During each calendar year between January 1 and December 31, all active registrants must complete at least twelve Continuing Education Program Hours (CEPH). All 12 CEPH must include the study of subjects related to your profession and be pertinent to the health, safety, and welfare of the public.

• At least one of the twelve hours must be related to sustainable or energy-efficient design
• At least one of the twelve hours must be related to barrier-free design.
• At least eight of the twelve hours must be structured course study, (classroom/classroom equivalent)
• A maximum of four hours may be self-directed study.

Supporting documentation is required for all activities, and must be retained for a period of five years after the end of the calendar year for which credit is claimed.

If your registration is due for renewal, but you are not in compliance with continuing education rules for the previous calendar year, please do not renew until you become compliant. There is now a simple four-step process to become compliant before renewal. If your registration becomes expired, you may not practice your profession during the time of expiration, and you must pay all late fees when you renew. To avoid this situation, you may wish to consider online courses, which could allow you to complete deficient CE quickly. 

Terms Associated with Continuing Education

• CEPH: is a Continuing Education Program Hour. Each hour of Structured Course Study shall address one or more Approved Subject Areas and at least 45 minutes of every hour of CEPH shall directly relate to Health, Safety, or Welfare. When calculating your CEPH total please remember TBAE does not award credit for introductory remarks or breaks.
• Approved Subject Areas and Health Safety and Welfare: The definitions from these terms have been developed specifically for each profession, based on industry standards in continuing education. The definitions for these terms can be found in the Board rules for Architects, Landscape Architects, and Registered Interior Designers.
• Barrier-Free Design: is the design of a building or a facility or the design of an alteration of a building or a facility, which complies with the Texas Accessibility Standards, the American with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines, or similarly accepted standards for accessible design.
• Energy-Efficient Design: is the design of a project and the specification of materials that minimize the consumption of energy in the use of the project. The term includes energy efficiency strategies by design as well as the incorporation of alternative energy systems.
• Sustainable Design: is an integrative approach to the process of design which seeks to avoid depletion of energy, water, and raw material resources; prevent environmental degradation caused by facility and infrastructure developments during their implementation and over their life cycle; and create environments that are livable and promote health, safety and well-being. Sustainability is the concept of meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• Structured Course Study: refers to activity that is in a classroom or classroom equivalent setting. Structured courses of study are relevant to the profession, taught or otherwise provided by qualified individuals or organizations, and delivered by direct, in-person contact or through distance learning methods, the completion of which results in the issuance of a certificate or other record of attendance to the registrant by the provider. Structured Course Study must address one or more Approved Subject Areas and directly relate to Health, Safety, or Welfare.
• Self-directed study: Time spent developing knowledge and skills relevant to the profession that relates to Health, Safety or Welfare but does not qualify as Structured Course Study. Many activities may count toward credit for self-directed study, such as:
  • Reading written material or reviewing audio, video, or digital media that develops knowledge and skills relevant to your profession but does not qualify as Structured Course Study;
  • Time spent in professional research for publication or formal presentation to the profession or public;
  • Time spent in professional service to the general public that draws upon your professional expertise, such as serving on planning commissions, building code advisory boards, urban renewal boards, code study committees, or educational outreach activities;
  • Time spent preparing to teach or teaching professional courses. A design professional may not claim credit for preparing for or teaching the same course more than once; and
  • One CEPH may be claimed for attendance at one full-day session of a meeting of the Texas Board of Architectural Examiners.

Contact: Continuing Education Coordinator (ce@tbae.texas.gov)