Notice of Proposed Rule
RULE NO: RULE TITLE
9B-70.002: Commission Approval and Accreditation of Advanced
Building Code Training Courses
PURPOSE AND EFFECT: To address needed clarifications in the structure of the
rule, technical changes, qualifications for accessibility course accreditors,
course auditing, and actions by the Commission for failure to comply with the
requirements in law and rule.
SUMMARY: The rulemaking mostly adopts formatting changes and addresses other
non-substantive matters. Complaints that must be investigated are restricted to
those from substanitally interested parties, and discipline for an accreditor
allowing its qualifications to lapse is amended to suspension until restoration
rather than revocation. Forms and their location are updated and audit
requirements are identified as a minimum authorizing the commission to conduct
additional audits if needed.
SUMMARY OF STATEMENT OF ESTIMATED REGULATORY COSTS: No Statement of Estimated
Regulatory Cost was prepared.
Any person who wishes to provide information regarding a statement of estimated
regulatory costs, or provide a proposal for a lower cost regulatory alternative
must do so in writing within 21 days of this notice.
SPECIFIC AUTHORITY: 553.841(2) FS.
LAW IMPLEMENTED: 553.841 FS.
A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:
DATE AND TIME: June 9, 2009, 8:30 a.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter
comes before the Commission in accordance with its agenda.
PLACE: Embassy Suites Tampa – USF, 3705 Spectrum Boulevard, Tampa, Florida
33612.
Pursuant to the provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act, any person
requiring special accommodations to participate in this workshop/meeting is
asked to advise the agency at least 7 days before the workshop/meeting by
contacting: Ila Jones, Community Program Administrator, Department of Community
Affairs, 2555 Shumard Oak Boulevard, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2100, (850)
487-1824 If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency using
the Florida Relay Service, 1(800)955-8771 (TDD) or 1(800)955-8770 (Voice).
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Ila Jones, Community
Program Administrator, Department of Community Affairs, 2555 Shumard Oak
Boulevard, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2100, (850) 487-1824
THE FULL TEXT OF THE PROPOSED RULE IS:
9B-70.002 Commission
Approval and Accreditation of Advanced Building Code Training Courses.
(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 # 9B-70.002(1), effective January 1, 2009 adopted herein
by reference and available from the Building Code Information System at
www.floridabuilding.org/BCISOld/ce/ce_pb_ce.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 sSection 471.015,
481.213, or 481.311; chapter 489, pPart I or II,
F.S.; or a standard certificate issued pursuant to sSection
468.609, F.S. When an accreditor application is submitted to accredit only accessibility
courses by an individual who can demonstrate proficiency acceptable to the
Commission as a subject matter expert in the field of accessibility the
Commission shall approve that applicant to accredit accessibility courses.
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; or
(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 own courses in which the accreditor
has a financial interest; or
5. Accrediting courses in which the accreditor has a financial
interest; and
5.6. Failure of the accreditor to cooperate with a
Commission ordered investigation.
(b) The Commission may suspend revoke the approval status
of any accreditor based on any provision of paragraph (2)(a) of this rule
subsection 9B-70.002, F.A.C., 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 by any
substantially affected party.
(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 9B-70.002(4)(a) effective January
1, 2009, adopted herein by reference and available from the Building Code
Information System at www.floridabuilding.org/BCISOld/ce/ce_pb_ce.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 9B-70.002(4)(b) effective January
1, 2009, 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
(f) On or before the effective date of
changes to the
(4)(3) Course Content and
Accreditor Review of Courses. Accreditors shall review courses submitted
by registered providers approved by the Department of Business and
Professional Regulation 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 (4)(f) of this
rule; or Florida Statutes or rules related to the Florida Building Code.
Accreditors shall not mutually accredit each other’s others’
courses. The accreditor shall
determine if the course meets the following minimum criteria:
(a) Course title and number Title/Number. The word “advanced” and, if appropriate,
“internet” shall be in the title;
(b) Hours of cCredit;
(c) Name, address, telephone number and
e-mail address of the provider;
(d) Course
dDescription completely describing what the particular course is
designed to address;
(e) Course learning /Learning oObjectives;
(f) Course tTime allotments
for course content;
(g) Course outline and instructional methods Outline/ –
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 cCourse eEvaluations;
(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
student shall be provided to the aAccreditor.
(5)(4) Course Accreditation by
the 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. 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.
(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 Form FBCED 2003-002, Provider
Registration, adopted herein by reference and available from the Building Code
Information System at www.floridabuilding.org, 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 Form FBCED 2003-003, Course
Accreditation Application, 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 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 accredited courses and courses in alternative formats 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.
(6)(g) The Commission shall
audit a minimum of 2% of all accredited courses submitted for
accreditation and of all courses submitted for reaccreditation. The
courses selected for audit may not be those of only one provider or reviewed by
only one accreditor. Any courses submitted for accreditation or
re-accreditation determined to not accurately reflect the current or adopted
Florida Building Code eEdition; or Florida Statutes or
rules related to the Florida Building Code shall be reported to the
Commission for further action denied. All approved aAdvanced
bBuilding cCode cCourses must reflect
the current or adopted Florida Building Code eEdition;
or Florida Statutes or rules related to the Florida Building Code. Any courses
accredited and determined found by audit or any means to not
inaccurately reflect the current or adopted Florida Building Code
eEdition; 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,
if the course would comply.
(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.
Specific Authority 553.841(2)
FS. Law Implemented 553.841 FS. History–New 6-8-05, Amended 4-30-07,
6-12-08,3-4-09,________.
NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Ila Jones, Community Program
Administrator, Department of Community Affairs, 2555 Shumard Oak Boulevard,
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2100, (850) 487-1824
NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE: Florida Building Commission
DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: May 5, 2009
DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAW: March 20, 2009