CPD (Continuing Professional Development)

What is CPD?

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is how practitioners maintain, improve, and broaden their knowledge, expertise, and competence, and further develop their personal and professional qualities throughout their professional lives.

Broadly, CPD includes all professional development (training) you need to keep doing your job. This includes keeping your skills and knowledge up to date to make sure you can do the job safely and competently.

The learning may relate to technical and practical skills, business competencies, laws affecting the industry, or personal and professional development relevant to your trade.

These skills may be gained formally through courses or training, or by attending and participating in approved CPD events and activities.

What will CPD do for you?

CPD will help you:

• continue to expand your knowledge and skills
• meet professional standards
• meet public expectations
• meet regulatory requirements.

Consumer, Building and Occupation Services (CBOS) is responsible for licensing building service providers, electrical workers, plumbers, gas-fitters and automotive gas-fitters. As part of the renewal process all licence holders must confirm their compliance with CPD.

What are my CPD requirements?

Practitioners are required to undertake CPD that is a blend of skills maintenance and skills development activities during a licence period.  Licence periods are one or three years.

CPD is measured by a points system which are allocated according to the value of the activity undertaken.  These individual activities must be undertaken throughout the licence period rather than just before the licence is renewed.

Each licence category has an average requirement per year and a minimum requirement for a three year period.

The table below indicates the points allocation by licence type.

* or fulfil the requirements of the National Engineers Register; or the requirements of maintaining Chartered Engineer status.

Achieving your CPD requirements

Although there are a wide range of approved learning activities available to assist you with the minimum CPD requirements, CPD could include other industry specific activities. These include:

• conferences
• face-to-face classroom style events
• forums or workshops
• journals/newsletters which include technical and regulatory information
• online/e-learning programs
• trade events designed to update you on new technologies or new methods of work
• webinars

All CPD activities must either be nationally accredited training delivered by a Registered Training Organisation or submitted to and approved by CBOS.

How do I record my CPD?

Consumer, Building and Occupation Services (CBOS) is responsible for licensing building service providers, electrical workers, plumbers and gas-fitters operating in Tasmania. As part of the renewal process all licence holders must confirm their compliance with CPD.

The responsibility for recording continuous professional development activities is with the licence holder.

Employee: you and your employer must keep your CPD record

Sole practitioner: you are responsible.

If you do some relevant training or other CPD in your own time and your employer does not know about it, provide that information to your employer so they know you have done your CPD. You also keep a record of it yourself.

If you change employers, or decide to work for yourself, you should get a copy of your CPD record from your employer and keep it for future reference.

Recording CPD

After you have attended a CPD activity, you, or your employer, need to record it.  Record this information by the easiest method for you, and keep it as simple as possible.  Examples of this could be to record it in your diary (for sole practitioners) or on a simple spreadsheet. CBOS have an example of a CPD Activity Record (DOCX, 66.5 KB).

The main details to record are:

• the date
• the training course
• the training provider
• number of CPD points
• certificate of attendance or attainment - in most cases, training providers issue you with evidence of attendance or attainment. Examples include certificates, academic records or attendance/completion records.

If undertaking Research:

• reason for research
• Journal details eg name of journal, date of publication, article title
• Website details eg Title of article, year and the web address

In most cases, training providers issue you with evidence of attendance or attainment. Examples of this could include a certificate, academic record, attendance record, or a receipt if you purchase or hire learning resources. This information can also be added to your record should you want to include it.

Requirements for the Contractor

For those who hold a contractor licence, you are required to maintain a register of all employees who undertake work requiring a licence.  The register must contain the licence details of each employee who carries out prescribed work, along with the qualifications, competencies and continuing professional development (including CPD points) of those employees.  This register can be subject to audit by CBOS and must be made available when requested. Failure to keep an accurate register is an offence under the Occupational Licensing Act 2005, so it is important that it is maintained.

An individual’s record from the register should also be made available to licensed employees so that when they renew their licence, they can complete the CPD certification in the renewal process. However, it is up to the employee to advise you of any additional CPD so that it can be added to the register.

Availability of funding for training

The Keystone Tasmania (formerly Tasmanian Building and Construction Industry Training Board (TBCITB)) has been created by government for the industry to ensure a safer, higher skilled building and construction workforce with the provision of funding assistance. Keystone is an independent organisation, funded by the industry. Their aim is to facilitate an innovative and robust building sector by managing workforce development.

To see if you are eligible for funding, go to the Keystone website (external site).

CPD when working or living outside of Tasmania

It is important that you meet your CPD requirements when registered as a licence holder in Tasmania.  You must complete the minimum CPD requirements, regardless of whether you work full or part-time or live and work interstate or overseas.

There are various ways to plan your CPD so that you meet the requirements when living outside of Tasmania. For your convenience, we have provided a list of the wide range of approved learning activities through online programs.