California Architects Board details 10 hours of mandatory CE, audits and documentation rules for license renewal

Oscar Diaz, a presenter for the California Architects Board, told licensees in a webinar that state law requires all licensed architects in California to complete 10 hours of continuing education as a condition of license renewal: five hours on 0 net carbon design and five hours on disability-access (ADA) requirements.

Diaz said the requirement comes from the Business and Professions Code and related regulations and that there is no waiver or extension: "This law does not allow for any waiver or extension." He also advised architects to complete the required education before renewing and noted that renewals completed without required CE can be subject to board audit and possible penalties.

Why this matters: the requirement applies to every licensed architect regardless of how long they have held a license, and the board performs random audits of continuing-education records. Diaz said architects must retain documentation for a minimum of two years from the date of renewal and that the board will review course descriptions, certificates and, when necessary, supporting documents during audits.

Key rules and examples

Diaz cited the California Code of Regulations (Title 16) provisions that set course and trainer criteria for each subject: CCR (Title 16) section 165 for disability-access coursework and CCR (Title…