Because it is not necessary to study the course materials online immediately after purchase, there are three methods you may use to take an online course.

Method A: Treat the online course like it is a home-study course. Here is the recommended procedure:

1. Purchase the course using one of the payment options.
2. Download the course files if they are in PDF or Word format.
   
3. Print the course materials and quiz questions from your browser.
4. Study the course materials at your own pace.
5. Complete the quiz on paper (off-line) if you like.
6. Log onto our website and enter your quiz answers - our computer will grade your quiz immediately.
7. Take the quiz again without additional charge, if you fail the quiz.
8. Print the certificate of completion when you pass the quiz.

You have one year from the date of purchase to complete the course.

There is no time limit while you take the quiz. If you can't finish the quiz in one session, you may want to save or print out the partially completed quiz for use next time because our server will not be able to remember your partially completed quiz. You must complete the quiz within one year from the date of purchase.

Our shopping cart feature is integrated into our course package deals. Here is what you can do to achieve just one payment transaction:

1. Select a PDH Course Package (Z-Course) based on the number of PDHs you need.
2. After making payment for the package, you may customize your package by selecting courses of interest to you.
3. Once you confirm your selection, the courses you select will be automatically activated for you.

You may find PDH Course Package Deals in the right-hand side column of the PDH Online Course Library table or through the following link:

PDH Course Package Deals

You can obtain a complete record of the courses you have taken from "My Account" (on the top menu bar).

You may contact the instructor using emails by clicking on the instructor's name within the course or through email. In your email, be specific about which course you would like to discuss.

You may also contact the instructor through the quiz end questionnaire or through "My Account" for courses you have completed.

If you are interested in becoming a PDHonline course provider, you should submit a resume, a brief biography and a list of proposed course topics to our email address. We review your educational background and practical experience and notify you of our decision within three business days. For more information, please click "Provider" on the top menu bar.

The number of quiz questions varies from course to course. There are a minimum of 10 quiz questions in each course offering less than 5 PDH credits, and a minimum of 20 quiz questions in each course offering more than 4 PDH credits. For courses approved by the Texas Land Surveying Board, there are 50 quiz questions for each course. For courses registered with the AIA/CES, there are 10 quiz questions for the first LU credit and 5 quiz questions for each additional LU credit. For example, a 4-LU course has a minimum of 25 quiz questions.

You will be automatically enrolled into the next session. Most of our webinars are offered once every three to four months. Please check our website for specific webinar schedule.

The passing score is 70% for all PDHonline quizzes except those registered with AIA/CES or approved by Texas PLS Board. The passing score for AIA/CES registered courses and Texas PLS Board approved courses is 80% and 95%, respectively.

A Professional Development Hour (PDH) is defined as one contact hour of instruction, presentation or study. The term PDH is commonly used in the engineering community. The maximum PDH credit for a seminar that starts at 8 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. with an hour lunch is eight (8). Short breaks are permissible as long as a minimum of 50 minutes of presentation/participation/study per hour is undertaken. If there are no breaks, or there are breaks of less than 10 minutes per hour, no additional time may be claimed. PDH credit cannot exceed the actual contact clock hours. PDH credit is rounded off to the nearest half hour. No activity under a half hour is accepted for credit. For example, a qualifying activity of 30 to 49 minutes would be reported as 0.5 PDH and an activity of 50 to 70 minutes would be reported as 1.0 PDH. A PDH is sometimes called a PDU (Professional Development Unit).

The Learning Unit (LU) is used by the American Institute of Architects' Continuing Education Systems (AIA/CES) and is based on a 60-minute hour. Time beyond 60 minutes is recorded in quarter hour increments (e.g., 1 hour 45 minutes = 1.75 LUs). Credit should be stated as an AIA/CES Learning Unit hour (AIA/CES LU). In order for programs to qualify for Health, Safety and Welfare (HSW) credit, providers must demonstrate that 75% of the content specifically addresses one or more HSW-related issues. Programs that qualify for HSW credit are identified as "AIA/CES Learning Unit (HSW)" or "AIA/CES LU (HSW)."

The Continuing Education Unit (CEU) is a nationally recognized and uniform unit of measure for continuing education and training. One CEU is awarded for each 10 contact hours of instruction or study. When a provider of CE activities fully follows the requirements of the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET) in awarding CEUs, 10 PDHs will be credited for 1 CEU. However, one should be aware that some organizations may advertise CEU credit without having met the requirements of the IACET.

No, you may print the course materials and study them off-line, at your convenience.

No. However, we submit periodic reports to all the state boards that require reporting from approved continuing education providers. Currently, there are three state boards which require us reporting. They are Florida PE & PLS Boards (monthly to weekly/daily - see details in red below), North Carolina Board (quarterly) and Tennessee PLS Board (monthly). During the license renewal season, we file our Florida reports more frequently, from weekly in the last two months (January and February in odd year) to daily in the last week of February (odd year) to facilitate the your license renewal process. Our reports include the names and license numbers of all registrants completing the PDHonline courses during the reporting period and the PDH credits earned.

Yes, we offer live web seminars (webinars) through the Internet for certain topics. You can attend our webinars from your home or office using a computer and/or telephone.

Our live webinar program has been approved by the New York State Board for Engineering and Land Surveying, and is acceptable to all other state boards. Please click "Live Courses & Web Seminars" for the upcoming webinar schedule.

Yes. To access your account, you need to login using the same user ID (your email address) and password you used previously.

The missing PDH credits could be caused by one of the following reasons:

1. You did not provide us your Florida license number in your profile at the time you completed your course(s).
2. You provided an incorrect Florida license number in your profile at the time you completed your course(s).
3. You became a Florida PE after you initially signed up as a user of our website.

In any of the above cases, you need to add/verify your Florida license number through "My Account" and notify us through "Contact Us". Please include your course number, completion date and license number in your correspondence so that we can report/resubmit your credit hours.

As a Florida Board approved continuing education provider, PDHonline.org/PDHcenter.com submits periodic PDH reports to the Florida Board of Professional Engineers. Our Florida reports are usually filed on a monthly basis except in the last two months of a license renewal cycle. During the license renewal season, we file our Florida reports more frequently, from weekly in the last two months (January and February in odd year) to daily in the last week of February (odd year) to facilitate the your license renewal process. Since June 1, 2009, you can no longer self-report your continuing education credits for courses completed after 5/31/2009.

For additional information, please visit the Board website below:

Florida Board of Professional Engineers

You need to install Camino browser on your Mac in order to access our webinar facility. Here is the link to the Camino website:

As a registered user, you may preview almost all of our courses prior to the purchase. To protect the interest of our course authors, we'll refund your payment only if the course is not accepted by your state board. If you have not completed the quiz, you may request a course exchange if you find the course is not suitable for you. In this case, please send your request through "Contact Us" or call us at 703-988-0088.

Currently, you can order several courses in one transaction by purchasing a PDH Course Package (Z-course). Our course packages have many different sizes and are very flexible. As a matter of fact, you may customize your own course package. Option: If you wish to order multiple courses at one time or prefer to have one credit card transaction for several purchases, you may place your order over the phone at 703-988-0088. Please have your course numbers and card information ready when you call.

Yes. You may apply the coupon code to all of your purchases as long as the code has not expired. You need to enter the coupon code in Step 2 of the payment process for each course.

Yes. You may share the coupon code with your colleagues and friends.

You need to first click on "Buy Now" and then enter the coupon code in Step 2 of the payment process at the time of online purchase. You may use the coupon code for multiple courses unless noted otherwise.