CEA - FAQ

Home » Estate Agents and Salespersons » Continuing Professional Development » FAQ

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions on Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

I) Calculation of CPD Credit Hours

Q1.

I understand the CPD requirement is 6 hours per year. Having fulfilled 6 CPD hours by attending only core CPD activities, do I still need to take another 3 hours of non-core activities?

A1.

Starting from 1 Apr 2011, all KEOs, practising directors/partners and salespersons must fulfil the mandatory 6 hours of CPD per year. At least 3 CPD hours must be on core subjects that are mainly on Government Regulations, policies and procedures relating to HDB and private transactions, as well as on professional ethics. Core subjects serve to enhance the professional competency and effectiveness; while non-core subjects target at raising the skills, and are no less important.
If you have attended core CPD activities with at least 6 credit CPD hours, you need not attend the non-core CPD activities. Nevertheless, this should not deter you from attending courses to continuously upgrade your professional knowledge and skills.

Q2.

How is the CPD credit hour computed? If I have attended a 3-day Real Estate Seminar, how many CPD hours can be awarded?

A2.

For all core CPD activities, the activity provider must seek CEA's prior approval. Allocation of CPD credit hours will be based on the programme submitted. For non-core CPD activities, there is no need to get CEA's prior approval, but allocation of hours by the activity provider must follow the same guidelines as that of core CPD activities as follows:

	One CPD credit hour will be awarded for each contact hour of formal learning.
	There is a cap of 2 credit hours per day if the number of contact hours of the CPD course exceeds 2 hours. This is for typical workshop/seminars that are of shorter duration like half day or full day.
	If the activity runs more than 1 day, it can be accorded with CPD credit hours of 2 x no. of days. Whether it is core and/or non-core credit hours will depend on the professional content in the CPD Application submitted by the activity provider. It can be all core, mixture, or all non-core. E.g. if a 3-day course covers different core CPD subjects, CEA will award 6 CPD hours.

Q3.

I attended a 3-day non-core workshop, how many CPD hours are awarded?

A3.

A maximum of 2 CPD credit hours per day for a full day non-core activity would be awarded. For a 3-day non-core activity, 6 CPD hours can be awarded. Notwithstanding this, salespersons are still required to undertake at least 3 CPD hours on core subjects as part of CEA's requirement.

Q4.

Since CEA awards 1 core CPD hour per activity for trainers of core activity, will the same treatment be accorded to trainers of non-core CPD activity?

A4.

Yes, the CPD-hour guideline applies to trainers of non-core CPD activities as well.

Q5.

Salespersons must do minimum 6 CPD hours each year but if they did more hours in one year, can they carry the excess hours to the next year?

A5.

Carrying forward of excess CPD hours to the following year is not allowed, because the objective of CPD is ensure that practitioners are equipped with up-to-date professional knowledge. If we allow excess hours to be carried forward to the next year, this objective may not be achieved. Also, our CPD requirement of 6 hours a year is relatively low, and easily achievable.

II) Core and Non-core Activities

Q6.

Who can decide on what is a non-core activity?

A6.

KEOs can assess and decide on the relevance of non-core activities undertaken by their salespersons and ensure that their non-core CPD hours comply with CEA's requirements as set out in the CPD Guideline in CEA's website. Prior approval from CEA is not required for non-core activities.
Estate agents should maintain close supervision on non-core activities and shall be convinced that the activities meet CEA's requirements if they wish to consider the non-core activities.
There is no restriction to non-core CPD activities. It can be any of the publicly available courses/workshops or in-house training as long as the content is in line with the identified subjects, i.e. N1-N6 of CPD Guidelines.

Q7.

We have a company retreat/"boot camp" held local/overseas, can it be counted as CPD? I have a foreign visitor from my parent company overseas and he gave a talk on the property market trend overseas. Can this be counted as a CPD activity?

A7.

Depending on the content, it can be considered as a CPD activity if it is classified as an activity with core or non-core subject. Prior approval from CEA must be sought for core CPD-subject activities. For non-core activities, KEOs can assess the relevance of the activities based on CEA's Guidelines.

Q8.

I attended the "Up Your Service!" workshop by Service Guru Mr Ron Kaufman, can I count this as a CPD activity?

A8.

KEOs can assess whether the activity fulfils the guidelines for the non-core subjects under N1 to N6 of CPD Guidelines.

Q9.

If I am not sure if an activity can be counted as non-core, can I send the details to CEA to check?

A9.

Salespersons should check with their KEOs who will assess the relevance of activities undertaken by their salespersons and ensure that their non-core CPD hours are in line with CEA's requirements.

Q10.

Can KEOs' attendance at CEA's industry briefing be counted as CPD hours? If KEOs brief salespersons after attending CEA's industry dialogue, can it be counted as CPD?

A10.

CEA's briefings to KEOs are not counted as CPD credit hours. If KEOs could package the update with other in-house training to their salespersons and seek CEA's prior approval, the activity can be considered as core CPD hours.

Q11.

We held/attended a 2-day conference in Mar 2011, can we count it as CPD hours?

A11.

Course/workshops/seminars attended before 1 Apr 2011 are not considered as CPD activities. For year 2011, you are given an extended period till 31 Mar 2012 to fulfil the 6 CPD hours (of which at least 3 hours are on core subjects).

III) Record Keeping

Q12.

What records must I keep? What records must be kept for 3 years?

A12.

