 hour business practices
• 2 hours false alarm prevention ( For all certified and registered alarm contractors and certified electrical contractors who perform alarm work)
• 1-3 hours general (3 hours for contractors not required to take false alarm prevention)
• 1 hour Florida Building Code advanced module course

The following from Patti's article above also applies to electrical contractors:

Any overage of hours remains on your record but WILL NOT carry over to the next CE period. IF you are in arrears, any hours you take currently will post to the previous CE period first and remaining hours will post to the 2010 period. Go to www.myfloridalicense.com and if you haven’t done so already, set up your account so you can keep track of your hours.

Always take your CE hours with companies that are Certified Providers and make certain the courses you take carry a Course number. If you take a course that does not have a number and you take it from a non-certified provider, the courses will not count as CE hours. Always make certain the provider is legitimate and that they have been approved for your particular license.

Upon taking your CE classes, you will receive a certificate. In some cases you will receive more than one certificate. You are not required to submit a copy of your certificate to the State upon renewing your license but it is highly recommended that you keep these certificates in a safe place should they be needed in the future as proof. Some providers send certificates after you have taken the course and some will present you with one upon completion of the course on the same day. Your CE hours will be submitted electronically by the Provider to the State Bureau of Education and Testing. This process could take several days. Providers have at least 30 days to submit the hours electronically upon completion of the courses.

You can, at any time, submit your paperwork and pay the appropriate fees to the State to renew your license but you WILL NOT actually receive your new license until after the hours are submitted, received and processed and/or until you have paid the required fees.(Go to www.myfloridalicense.com ) It is only then that the State will issue the renewed license. Once you receive your new license, it will be good for 2 years.

Please remember that the State DOES NOT forward mail. If you change your address, you are responsible to notify the State, in writing. If you do not do this, you will not receive any information from the State and you could jeopardize your license.

For a list of ECLB-approved providers: http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/servop/testing/documents/ce_list.pdf

Tri-Town Classic Fishing Tourney Supports Make-a-Wish Foundation

Our client Tri-Town Construction is hosting a fishing tournament to support the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Southern Florida. Be a sponsor or enter a team. Cash prizes, BBQ and raffle available. Tourney is 5/1 at 7 a.m.; score cards must be turned in by 4 PM. Three sponsorship levels available. Contact Marc Devisse for more information: 239-895-2058.

Classifieds

Do you have books to sell? We sometimes get questions from callers about where they can find used books for their exams. We'd like to start a list so we can refer them to our clients who who'd like to recoup a portion of their costs. Please contact Kristie (239.777.8321) or Chrissi (239.777.1028) to get your name and number on the list.

Have something you want to sell? A position to fill? A need for a subcontractor?

Fine Print

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