(1) Any education provider or course developer must submit a course to the department for approval.

(2) Course approval by the department is required prior to the date on which the course is offered for clock hour credit.

(3) Each application for approval of a course shall be submitted to the department on the appropriate application form provided by the department.

(4) The director or designee shall approve, disapprove, or conditionally approve applications based upon criteria established by the board.

(5) Upon approval, disapproval or conditional approval, the applicant will be so advised in writing by the department. Notification of disapproval shall include the reasons therefor.

(6) Approval shall expire two years after the effective date of approval.

Any education provider desiring to offer any prescribed curriculum courses shall utilize the most recent course curriculum prescribed by the department, and shall include in its title the phrase "fundamentals of home inspection" if submitted for approval for clock hours. No other courses shall use this phrase in their titles.

(1) If there are no changes for a previously approved course in the course content or in the original course approval application or WAC 308-408B-040 affecting the topic areas or criteria for approval, the course will be approved upon receipt of a course renewal application and payment of the required fee for one renewal cycle only.

(2) If there are changes in course content or in the original course approval application for a previously approved course, other than updating for changes required by WAC 308-408B-050, the application will not be processed as a renewal, and will require completion of a course approval application and payment of the required fee.

(3) If a course renewal application or a course approval application is submitted at least thirty days prior to the current course expiration date, the previous course approval shall remain in effect until action is taken by the director.

Courses shall meet one of the following requirements:

(1) Be offered by a private entity; or

(2) Be offered by a tax-supported, public technical or community college or other institution of higher learning that offers college credits; or

(3) Be offered by the Washington home inspector board; and

(4) Have a minimum of one hundred twenty hours of coursework or instruction for the student for prelicense; or

(5) Have a minimum of two hours of coursework or instruction for the student for continuing education. A clock-hour is a period of fifty minutes of actual instruction; and

(6) Provide practical information related to the practice of home inspection in any of the following home inspection topic areas:

(a) Department prescribed curricula for prelicense:

Fundamentals of home inspection.

(b) Continuing education:

(i) Communications;

(ii) Structures;

(iii) Plumbing;

(iv) Electrical;

(v) Heating;

(vi) Ventilation;

(vii) Air conditioning;

(viii) Law and business administration;

(ix) Current trends and issues;

(x) Exteriors;

(xi) Interiors;

(xii) Consumer protection;

(xiii) Report writing; and

(xiv) Environmental conditions or hazardous materials.

(7) Be under the supervision of an instructor, who shall, at a minimum, be available to respond to specific questions from students;

(8) The following types of courses will not be approved for clock hours:

(a) Mechanical office and business skills, such as, keyboarding, speed-reading, memory improvement, and grammar;

(b) Standardized software programs such as word processing, email, spreadsheets or databases; an example: A course specific to the reporting system necessary to deliver a home inspection would be acceptable, but a course teaching how to use a computer would not be acceptable;

(c) Orientation courses for licensees, such as those offered by trade associations;

(d) Personal and sales motivation courses or sales meetings held in conjunction with a licensee's general business;

(e) Courses that are designed or developed to serve other professions, unless each component of the curriculum and content specifically shows how a home inspector licensee can utilize the information in the practice of home inspection;

(f) Personal finance, etiquette, or motivational type courses;

(g) Courses that are designed to promote or offer to sell specific products or services to home inspector licensees such as warranty programs, client/customer database systems, software programs or other devices. Services or products can be offered during nonclock hour time, such as breaks or lunch time. Letterhead, logos, company names or other similar markings by itself, on course material are not considered promotional;

(h) Clock hours will not be awarded for any course time devoted to meals or transportation.

(9) Prelicense courses which are submitted for approval shall include a comprehensive examination(s) and answer key(s) of no fewer than two hundred questions, and a requirement of passing course grade of at least seventy percent; essay question examination keys shall identify the material to be tested and the points assigned for each question; an examination is not required for continuing education courses;

(10) Include textbook or instructional materials approved by the director, which shall be kept accurate and current;

(11) Not have a title which misleads the public as to the subject matter of the course;

(12) The provider's course application shall identify learning objectives and demonstrate how these are related to the practice of home inspection.

Course materials shall be updated no later than thirty days after the effective date of a change in federal, state, or local statutes or rules. Course materials shall also be updated no later than thirty days after changes in procedures or other revisions to the practice of home inspection which affect the validity or accuracy of the course material or instruction.

Each education provider must issue a certificate of course completion within thirty days to students who have satisfactorily completed the course requirements. The certificate shall include the following information:

(1) Student's name;

(2) School's name;

(3) The course commencement date and completion date;

(4) Course title;

(5) Clock hours for the course;

(6) School administrator's signature;

(7) Course identification number issued by the department;

(8) Instructor name; and

(9) Completion of a required examination, if applicable.

(1) Approved schools offering courses in a symposium or conference format with two or more modules of independent instruction may issue certificates of course completion for fewer clock hours than approved by the department on their original course approval application; and

(2) Students must complete a minimum of two clock hours of instruction to receive clock hour credit.

