Notice of Proposed Rule
DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
Division of Housing and Community Development
RULE NO: RULE TITLE
9B-70.002: Commission Approval and Accreditation of Advanced Building Code Training Courses
PURPOSE AND EFFECT: Correct a cross-reference and implement a system of self-affirmation for revisions to accredited courses
SUMMARY: The Florida Building Commission updates the building code every three years. Courses accredited by the Commission often require minor modification for consistency with the updated code. The rule is amended to permit an expeditious process for accreditation of the revisions to accredited courses resulting from code changes that relies upon affirmation by the course provider. A cross-reference is also corrected.
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.
IF REQUESTED WITHIN 21 DAYS OF THE DATE OF THIS NOTICE, A HEARING WILL BE HELD AT THE DATE, TIME AND PLACE SHOWN BELOW:
DATE AND TIME: August 10, 2010, 8:30 a.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter comes before the Commission in accordance with its agenda
PLACE: Crowne Plaza Hotel, MELBOURNE-OCEANFRONT, 2605 N.
A1A,
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,
THE PERSON TO BE CONTACTED REGARDING THE PROPOSED RULE IS: Ila Jones, Community Program Administrator, Department of
Community Affairs, 2555 Shumard Oak Boulevji9ard,
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 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 9B-70.002(4)(a) effective January 1, 2009, adopted herein by reference and
available from the Building Code Information System at
http://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 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 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 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.
(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 9B-70.002(4)(a), effective ___________________, 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
(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)(4)(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;
(b) Hours of credit;
(c) Name, address, telephone number and e-mail address of the provider;
(d) Course description completely describing what the particular course if
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 to the
accreditor.
(5) Course Accreditation by the
(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 course 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 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, 11-2-09, ________.
NAME OF PERSON ORIGINATING PROPOSED RULE: Ila
Jones, Community Program Administrator, Department of Community Affairs,
NAME OF AGENCY HEAD WHO APPROVED THE PROPOSED RULE:
DATE PROPOSED RULE APPROVED BY AGENCY HEAD: April 7, 2010
DATE NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE DEVELOPMENT PUBLISHED IN FAW: March 19, 2010.