CE Requirements for Employed Commission-Certified Personnel

The following information is provided as a quick reference for continuing education (CE) requirements. For more specific information, please see Chapter 441 of the commission's Standards Manual.

TCFP certificate holders who are employed must earn a minimum of 18 hours of CE per year.
- Two additional hours of CE above the 18 hours are required annually for each discipline to which a person is appointed.
- For personnel employed by a fire department, the head of the department may select the subject matter to satisfy these hours.
Anyone holding a Wildland Fire Protection certification must earn four hours of wildland fire protection CE each year; annual training must include a hands-on refresher in the deployment of a fire shelter. These four hours can be used to help satisfy the 18-hour requirement.
Anyone holding a Hazardous Materials Technician certification must obtain eight hours of technician-level CE each year in addition to the requirements above.
CE can be completed in Level 1 or Level 2 subject areas. (Level 1 training repeats basic-level skills. Level 2 training is intended to develop NEW skills. Please see 441.3.)

Other information:

For more information, please contact the certification section at (512) 936-3820.

Example of Calculating Required CE Hours

Example 1

An employee holds a Structure Fire Fighter certification and a Hazmat Technician certification, and is appointed (in FIDO) to fire suppression duties:

Hours	Subjects
18	Any (selected by head of department)
2	Fire Suppression
8	Hazmat (tech level)

Total: 28

Example 2

An employee holds a Structure Fire Fighter certification and a Fire Inspector certification, but is appointed (in FIDO) only to fire suppression duties:

Hours	Subjects
18	Any (selected by head of department)
2	Fire Suppression

Total: 20

NOTE: Two hours of CE for fire inspector is not required if the employee is not appointed to those duties. If appointed to inspector duties, add two hours of inspector CE to total.

Example 3

An employee holds a Structure Fire Fighter certification, a Fire Inspector certification, a Wildland Fire Protection certification, and a Hazmat Technician certification. The employee person is appointed (in FIDO) to fire suppression and inspector duties:

Hours	Subjects
18	Any (selected by head of department to include 4 hours wildland)
2	Fire Suppression
2	Fire Inspection
8	Hazmat (technician level)

Total: 30

NOTE: Anyone holding a Wildland certification must earn four hours of wildland CE each year; annual training must include a hands-on refresher in fire shelter deployment. These four hours can be used to help satisfy the 18-hour requirement.

Example 4

An employee holds Arson Investigator, Fire Inspector and Incident Safety Officer certifications, and the employee is appointed (in FIDO) to investigator and inspector duties:

Hours	Subjects
18	Any (selected by head of department)
2	Investigator
2	Inspector

Total: 22

NOTE: There is no specific CE requirement for Incident Safety Officer. However, training completed in this subject area can be used to satisfy the 18-hour requirement.