(a) Effective September 1, 2011, continuing education
for renewal of a real estate inspector or professional inspector license
must include six hours of Texas Standards of Practice/Legal/Ethics
Update.
(b) Effective January 1, 2014, the thirty-two hours
of continuing education required for each renewal of a real estate
inspector or professional inspector license must include:
(1) twenty-four hours of core subjects as described
in §535.213(e)(1) - (8), (11) and (12) of this title (relating
to Approval of Core Courses in Real Estate Inspection), with a maximum
of 16 hours on any one single subject; and
(2) eight hours of Texas Standards of Practice/Legal/Ethics
Update. The Texas Standards of Practice/Legal/Ethics Update is a non-elective
course and must consist of the following coursework, with the units
outlined in the Texas Standards of Practice/Legal/Ethics Update Course
Approval form, adopted herein by reference:
(A) 4 hours of Standards of Practice;
(B) 2 hours of Legal; and
(C) 2 hours of Ethics.
(c) Except as provided by this section, the approval
of real estate inspection continuing education providers, courses,
and instructors will be conducted in the same manner as provided for
real estate licensees under §535.71 of this title (relating to
Approval of Providers, Courses, and Instructors) with references to
real estate license or licensee to include inspector licensees, statutory
references to Chapter 1101 to include the corresponding section applicable
to inspectors in Chapter 1102, and references to legal and ethics
update courses to include Texas Standards of Practice/Legal/Ethics
Update for inspector licensees.
(d) An entity is not required to be approved as a provider
by the Commission if it is:
(1) a unit of federal, state or local government; or
(2) a nationally recognized building, electrical, plumbing,
mechanical or fire code organization.
(e) A licensee may receive credit for continuing education
elective hours for courses approved by an entity listed in subsection
(d) of this section. A separate course approval by the Commission
is not required.
(f) Up to eight hours of continuing education credit
per two year license period can be given to a licensee for ride along
inspection course sessions. To receive continuing education credit
for the course, the instructor of the course must submit a certification
of completion of a ride along inspection session, within one week
of completion of a ride along inspection session, on a form approved
by the Commission.
(1) The course, at a minimum, must:
(A) consist of one full residential property inspection;
(B) review applicable standards of practice and departure
provisions contained in §§535.227 - 535.233 of this title
(relating to Standards of Practice); and
(C) have no more than two students per session.
(2) The instructor of the course may:
(A) review report writing;
(B) deliver a notice regarding the ride along session
on a form approved by the Commission to the prospective buyer or seller
of the home being inspected.
(g) Subsections (k) - (n) of §535.71 of this title
do not apply to course approval or instructors of non-elective courses
for inspectors. To be approved as an instructor of Texas Standards
of Practice/Legal/Ethics Update, or as an instructor of a ride along
inspection course, a person must have five years of active licensure
as a professional inspector, and have:
(1) performed a minimum of 200 real estate inspections
as a professional inspector; or
(2) three years of experience in teaching and/or sponsoring
trainees or inspectors.
(h) Courses submitted for continuing education credit
must be successfully completed during the term of the current license.
The Commission may not grant continuing education credit twice for
a course with the same course content taken by a licensee within a
two year period.
(i) Other than for correspondence courses or courses
offered by alternative delivery methods, such as by computer, completion
of a final examination is not required for a licensee to obtain continuing
education credit for a course.
(j) A professional inspector or real estate inspector
who fails to renew a license that is subject to continuing education
requirements and who files an application for reinstatement within
two years after the previous license has expired must provide evidence
satisfactory to the Commission that the applicant has completed any
continuing education that would have been required for timely renewal
of the previous license.
(k) Providers may request continuing education credit
be given to instructors of real estate inspection courses subject
to the following guidelines.
(1) The instructors may receive credit for only those
portions of the course which they teach.
(2) The instructors may receive full course credit
by attending all of the remainder of the course.
(3) Instructors of ride along inspection course sessions
may only receive up to 8 hours of continuing education credit for
teaching the course per two year license renewal period.
(l) The Commission will not grant partial credit to
an inspector who attends a portion of a course.
(m) Presentation of courses, advertising, record keeping,
compliance and enforcement for inspector continuing education courses
will be conducted in the same manner as provided for real estate licensees
under §535.72 and §535.73 of this title (relating to Presentation
of Courses, Advertising and Records; and Compliance and Enforcement).
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Source Note: The provisions of this §535.218 adopted to be effective February 11, 1992, 17 TexReg 680; amended to be effective December 21, 1993, 18 TexReg 9103; amended to be effective September 15, 1994, 19 TexReg 6915; amended to be effective January 1, 2001, 25 TexReg 11653; amended to be effective June 27, 2002, 27 TexReg 5521; amended to be effective May 11, 2004, 29 TexReg 4487; amended to be effective December 29, 2005, 30 TexReg 8693; amended to be effective January 1, 2011, 35 TexReg 11693; amended to be effective November 29, 2012, 37 TexReg 9366; amended to be effective November 21, 2013, 38 TexReg 8237; amended to be effective May 21, 2014, 39 TexReg 3861 |