What are the Continuing Education Requirements for Virginia Electricians
If you’re a Virginia electrician, we have good news and bad news. The bad news is that you’re probably going to have to do some digging into the state code to get a clear answer about what, exactly, is required to renew your license. The good news is the info you find will tell you that you don’t need to do too much.
And we’re here to help. To save you some time searching the web for specifics of your Virginia electrician license renewal, we rounded up the details of the continuing education requirement.
And that CE is pretty important. You can’t renew your license with the Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation (DPOR) until you’ve completed the mandated number of continuing education hours. And those hours need to be from a DPOR-approved provider and need to focus on specific topics.
Don’t panic. Here’s everything you need to know to knock out your Virginia electrician continuing education quickly and easily.
The CE hours required for renewal
Most tradesmen licenses expire every two years, but you have three years between renewal if you’re an electrician, gas fitter, HVAC tech, or plumber. That means you have two or three years to complete the continuing education hours you need.
Now, let’s take a quick look at the CE hours you need depending on your trade:
- Electrician CEU: 3 hours
- HVAC technicians: 3 hours
- Elevator mechanics: 8 hours
- Fire sprinkler inspectors: 8 hours
Consider yourself lucky. Some states require dozens of hours of continuing education for their tradespeople, so the handful you need in Virginia isn’t too bad.
The topics your hours need to cover
If you want to read the state code to understand what your hours need to cover, be our guest. But the gist of it is that your hours need to be focused on your trade and any relevant code updates.
The good news is that you don’t necessarily need to worry about the topics that your CE hours hit — provided you choose a DPOR-approved education provider. The state only gives providers approval if their courses focus on the required areas. So as long as you choose someone with the DPOR’s thumbs-up, you’re good to go.
Ultimately, that means you should double-check that any education provider you’re considering is DPOR approved. Look for their approval letter from the Board for Contractors. You can see an example at the bottom of our tradesman continuing education page.
Fortunately for tradesmen, the DPOR has approved a handful of education providers to offer CE online. That means you can take your hours from your computer, tablet, or phone whenever you have the time.
Reporting your CE to the DPOR
More good news: you don’t need to do anything to tell the DPOR that you’ve completed the required continuing education. Per state law, your education provider is required to send your course completion data to the DPOR within seven days. And that should make renewing your Virginia tradesman license a little easier for you.