Vocations certified by CWEA:

• Collection Systems Maintenance
• Plant Maintenance
• Mechanical Technology
• Electrical/Instrumentation
• Environmental Compliance Inspection
• Laboratory Analysis
• Industrial Waste Treatment Plant Operations
• Biosolids Land Application Management

CWEA cannot accept any training unless it addresses these vocations because certificate holders need training that is relevant to the vocations in which they are certified.

Essential Duties
The Essential Duties list the types of skills that are performed in each vocation. Any training that is relevant to at least one Essential Duty within a vocation will be acceptable. Training that is not relevant to the Essential Duties of a vocation will not be accepted and cannot be used to meet the re-certification requirement. 
Download the Essential Duties

Training Accepted for Continuing Education
Any kind of training is acceptable as long as it is related to the Essential Duties of one of the vocations certified by CWEA. We have developed a growing list of acceptable training and education for each of the vocations certified by CWEA. If there is a type of training that you think should be on the list, but is not, contact us at . The training will then be reviewed and included on the list if it is related to a CWEA certified vocation.
Download Training Relevancy List (PDF)

Cross-Training
Training that is outside the vocation (i.e. cross-training) will only be accepted as part of the continuing education requirement if it is also relevant to the Essential Duties of the vocation. For example, a lab analyst training cannot be used to meet the Collection System Maintenance re-certification requirement unless it has some relevance to the Collection Systems Maintenance Essential Duties. If so, the training would be acceptable for both vocations. Safety training is most commonly applied to multiple vocations.

Contact Hours for Multiple Certificates
Individuals holding more than one CWEA certificate can apply the same contact hours to each certificate as long as the training is relevant to at least one Essential Duty in each vocation.

Certificates of Completion
Once training is completed, you will need to issue certificates of completion. Trainees need to submit copies of the certificates to CWEA along with their renewal payment when their Contact Hours are due (every two years). Certificates of completion that are received at any other time, or without payment of renewal fees, will be rejected.

Certificates of completion can be in any form, but they must include the following information:

• The name of the training organization
• The program title or brief description of vocations addressed
• The name of the attendee who completed the program
• The number of Contact Hours earned
• The date of completion
• An official signature or stamp from the training organization (instructor's signature is OK).

Download Sample Certificate of Completion-- Acrobat PDF

Tailgate Safety Meetings, Etc.
Brief trainings, such as tailgate safety meetings, are acceptable if they are relevant to the Essential Duties of the vocation. Trainers may accumulate brief trainings into a single program by keeping track of attendance at each meeting and then periodically combining all sessions into one singe training program. The total hours should be listed on the certificate of completion.

Summary of Process
Trainer
Conducts training, documents participation, and issues certificates of completion to each attendee.
Certificate Holder
Verifies training is relevant to vocation and sends certificate of completion copies to CWEA with renewal fees when contact hours are due.
CWEA
Reviews documentation and determines relevancy of training. Training that is not relevant will be rejected for the re-certification requirement. Training that is relevant to the vocation will be applied toward the 12 hour re-certification requirement.

Certification Info Page
The information on this web page is also available in the Documenting Contact Hours for In-house Training Info Page. 
Download Certification Info Page-- Acrobat PDF

Please contact us at if you have any questions.