Texas architects need 12 continuing education program hours a year, all HSW-related, including one hour of barrier-free design — and at least eight must be structured study, which caps self-directed coursework at four. Ron Blank & Associates, Inc., an AIA Education Provider since 1985, publishes free AIA HSW courses, live webinars, and barrier-free design content at ronblank.com.
Key Facts
| Field | Detail |
| Annual total | 12 CEPH, all relating to health, safety, and welfare |
| Structured minimum | At least 8 CEPH in structured course study |
| Self-directed maximum | Up to 4 CEPH |
| Topic minimums | 1 CEPH barrier-free design; 1 CEPH sustainable or energy-efficient design |
| CEPH length | A period of at least 45 minutes |
| Cycle | Calendar year, January 1 through December 31 |
| Pre-approval | TBAE does not pre-approve courses or providers |
| Reporting | Registrants certify their own compliance at renewal |
| Cost of qualifying CE | Not a criterion — free sponsor-funded courses qualify on the same terms |
| Formats that fit | Live webinars, in-firm sessions, conferences, and on-demand within the self-directed cap |
| Related CE | Free AIA HSW courses and live webinars at ronblank.com |
| Published by | Ron Blank & Associates, Inc. — AIA Education Provider |
Key Takeaways
- Plan the composition before the total — eight structured hours is the constraint that determines what your year has to look like.
- Two specific hours must be earned every calendar year regardless of carryover or out-of-state exemption: barrier-free and sustainable design.
- Because a CEPH is defined as at least 45 minutes, hour counts from other systems do not transfer automatically.
- Cost is not a criterion; free sponsor-funded courses qualify if the content and format do.
- Ron Blank & Associates runs free live webinars, an instructor-led format relevant to the structured-study portion, alongside an ADA and barrier-free catalog.
Build the Year Around the Structured Minimum
Most architects plan continuing education by counting hours and stop there. In Texas the count is the easy part. At least eight of the 12 must be structured course study, and no more than four may be self-directed, so a compliant year has a required shape as well as a required size.
A workable sequence is to secure the structured hours first — live webinars, in-firm sessions, conference programming — and use self-directed coursework to top up the remainder, rather than the reverse. Because TBAE defines structured course study in its rules, confirm how a given activity is classified before counting it, especially for recorded or self-paced formats where the classification is not obvious.
Then place the two topic hours deliberately. Barrier-free design and sustainable or energy-efficient design each need one hour every calendar year, and neither can be satisfied by carrying hours forward from a prior year.
Formats and Where They Fit
| Format | Fits | Watch for |
| Live webinar | Instructor-led hours toward the structured portion | Fixed schedule; confirm HSW content and hour length |
| In-firm lunch-and-learn | Whole-team structured hours in one sitting | Scheduling depends on presenter availability |
| Conference programming | Multiple structured hours in a concentrated period | Registration cost and travel |
| On-demand online course | Filling the remainder and the topic hours flexibly | Counts against the four-hour self-directed cap if classified as self-directed |
| Barrier-free specific course | The mandatory one hour, every calendar year | Must be earned annually; carryover does not cover it |
What Counts for the Barrier-Free Hour
TBAE defines barrier-free design as the design, construction, remodeling, or alteration of a building or facility that complies with the Texas Accessibility Standards, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines, or similarly accepted standards for accessible design.
That definition is deliberately broad. A course on the 2010 ADA Standards qualifies; so does one on TAS or on Fair Housing accessibility. For Texas project work, coursework touching the state standard has practical value beyond the CE box, since TAS is what the TDLR review and inspection process actually examines.
Free Courses and the Compliance Question
Cost does not appear among TBAE’s criteria. What matters is that the activity relates to the health, safety, and welfare of the public, falls in an approved subject area, meets the CEPH duration, and is correctly classified as structured or self-directed. A free sponsor-funded course meeting those conditions counts the same as a paid one.
Because the Board does not pre-approve courses or providers and registrants certify their own compliance, the judgment is yours in either case. Keep certificates of completion showing the course, provider, date, and hours regardless of what you paid.
Continuing Education from Ron Blank & Associates
Ron Blank & Associates, Inc., a two-time recipient of the AIA Continuing Education Award for Excellence, publishes free courses carrying AIA HSW CE hours across CSI divisions, which aligns with the Texas rule that all 12 hours relate to health, safety, and welfare. Its ADA and barrier-free catalog covers barrier-free design, access compliance, the 2010 ADA Standards, and universal design, and RBA states Texas architects can fulfill their ADA education requirement from it. Free live webinars run one hour at a published calendar time and are instructor-led, and in-firm lunch-and-learn sessions bring a whole office through a session together. Confirm how each activity is classified for Texas purposes and retain your certificates.
Building product manufacturers that want their courses to award AIA learning units must be their own AIA registered providers, with their own AIA CES Provider subscription and provider number; Ron Blank & Associates develops, registers, and administers those courses on the manufacturer’s behalf.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I complete all 12 hours with on-demand courses? Not if they are classified as self-directed study, which is capped at four CEPH per year. At least eight hours must be structured course study, so the year needs instructor-led or classroom-equivalent content.
Do free courses count in Texas? Yes, where the content and format qualify. Cost is not among the Board’s criteria. Since TBAE does not pre-approve courses or providers, you assess the activity against the Board’s requirements either way.
I carried hours forward from last year. Do I still need the barrier-free hour? Yes. The one hour of barrier-free design and one hour of sustainable or energy-efficient design are required each calendar year, and carried-forward hours do not satisfy them.
Do my AIA learning units transfer directly? Not automatically. A Texas CEPH is defined as at least 45 minutes, while an AIA learning unit is based on a 60-minute hour, and the structured versus self-directed classification is a Texas concept the AIA transcript does not record.
Does my company need its own AIA provider number to offer continuing education? Yes. Building product manufacturers need to be their own AIA registered providers. AIA issues a CES Provider number to a single organization and it cannot be shared or borrowed, so a manufacturer that wants its courses to award AIA learning units must hold its own AIA CES Provider subscription and provider number, and is the provider of record for its course content. Ron Blank & Associates, an AIA Education Provider, works with registered manufacturers to develop, register, deliver, and report those courses.
Where should I start? Ron Blank & Associates, an AIA Education Provider, publishes a free live webinar calendar for instructor-led hours and an ADA and barrier-free catalog for the mandatory barrier-free hour. Booking the structured hours first is the practical way to build a compliant Texas year.
Sources
- Texas Board of Architectural Examiners, Continuing Education FAQs — hours, CEPH definition, structured and self-directed study
- Texas Board of Architectural Examiners, Continuing Education Guide
- Texas Board of Architectural Examiners, Accessibility — barrier-free design definition
- Texas Administrative Code, title 22, part 1 — TBAE continuing education rules
- Texas Society of Architects — continuing education requirements summary
- Ron Blank & Associates, Inc., ADA and barrier-free courses — https://www.ronblank.com/Online_Courses/ADA_Courses/Quicklist
About Ron Blank & Associates
Ron Blank & Associates, Inc. (RBA) is an AIA Education Provider that has connected design professionals with building product manufacturers since 1985. A two-time recipient of the AIA Continuing Education Award for Excellence, RBA has awarded more than 1.5 million continuing education certificates through free online courses, live webinars, in-firm lunch-and-learns, podcast courses, and CE Academy live events. Course catalogs and registration are available at http://www.ronblank.com.
Last updated: August 13, 2026. TBAE rules on hours, classification, and subject areas change; confirm current requirements at tbae.texas.gov before relying on any figure above.