CPD carry-over for BC builders: the 20-point limit and the nominee rule

BC Housing lets a general contractor licensee carry up to 20 unused CPD points from one licence term into the next, with one condition: the CPD nominee has to be the same person in both terms. Points above the 20-point cap are lost, the carry-over covers one term only, and a change of nominee wipes it out. Used deliberately, carry-over lets you do two terms of CPD in one and skip the scramble next year.

The rule

Each licence term requires 20 CPD points. If the nominee earns more than 20 in a term, the surplus, up to a maximum of 20, can be applied to the following term. That is the whole rule, and the two numbers in it do the work: 20 required, 20 maximum carried. A nominee who earns 30 points in a term carries 10. A nominee who earns 45 carries 20 and loses 5. The carried points sit in the next term’s total from day one. The source is BC Housing’s CPD page.

Worked examples

The carry-over does not chain. Points carried into term 2 are used in term 2 or lost; they do not roll into term 3. If you carry 20 into term 2 and earn another 20 in term 2, you have 40 in term 2, use 20, and carry 20 into term 3. The carried points are always the ones earned most recently in practice, but the portal just tracks totals.

The nominee condition

This is the part that catches companies. Carry-over is personal. It follows the nominee, and it is only available if the nominee at the start of the new term is the same person who earned the points. The reasoning is simple: CPD is meant to keep the person responsible for the licence current, so a new person cannot inherit someone else’s learning.

Consequences:

• A sole proprietor who is their own nominee always qualifies for carry-over.
• A company that changes its nominee mid-term loses whatever the previous nominee had banked.
• A company planning a leadership change should time it: finish the current term under the old nominee, make the change at the start of the new term, and expect the new nominee to earn a full 20 that term.
• If the previous nominee leaves abruptly, the new nominee has whatever remains of the term to get 20 points. On-demand training is usually the only way to do that inside a couple of months.

More on who should hold the role and what happens when they go: the CPD nominee guide.

Using carry-over on purpose

Carry-over is most useful as insurance. Builders have busy years. A term with two projects closing, a lawsuit and a new baby is not the term to be hunting for webinars in the last 60 days. The plan that works:

1. In a quiet stretch, do more than 20 points. A 26-point pass gets you 6 in hand; a pass plus a few association sessions can get you to 40.
2. Report everything in the portal in the term it was completed. Points not reported do not carry.
3. Check the carry-over figure in the portal at the start of the next term and plan the remainder.
4. Do not stack beyond 40 in one term; the excess is wasted money.

What does not carry

• Points above the cap. 20 is the maximum, full stop.
• Points earned by a previous nominee. See above.
• Points not reported. A certificate you never entered is not in the total and cannot carry.
• Points from a course claimed twice. A repeat claim is not valid in either term.
• Points into a lapsed licence. If the licence lapses and you reapply, do not assume the carry-over survives; ask BC Housing.

Records for carried points

Carried points are reported points, so the records behind them have to be kept for three years after the end of the term they were claimed in. If an audit lands on term 2 and part of the total is carry-over from term 1, the auditor can ask for the term 1 certificates too. Keep terms in separate folders and keep both. Details in what a CPD audit asks for.

Where the pass fits

The Builder Pass CPD Pass is 26 points for a 20-point term. Finish it and 6 carry forward, provided your nominee stays the same. Because each course can be claimed once, next year’s pass is a new catalogue, so a nominee who buys the pass two years running has 52 points of fresh content over two terms with 6 in the bank at each renewal. Simple to plan, simple to prove: get my 20 points.