CPD activity providers shall keep proper and accurate records of activity date/venue, course materials and a list of the activity trainers and their qualifications. These documents shall be submitted for CEA's verification when requested.
KEOs are required to keep a proper internal system of record keeping for salespersons' CPD activities and hours.
Salespersons must also keep a record of their Certificate of Attendance issued by Activity Providers; or Letter of Confirmation of Attendance given by Activity Providers.
Activity Providers are required to keep records on salespersons' attendance, name of CPD activities attended and CPD hours for at least 3 years.

Q13.

If the CPD activity provider is also the estate agent, does it keep 2 separate sets of attendance record, i.e. one which is computer readable in a format specified by CEA and another which is required of KEOs to key into CEA's system (available from May 2011)?

A13.

KEOs are required to key in individual salespersons' information into CEA's Estate Agents System. They shall do so, after verifying the Certificate of Attendance or Letter of Confirmation of Attendance produced by salespersons. If estate agents are also CPD activity providers for any particular CPD activity, they are required to maintain proper and accurate record keeping of more detailed information (refer to A11 above). These are two separate requirements for the KEOs. KEOs have to carry out both separate tasks judiciously.

Q14.

Can the estate agent (especially for smaller estate agent) use the CEA's module available from May 2011 for monitoring its salespersons' attendance in CPD activities rather than create a separate system to make its annual declaration to CEA of the salespersons who met CPD requirements?

A14.

Estate agents should have a proper internal system of record keeping for their management purposes, and to maintain proper oversight of their salespersons' CPD activities and hours. CEA will provide a Declaration Form for KEOs, which will be made known at a later date.

IV) Submission of Application to CEA

Q15.

Can 2 estate agents combine to run a CPD activity? Can an estate agent and external body (e.g. HDB or private education institution) combine to organise a CPD activity?

A15.

Activity providers/estate agents can submit their proposal to CEA and our assessment will be based on the content of the core activity to ensure that it meets the CPD's requirement. Determination on the number of core CPD hour is based on individual submission of CPD application.

V) CPD Cycle

Q16.

What is the CPD cycle for registered salespersons, existing KEOs/salespersons with conditional/provisional registration to pass the RES/REA exam, and new entrants?

A16.

The CPD cycle is as follows for the 3 categories:

	Existing KEOs, practising directors/partners and salespersons given full registration will have to comply with the first CPD cycle from 1 Apr 2011 to 31 Mar 2012. Thereafter, the CPD cycle will be based on calendar year from 1 Jan to 31 Dec.
	For existing KEOs, practising directors/partners and salespersons with conditional/ provisional registration and have passed the REA/RES Exam between Jan-Dec 2011, they are exempted from CPD requirement in 2011 and will need to comply with CPD cycle from 2012 onwards.
	New KEOs, practising directors/partners and salespersons registered at any time between 1 Jan-31 Dec of the year are exempted from CPD requirement in the 1st year and will need to comply with CPD cycle in the 2nd year onwards.

Q17.

What is the process if a salesperson wants to leave the industry for more than 3 months but less than 1 year so that he/she can be exempted from CPD requirement?

A17.

By leaving the industry, we mean that the salesperson is no longer registered with CEA through an estate agent, i.e. he/she has resigned from the estate agent. He/she will have to apply to register as a salesperson if he/she wishes to conduct estate agency work. When he/she applies to CEA to be registered as a salesperson through the estate agent, CEA's system will monitor how long he/she left the industry and whether any exemptions from CPD hours will be accorded.

VI) Licensing/Registration-related

Q18.

If a KEO/practising director/partner/salesperson has not fulfilled the CPD requirement of minimum 6 hours by the end of the licensing/registration renewal period of 31 Dec 2011, what will happen?

A18.

If the minimum of 6 CPD hours could not be fulfilled by 31 Dec 2011, CEA will grant a conditional licence/registration to the KEO/practising director/partner/salesperson up till 31 Mar 2012. If he/she does not comply by 31 Mar 2012, he/she will not be allowed to do any estate agency work, and will be removed from CEA's Public register. He/she will have to apply to register as a salesperson should he/she wishes to conduct estate agency work.

Q19.

If a KEO/salesperson with full registration does not fulfil the CPD requirement of minimum 6 hours by 31 Mar 2012, what will happen to the registration?

A19.

In this scenario, the KEO/salesperson's licence/registration will be removed from 1 Apr 2012 and he is not allowed to conduct estate agency work. CPD is a renewal licensing/registration condition stipulated in the Estate Agents (Licensing and Registration) Regulations 2010. Failure to comply will affect their registration and will lead to removal from the Public Register.

Q20.

For salespersons who switch estate agents, will their CPD record be transferred to the new company?

A20.

When there is change in estate agents, the salesperson's CPD record will be transferred to the new company.

VII) Others

Q21.

Can I ask participants to pay fees for CPD activity?

A21.

Activity providers/estate agents can decide on the fee to be imposed on the participants.

Q22.

How long will CEA take to assess and grant approval for application of core CPD activity?

A22.

CEA requires 3-4 weeks to process and evaluate an application for core CPD activity. CEA may ask for more information and/or a briefing when processing the application.

Q23.

How do I enrol for core and non-core CPD activities?

A23.

You can refer to CEA's website from time to time for the latest list of approved core CPD activities. For non-core CPD activities, they can be any of the publicly available courses/workshops or in-house training as long as the content is in line with the identified subjects (N1-N6 of CPD Guidelines). KEOs/practising directors/salespersons can source for such courses/workshops on their own. For more details/registration for core CPD activities that are posted on CEA website, you can contact the activity provider directly.

Last Updated on 17-May-2012

Latest News

More>>