Massachusetts approved regulations in November 2002 on mandatory continuing education (CE) for registration renewal in the commonwealth. Originally to take effect in the cycle from September 1, 2002, to August 31, 2003, as reported in the February 2003 issue of the Boston Society of Architects ChapterLetter (ref. p. 10), the Massachusetts Board of Registration of Architects agreed February 6 to postpone implementation until the September 2003 to August 2004 registration cycle.

The regulation, which affects more than 6,300 architects licensed in Massachusetts, requires 12 contact hours of CE for renewal each year, 8 of which must cover health, safety, and welfare topics.

The regulation was first drafted in 2000, explained Massachusetts Board of Registration of Architects Chair Douglas K. Engebretson, FAIA. The implementation dates in the draft remained September 2002 to August 2003 as the approval process stretched to two years. The board recognized that the time frame for architects to prepare for registration renewal requirements was prohibitively short if the August 2003 deadline was left in place. They changed it after the ChapterLetter article was in circulation. The August 2003 renewal form will be completed over the next three or four months, said Engebretson, who also sits on the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB) Board of Directors and served as the 1992–93 AIA national secretary.

Architects registered in Massachusetts will be required to certify their compliance by the end of August 2004, and those certifications will be selectively audited, Engebretson said. The board’s goal is to make compliance as simple as possible while maintaining the regulation’s intent of protecting the public’s health, safety, and welfare, he said.

One stipulation states that a CE course qualifies for credit if: “The educational event in question meets the standards of, and has been approved for continuing education credit by: a. The American Institute of Architects; or b. The National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.” The Massachusetts board “relied fairly heavily on NCARB” for model language in crafting the new regulation, 231 CMR 3.06, “Continuing Education Requirements,” Engebretson said.

An overview of the regulation
Exemptions. There are four possible exemptions from compliance with the regulation for renewal: being on active military duty, an illness or disability that precluded completing the CE requirement, an unforeseen emergency or hardship deemed sufficient by the board, and licensure in another state with an equivalent CE requirement.
Program content. Programs must increase knowledge or understanding of technical or professional subjects and improve professional competence. Health, safety, and welfare topics include building design, environmental or land use analysis, life-safety standards, architectural programming, site and soil analyses, accessibility, structural considerations, lateral forces, building codes, evaluation of building systems and materials, construction methods, contract documentation, construction administration, professional conduct, or other subjects the board deems sufficient.
Methods of earning credit. There are seven general categories the regulation spells out for earning CE credit: qualifying college-level courses; other qualifying courses, programs, seminars, and workshops, including AIA/CES Provider programs; completing approved monographs and passing a test, such as the monographs published by NCARB; teaching at an educational institution (each distinct course may be counted only once); other course or seminar teaching or presenting a lecture, paper, program, workshop, or monograph at a CE event (each distinct course or presentation may be counted only once); publishing a book or article in a juried professional journal (only half of a year’s credits may be earned this way); and completing a qualifying self-study program (only half of a year’s credits may be earned this way).

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