All of CEDIA’s certifications (CIT, IST, RNS, ESC-D) are valid for a period of three years after passing the initial certification exam. By the end of this certification period the certification holder must have completed the required amount of renewal activities for their certification to renew and stay active for another 3 years. These activities include continual learning and industry engagement to ensure that certified professionals are keeping their knowledge and skills current.
Certified individuals are responsible for collecting and maintaining documentation describing the activity and evidence of completion to submit during renewal. CEDIA audits a percentage of CEU submissions to ensure compliance.
CEU stands for continuing education unit. CEUs are how renewal activities are quantified and tracked. In order to renew your CEDIA Certifications, CEUs can be earned in various ways including taking education courses, teaching, volunteering, reading or authoring industry technical publications or earning an additional certification which is tracked to ensure that our smart home certified professionals have the most up-to-date knowledge and skills in their certified specialism. The full list of activities and related policies can be found in the Chart of CEU Activities in the IST Candidate Handbook.
The IST certification is valid for 3 years. All certificants must submit a renewal application, code of conduct agreement and $60 renewal fee.
Option 1 - Earn 30 CEUs from various renewal activities.
Option 2- Retake the most recent version of the IST exam. No additional fees will be charged for retaking the exam beyond the $60 renewal fee.
For complete policies regarding CEU’s and renewal please refer to IST Handbook.
IST Handbook
The CIT Certification is valid for 3 years. All certificants must submit a renewal application, code of conduct agreement.
All certifcants must complete an approved 3-hour “CIT Technology & Standards” update course during their third year. The course includes an assessment at the end which must be passed with at least 80%. This course is currently offered free of charge.
Unlike the other CEDIA certifications, the CIT does not require 30 CEUs. However, certifcants will still have access to CEDIA.org transcript that tracks their training and may be utilized if they hold other certifications which are renewed separately.
For complete policies regarding CEU’s and renewal please refer to CIT Handbook.
CIT Handbook
Like the IST, these specialist certifications require 30 CEUs to renew which may be earned in a variety of ways during the 3-year period.
Unlike the IST, there is currently no renewal application or fee associated with these specialist credentials although the policies are subject to change as the certifications are updated.
Another difference from the IST is that RNS and ESC-D certification periods are automatically restarted to sync with a newly earned certification. The CIT and IST certification periods are fixed and will not change based on earning other certifications.
Holders of multiple certifications do not need to earn additional CEUs as 30 will renew them all.
If you’re a training provider interested in boosting the marketing value of your training courses while helping to maintain a qualified, certified pool of talent to install your products, learn more about becoming a CEDIA CEU Provider.
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