A simpler licensing and registration renewal exercise
CEA will be conducting its annual licence and registration renewal exercise for property agencies and agents from 1 to 31 October 2019. This year, we have made some changes to simplify the renewal exercise:
Property agents do not need to fulfil the CPD2 requirement
During the CEA Estate Agency Conference on 26 March 2019, CEA announced that there will be a new CPD framework with effect from the next CPD cycle commencing 1 October 2019.
For the current 2018/2019 CPD cycle that will end on 30 September 2019, KEOs and property agents are still required to fulfil six CPD credit hours (i.e. CPD1 requirement) under the existing CPD framework. Out of these six CPD credit hours, three credit hours must be for core subjects i.e. either from the C1, C2, or C3 categories.
To help in the transition, CEA has waived the CPD2 requirement for the 2018/2019 CPD cycle. This means that KEOs and agents are not required to attend at least one core CPD course from each of the C1, C2, and C3 categories over three consecutive CPD cycles (i.e. over a three-year period).
All agents, including former ones, can check their CPD fulfilment status via the My CPD Portal.
Property agencies no longer have to submit Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) information
Agencies have to ensure that their PII for the new licensed year provides adequate coverage based on the number of agents it has and all the types of estate agency work it would be conducting. For example, if they are dealing with the marketing of foreign properties, their PII has to cover the territories where the foreign properties are located.
Starting with this year’s renewal exercise, CEA will simplify the process and not require agencies to submit their PII information in their renewal application.
Instead, CEA will obtain the PII information from the PII insurance brokers where possible, and will only request individual agencies to submit the relevant information for checks or clarifications if necessary.
What to note for renewal
Here are the tasks and deadlines property agencies and agents should note to ensure a smooth renewal process:
Step 1: Fulfil your Central Provident Fund (CPF) Medisave contribution by 30 September 2019.
Under Section 3(1) of the Central Provident Fund (Self-Employed Persons) Regulations, self-employed persons who earn a yearly income of more than $6,000 a year are required to contribute to CPF Medisave for their healthcare and retirement needs.
Agents are required to fulfil their CPF obligations by 30 September 2019, before the start of the renewal exercise.
Those who are in arrears of their CPF Medisave contribution and are not on any instalment repayment plan approved by the CPF Board by then will not be allowed to take part in the renewal exercise. They will hence be unable to carry out estate agency work from 1 January 2020 onwards.
You can check your outstanding Medisave liabilities and payment status via CPF Board’s website or contact CPF Board at 1800-227-1188.
Step 2: Fulfil your CPD cycle requirements by 30 September 2019.
Agents have to complete a minimum of six CPD credit hours, of which at least three CPD credit hours must be on core subjects. As mentioned earlier, CEA has waived the CPD2 requirement for the 2018/2019 CPD cycle.
You can check your CPD fulfilment status by logging in to the My CPD Portal.
Step 3: Submit your renewal application between 1 and 31 October 2019.
Between 1 and 31 October 2019, submit your renewal application via CEA’s e-Service using your SingPass for individual property agents, or CorpPass for property agencies.
Registration/licence fees and application fees apply for each renewal application submitted.
Here are other things to note to ensure that your renewal process goes smoothly:
- Property agents who apply to switch agencies before 1 October 2019 will be registered with the new agency only until 31 December 2019. To continue to be registered in 2020, they have to take part in the upcoming renewal exercise in October 2019.
- Property agents who apply to switch agencies between 1 October and 31 December 2019 will only be registered with the new agency from 1 January 2020.
