The Oregon Construction Contractors Board (CCB) has made changes to the continuing education requirements. The changes went into effect on January 1, 2014 and continue throughout 2015. Continuing education (CE) must be completed for every two-year renewal period. All contractor license holders will take at least 8 hours of CE which consist of 3 hours of Business Law and Practices (only available from the CCB) and 5 hours of Series A courses. Years of experience under a different license count toward the 6 years. An additional 8 hours of classes (Series A or Series B) are required if the license has been held for less than 6 years.
(Source: contractor-licensing.com)
Residential Contractor Licenses
For residential contractors, the CCB must approve both the education providers and the individual classes that are offered. The course providers report the completed class hours to the CCB, then the CCB verifies the hours when it is time for license renewal.
Commercial Contractor Licenses
For commercial contractors, required class hours depends on license endorsement and number of key employees that the business had on the date of the last license issuance or renewal. One or more key employees can complete the classes. The CCB defines a key employee as an owner or an employee who is a corporate officer, manager, superintendent, foreperson, lead person, or anyone else who supervises construction activities. Courses can be taken from a variety of businesses, agencies, or organizations. The CCB is not required to approve either the providers or the individual classes. Commercial contractors are expected to keep track of completed class records and then certify at license renewal time that the requirements have been completed.
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Level 1 commercial general or specialty contractors need:
- 5 or more key employees: 80 hours
- 4 key employees: 64 hours
- 3 key employees: 48 hours
- 2 key employees: 32 hours
- 1 key employee: 16 hours
Level 2 commercial general or specialty contractors need:
- 32 hours of education.
These commercial contractors are exempt from continuing education:
- Commercial developers
- Electrical contractors
- Plumbing contractors
- Boiler or pressure vessels
- Elevator contractors
- Renewable energy contractors
- Pump installation contractors
For contractors that are licensed for both residential and commercial construction, the requirements must be fulfilled for the residential CE and the commercial requirement. The hours taken for the residential CE requirement also apply to the commercial requirements.
Source: Oregon CCB, 2015.
