Certification Renewal |
To reinstate your ACOPNE Diplomate Board Certification, please contact ACOPNE staff at [email protected] or by phone at (703) 295-6160.
To adhere to ACOPNE's aim to encourage life-long learning and continued professional development, all Diplomates are to obtain continuing education unit hours annually and need to be prepared to present documentation upon request. A percentage of recertification applications will be audited.
Exempt from completing the continuing education professional development requirements are Diplomates in Distinguished or Retired status. Also exempt are those Diplomates who were on active military duty for a minimum of six months during the calendar year, who were in foreign employment a minimum of six months during the calendar year, or who suffered a serious illness or injury themselves or an immediate family member. Those individuals will be provided additional time to complete the requirement commensurate with the years of exception.
The annual certification fee shall be payable annually in advance of the first day of October. All fees shall be paid in United States dollars by credit card, check or money order.
Diplomates will receive a renewal notice on the annual anniversary of the ACOPNE Board's issuance of their certification. The renewal will require that the Diplomate:
The annual board certification fee is set by the ACOPNE Board of Trustees and is currently $200 ($150 for ASCE members) for each certification held.
The failure of a Diplomate to pay the required renewal fee, to provide satisfactory proof of the required continuing professional development hours, or to provide satisfactory proof of current possession of a professional engineer license at time of certification renewal may result in the suspension of the individual's certification, pending action of the Board of Trustees. A former Diplomate, whose certification was suspended for any of these three reasons, may be reinstated by the Secretary upon recommendation from the Admissions Committee, providing all of the previously mentioned conditions are satisfied.
Diplomates in retired status will not be required to acquire any PDHs and the renewal fee is $25 per year. To qualify, you must be retired from full-time work and working less than 25% of your time. One can also renew as a Lifetime Retired Diplomate status for a one-time payment of $250.
The recertification period for 2022 closed on March 31. To reinstate your ACOPNE Diplomate Board Certification, please contact ACOPNE staff at [email protected] or by phone at (703) 295-6160.
A professional development hour (PDH) is a contact hour (CH) of instruction or presentation. It is the common denominator for other units of credit. A continuing education unit (CEU) is a unit of credit customarily used for formal continuing education courses. 1 CEU consisting of 10 contact hours of instruction and presentation equals 10 PDHs in a qualifying continuing education course as defined by criteria of the International Association for Continuing Education and Training.
If you participate in any of the Items 1 thru 4 as an instructor, you receive double the number of PDHs the first time it is presented. That allows credit for developing the material and for presenting the material. For example, if you present a two-hour seminar (Item #2), you will receive 4 PDHs. Attending the two-hour seminar entitles the participant to 2 PDHs.
Any course or activity with a clear technical, professional, or ethical purpose and objective that will maintain, improve, or expand professional skills and knowledge relevant to the Diplomate's particular field of practice will qualify for professional development hours.
Typical activities that do not qualify include personal self-improvement courses, service club meetings or activities, teaching or presenting as a regular part of employment, business meetings of any organization, equipment demonstrations, trade shows, and topics not relevant to marine-related professional ethics.
The responsibility for maintaining records and documentation to support the PDHs claimed is solely the burden of the Diplomate. That documentation should include a description of the activity, sponsoring organization, location, dates, duration, instructors' name, appropriate certificates and number of PDHs earned. The Annual Summary of PDHs Earned form provides a convenient format to record and keep track of one's continuing professional development. A sampling of certification renewal applications will be selected for detailed audits. Those selected for audits will be asked to provide detailed verification for all PDHs claimed.
You can download the application, fill it out and either fax, email or mail the completed form:
NCEES guidelines for acceptable PDHs
The International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET)
| Item # | Activity | PDHs |
| 1 |
Successful completion of continuing education courses that grant CEU's |
1 CEU = 10 PDHs |
| 2 | Attending professional/technical seminars, in-house courses, workshops, professional/technical conventions and conferences | 1 Contact hour =1PDH |
| 3 | Completing long distance seminars or courses | 1 Contact hour = 1PDH |
| 4 | Successful completion of college courses:
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| 5 | Each published professional or technical paper, article, chapter or report:
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| 6 | Each professional or technical book or manual | 30 PDH |
| 7 | Active participation in a relevant professional or technical organization |
2 PDH per organization - Maximum of 8 PDHs allowed. |
| 8 | Self-study of professional or technical literature | 1 contact hour = 1 PDH Maximum of 5 PDHs allowed. |
| 9 | Each patent (during year patent is issued) | 10 PDH |
* - Peer-Reviewed: Having undergone the process by which manuscripts submitted to marine engineering related journals and other publications are evaluated by experts in appropriate fields (usually anonymous to the authors) to determine if the manuscripts are of adequate quality for publication. **If reviewing a paper/article, an hour spent on reviewing a paper/article should be considered as one PDH. Time spent on peer-reviewing articles receives 2 PDHs, per article.
