The Estate Agency Affairs Board (EAAB) has announced that the CPD 2021 educational material will soon be uploaded, making the CPD programme available to all eligible estate agents from 1 October 2021.
The statement said:” Experience has taught us that there are some estate agents who experience difficulties in navigating the CPD portal that compromises their ability to complete the CPD programme.
“In this regard, the EAAB will, in due course, issue a schedule to remotely assist the affected estate agents using a virtual meeting platform.
“We wish to reiterate the position we clarified before that all estate agents who did not take advantage of the CPD fee ministerial waiver in 2020 and made payments towards the CPD programme, will not be required to pay 2021 CPD fees.
“Conversely, all estate agents who took advantage of the ministerial CPD fee waiver for 2020, will be required to pay CPD fees for 2021.
“We urge those estate agents who have not yet done the catch-up to finalise their 2020 CPD programme before 1 October 2021,” said the statement.
The EAAB thanked the stakeholders for their patience and understanding.
What are CPD points?
The CPD programme for property practitioners has two tiers – verifiable CPD points and non-verifiable CPD points.
Verifiable CPD points:
- Are only attainable through the property practitioners’ EAAB portal.
- Agents need to achieve 15 points in five different property categories, using online learning materials and videos, followed by a quiz.
Non-verifiable CPD points:
- Can be attained through any property training provider, such as PropAcademy or the Estate Agents Training Academy (EATA), which provides online training. Most of the larger estate agency groups also provide online property training for their agents.
- Agents are required to achieve five non-verifiable CPD points in three different categories each year.
Once you have completed your non-verifiable and verifiable points, you must upload these to the CPD MyPortal before the determined cut-off date.
Who is eligible?
Property practitioners with full status and principal status qualify for CPD. You must start complying one year after the EAAB advises you that you have passed your Professional Designation Exam (PDE) 4 exam. For example, if you write your PDE4 in January 2022 and your results are released in March 2022, you will need to comply with CPD the following year which is 2023.
Importance
The general public relies on property practitioners to advise them on property investments. This means estate agents need to keep abreast of best practices in the industry as well as the various laws relating to property and finance.
Continuing professional development (CPD) helps keep property practitioners up to date with the latest legislation and regulations and provides current general information about the property industry.
Property practitioners who do not comply with CPD requirements risk being penalised. The EAAB may levy a fine and you may risk losing your Fidelity Fund Certificate (FFC).
Without a current valid FFC, agents may not trade. Agents who do trade without a valid FFC risk losing any commission earned and may also be liable to prosecution.
For more information visit www.eaab.org.za, www.realestatepartners.co.za or www.propacademy.co.za.