1.5 Continuing Professional Competency (CPC) & License Renewal
Key Takeaways
- Every licensee must obtain 15 PDH units during the renewal period, and effective with the 2024 renewal at least 1 PDH must be in Ethics or Rules of Professional Conduct; a Professional Land Surveyor must additionally obtain 1 PDH in the Standards of Practice for Land Surveying.
- A maximum of 15 excess PDH units may be carried forward into the subsequent renewal period under 21 NCAC 56 .1703.
- 21 NCAC 56 .1704 fixes the conversions: one college semester hour equals 45 PDH, one quarter hour equals 30 PDH, one Continuing Education Unit equals 10 PDH, one contact hour equals 1 PDH credited to the nearest one-third hour, teaching credit is doubled for a first-time offering only, and a published paper, article, or book earns 10 PDH.
- Records must be kept three years under 21 NCAC 56 .1706, and 21 NCAC 56 .1712 makes compliance subject to a Board audit of licensees chosen by random selection or based on information available to the Board.
- An individual land surveying license expires on the last day of each calendar year and is renewed through the online portal between December 1 and January 31 for a $75 fee; the surveyor intern certificate does not expire.
1.5 Continuing Professional Competency (CPC) & License Renewal
Continuing Professional Competency is governed by Section .1700 of 21 NCAC Chapter 56, adopted under G.S. 89C-10(a) and 89C-17. Ten rules matter: .1702 definitions, .1703 requirements, .1704 units, .1705 determination of credit, .1706 recordkeeping, .1707 exemptions, .1708 reinstatement, .1709 comity, .1710 dual licensees, and .1712 compliance. Cite them by the right number — the exam is open book, and a wrong rule reference in your notes will send you to the wrong page.
1. The Annual Requirement (21 NCAC 56 .1703)
"Every licensee shall obtain 15 PDH units during the renewal period. Effective as of the 2024 license renewal, for all licensees at least 1 PDH shall be in Ethics or Rules of Professional Conduct. In addition, for Professional Land Surveyors 1 PDH shall be in the Standards of Practice for Land Surveying."
Read that as two distinct mandatory topics, not one topic with two acceptable subjects:
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 15 PDH PER RENEWAL PERIOD - A NC LAND SURVEYOR |
| |
| +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| | 1 PDH MANDATORY - Ethics or Rules of Professional Conduct | |
| | (all licensees, effective with the 2024 renewal) | |
| +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| | 1 PDH MANDATORY - Standards of Practice for Land Surveying | |
| | (Professional Land Surveyors, "in addition") | |
| +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| | 13 PDH General technical, geodetic, boundary, and legal subjects | |
| +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| |
| CARRYFORWARD: if a licensee exceeds the requirement in a renewal period, |
| a maximum of 15 PDH units may be carried into the NEXT renewal period. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An engineer needs only the one ethics PDH. A land surveyor needs that one plus a Standards of Practice PDH — the word in the rule is "in addition." A dual licensee is addressed separately by 21 NCAC 56 .1710.
Selecting activities that satisfy Rule .1702(4) is expressly the licensee's responsibility, and the rule warns that the Board's post-evaluation of documented courses against Rules .1702, .1703, .1704, and .1705 "may result in non-acceptance."
The eleven ways to earn PDH (21 NCAC 56 .1703(1)-(11))
College courses; continuing education courses, seminars, or workshops; correspondence, televised, internet, videotaped, audiotaped and other courses or tutorials provided an exam is required for completion (no exam is required for a documented webinar); presenting or attending seminars, in-house courses, workshops, or technical presentations at meetings, conventions, or conferences; teaching or instructing any of the foregoing; authoring published papers, articles, or books; active participation in professional or technical societies or accrediting organizations; patents; authoring exam questions accepted for use in the engineering or land surveying exams; active participation on government boards, commissions, committees, or councils; and active participation in educational outreach about licensure or the professions involving K-12 or higher education students.
2. Unit Conversions (21 NCAC 56 .1704)
| Activity | PDH value |
|---|---|
| 1 college or unit semester hour | 45 PDH |
| 1 college or unit quarter hour | 30 PDH |
| 1 Continuing Education Unit (CEU) | 10 PDH |
| 1 contact hour of professional development in coursework, seminars, technical presentations, or correspondence/internet/recorded courses | 1 PDH — contact hours equal actual instruction time, credited to the nearest one-third of an hour |
| Teaching items (1)-(4) | PDH credits are doubled — first time only, and not for full-time faculty at the institution where the licensee teaches |
| Each published paper, article, or book | 10 PDH |
| Active participation in a professional or technical society or accrediting organization | 2 PDH per society or organization |
The CEU line is the one candidates miss: a single CEU is worth ten PDH, so a course advertised as "0.8 CEU" is 8 PDH.
3. Credit Limits (21 NCAC 56 .1705)
Rule .1705 is where the caps live, and they are per-entity rather than global:
- (b) College and community college credit is based on the course credit established by the college.
- (c) Continuing education courses, seminars, and workshops earn one PDH per hour of attendance. Programs presented at professional and technical society meetings earn PDH for the actual time of each program.
- (d) Correspondence, televised, internet, videotaped, audiotaped, and other courses or tutorials that require an exam earn one PDH per assigned hour, provided the hours reflect the material required to complete the course.