(1) The department shall have the authority on its own motion or upon complaint made to it to investigate or audit any course to determine compliance with chapter 18.280 RCW and with the rules and regulations of this chapter.

(2) Complaints concerning approved courses should be made in writing to the department and contain the following information when appropriate:

(a) The complainant's name, address, and telephone number;

(b) School name, address, and telephone number;

(c) Instructor(s) name;

(d) Nature of complaint and facts detailing dates of attendance, termination date, date of occurrence, names, addresses and positions of school officials contacted, and any other pertinent information;

(e) An explanation of what efforts if any, have been taken to resolve the problem with the school;

(f) Copies of pertinent documents, publications, and advertisements.

Course approval may be denied or withdrawn if the instructor or any owner, administrator or affiliated representative of a school, or a course provider or developer:

(1) Submits a false or incomplete course application or any other information required to be submitted to the department;

(2) Includes in its title the phrase "fundamentals of home inspection" if the course was not submitted for approval of clock hours pursuant to WAC 308-408B-020;

(3) If the title of the course misleads the public and/or licensees as to the subject matter of the course;

(4) If course materials are not updated within thirty days of the effective date of a change in the statute or rules;

(5) If course content or material changes are not submitted to the department for approval prior to the date of using the changed course content;

(6) Failed to meet the requirements under WAC 308-408B-040 and 308-408B-120;

(7) If a course or prescribed curriculum was approved through the mistake or inadvertence of the director.

Upon notice of course denial or disapproval or withdrawal of course approval, a person is entitled to a hearing conducted in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 34.05 RCW, and the provisions of WAC 308-408B-040. To exercise the right to a hearing under this section, a person must request a hearing within twenty days after receipt of the notice of denial, disapproval or withdrawal of course approval. Any person aggrieved by a final decision of the director or authorized representative of the director is entitled to judicial review under the provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 34.05 RCW.

(1) Each school shall maintain for a minimum of five years each student's record;

(2) A "student record" shall include:

(a) The name, address, and telephone number of the school;

(b) Full name, address, and telephone number of the student;

(c) Beginning and ending dates of attendance;

(d) Clock hour courses completed and examination results.

(3) Each school shall provide a copy of a student's record to the student or the department upon request.

Applicants are required to submit an application for each separate distance education delivery method for which they propose to offer approved courses for clock hours. When submitting a distance education delivery method application, the following minimum criteria must be provided by the applicant:

(1) Specify the course learning objectives for each learning unit and clearly demonstrate that the learning objectives cover the subject matter and how these relate to the practice of home inspection. Objectives must be specific to ensure that all content is covered adequately to ensure mastery;

(2) Demonstrate how mastery of the material is provided by:

(a) Dividing the material into major learning units, each of which divides the material into modules of instruction;

(b) Specifying learning objectives for each learning unit or module of instruction. Learning objectives must be comprehensive enough to ensure that if all the objectives are met, the entire content of the course will be mastered;

(c) Specifying an objective, quantitative criterion for mastering, used for each learning objective and provide a structured learning method designed to enable students to attain each objective.

(3) Demonstrate that the course includes the same or reasonably similar informational content as a course that would otherwise qualify for the requisite number of clock hours of classroom-based instruction and how the provider will know that the student completed the required number of clock hours;

(4) Describe consistent and regular interactive events appropriate to the delivery method. The interactive elements must be designed to promote student involvement in the learning process, and must directly support the student's achievement of the course learning objectives. The application must identify the interactive events included in the course and specify how the interactive events contribute to achievement of the stated learning objectives;

(5) Demonstrate how the course provides a mechanism of individual remediation to correct any deficiencies identified during the instruction and assessment process;

(6) Measure, at regular intervals, the student's progress toward completion of the master requirement for each learning unit or module. In the case of computer-based instruction, the course software must include automatic shutdown after a period of inactivity;

(7) Demonstrate that instructors are available to answer questions regarding course content at reasonable times and by reasonable means, including in-person contact, individual and conference telephone calls, email and fax;

(8) Demonstrate how reasonable security will be provided to ensure that the student who receives credit for the course is the student who enrolled in and completed the course. Both the approved school and the student must certify in writing that the student has completed the course, and the required number of clock hours;

(9) Provide a complete description of any hardware, software, or other technology to be used by the provider and needed by the student to effectively engage in the delivery and completion of the course material and an assessment of the availability and adequacy of the equipment, software or other technologies to the achievement of the course's instructional claims;

(10) Provide an orientation session with the instructor or an affiliated representative of an approved school. Mechanisms must be clearly in place which allow students an early orientation to discuss course specifics;

(11) Demonstrate how the provider determined the number of clock hours requested in the distance education delivery method approval application; and

(12) Provide with each distance education delivery method approval application a copy of a course evaluation form. The provider must provide each student with the mandatory evaluation form and retain the completed form in the school records as required under WAC 308-408B-110.