- (e) For published papers, articles, books, and patents, the licensee bears the burden of supporting and documenting the hours reported.
- (f) Active participation in professional or technical societies or accrediting organizations is limited to 2 PDH per society or organization, requires service as an officer or contributing committee membership, and credits are not earned until the end of each year of service is completed.
- (g) Active participation on boards, commissions, committees, or councils of private, local, state, or federal government entities is limited to 2 PDH per entity and requires actually using land surveying knowledge; again, credit accrues only at the end of each year of service.
- (h) Educational outreach to K-12 or higher education students about licensure or the professions is limited to 3 PDH.
[!NOTE] Routine employment does not generate PDH. Running boundary work for clients, drafting in CAD, and managing the business are the practice of the profession, not continuing education in it.
4. Recordkeeping and Audit (21 NCAC 56 .1706 and .1712)
Licensees report compliance at renewal; they do not attach certificates. Verification happens through audit.
What you must keep (.1706):
- A log showing the type of activity claimed, title or specific subject, sponsoring organization, location, duration, date, instructor's or speaker's name, and PDH credits earned, on a form prescribed by the Board; and
- Attendance verification records — completion certificates or other documents evidencing attendance.
These records must be maintained for three years and may be requested by the Board for audit verification. The Board will accept other records that contain the required information.
How the audit works (.1712):
- Compliance is determined through an audit process conducted by the Board.
- Licensees to be audited are chosen by random selection or as the result of information available to the Board — so a complaint or an inconsistent filing can trigger one.
- A selected licensee must provide attendance verification records (transcripts, completion certificates, other supporting documents) and the .1706 log, plus information on course content, instructors, and sponsoring organization for activities not presented by a Board-approved sponsor under .1713.
- Paragraph (b) repeats the three-year retention period for audit purposes.
[!CAUTION] Rule .1712 sets no fixed response deadline and no cure period. Prep material that promises "30 days to respond and 180 days to cure" is describing a procedure that is not in the rule. Respond within whatever period the Board's correspondence specifies; note that under the Rules of Professional Conduct, 21 NCAC 56 .0701(i), a licensee under investigation must respond "timely," which the rule defines as within the time stated in the correspondence or, if none is stated, within 30 days of receipt.
5. Exemptions (21 NCAC 56 .1707) and Reinstatement (.1708)
Rule .1707 — not .1708 — lists the four exemptions:
- New licensees by examination or comity are exempt for their first renewal period.
- Armed forces service. A licensee in good standing serving in the armed forces who is eligible for an extension of time to file a tax return under G.S. 105-249.2 is granted a waiver for the time period disregarded under 26 U.S.C. 7508. The licensee should notify the Board of eligibility before the current license expires; if that notice is missed, a renewal application filed within the extension period with proof of eligibility makes the license retroactively not expired and free of reinstatement fees, and the licensee may renew despite not completing the CPC requirements. The Executive Director approves such requests administratively and reports them to the Board. There is no "120 consecutive days" threshold — eligibility is tied to the tax-filing extension.
- Physical disability, illness, or other extenuating circumstances that prevent obtaining PDH, on supporting documentation, likewise approved administratively by the Executive Director.
- Inactive status. Licensees who list their occupation as "Inactive" on the Board-approved renewal form and are no longer providing engineering or land surveying services are exempt from PDH. On returning to active practice, PDH must be earned under Rule .1708 for each year exempted, not to exceed the annual requirement for two years.
Reinstatement (.1708) is a single, quotable sentence: a licensee may bring an inactive license to active status by obtaining all delinquent PDH units, but if the total required to become current exceeds 30, then 30 is the maximum. Reinstating a license that was not renewed within 12 months after expiration — an archived license — requires a new application in addition to the delinquent PDH.
Do not cite .1709 for inactive status: .1709 is the comity / out-of-jurisdiction resident rule, and .1710 covers dual licensees.
6. Individual Renewal Mechanics (21 NCAC 56 .0606)
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Expiration | A license to practice surveying expires on the last day of each calendar year |
| Renewal window | Online licensee portal, December 1 through January 31 |
| Fee | $75 annual renewal fee |
| Reported at renewal | Physical business and residential addresses, CPC compliance, and any criminal convictions or disciplinary actions |
| Surveyor intern certificate | Does not expire and does not have to be renewed |
Three separate 30-day notice duties attach to the individual licensee under .0606(a): change of business or residential address; any criminal conviction, including DWI but excluding minor traffic offenses that are neither misdemeanor nor felony (a nolo contendere plea counts as a conviction for reporting); and any disciplinary action in any jurisdiction that restricts the licensee's practice — revocation, suspension, denial, refusal to renew or reinstate, probation, restriction of practice area, or voluntary permanent surrender.
A North Carolina Professional Land Surveyor completes 15 PDH for the renewal period, including 1 PDH on the Board's Rules of Professional Conduct. Is the licensee compliant with 21 NCAC 56 .1703?
A licensee completes a three-semester-hour college course in geodesy and also attends a workshop advertised as 1.5 CEU. Under 21 NCAC 56 .1704, how many PDH units do these two activities generate in total?
Which rule in 21 NCAC 56 Section .1700 governs exemptions from the continuing education requirement?
An inactive Professional Land Surveyor who has been inactive for six years applies to return to active practice. Under 21 NCAC 56 .1708, how many delinquent PDH units must the licensee obtain?