Certification Maintenance Guidelines

IPAN-SoTLAN Credentials have a validity of three years. In order to maintain their certification, IPAN-SoTLAN Certified persons are required to demonstrate (through documented evidences) that they are performing certification related activities on an annual basis. Also, they are required to pay an Annual Maintenance Fee within a given period.

Whenever there is a change in the Certification Scheme, all certified persons will be duly informed of the change(s) and they shall be required to comply with the new Certification Scheme not later than their next certification year or at the next recertification (whichever one comes first) by sitting for a new examination. Thereafter, all successful certified persons will be issued a new Certificate indicating compliance with the changed requirements. 

Note: Annual CPD Credit and AMF Requirements can be found in appendix 1 and 2 of this Guideline, respectively.

2.1 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Programme

Continuing Professional Development programme is a structure for demonstrating, documenting and monitoring skills, knowledge and experiences acquired by certified persons beyond their initial certification date.

CPD programme helps to ensure that IPAN-SoTLAN Certified persons remain knowledgeable about technological advancements and current regulatory requirements in their fields of practice. It improves the operation, maintenance and management skills of certified persons and ensures the continuous quality of their service delivery. It is vital for updating professional knowledge/experience, recognizing achievements and demonstrating professional activities carried out within a given certification period.

2.1.1 How to Earn IPAN-SoTLAN CPD Credits

During a certification year, a minimum of ten (10) IPAN-SoTLAN CPD Credits must be earned in at least two of the three (3) following ways:

1) Participate in trainings, conferences, workshops or educational programmes related to your certification, examples:

• On- the-job training
• Technical conferences and Professional bodies’ workshops
• Higher educational qualifications or courses – diplomas, postgraduate degrees, etc.

1 (one) CPD Credit is earned for each sixty (60) minutes of participation in Technical conferences, Professional bodies’ workshops or an IPAN-SoTLAN pre-approved training programme. In-house training must be related to IPAN-SoTLAN certification core duties and does not need to be pre-approved. While two (2) CPD Credit is given for higher educational qualification attained during the certification year. Time for meals, breaks, social gatherings, planning sessions, business meetings, and similar activities should not be included as part of earned CPD Credit.

2) Conduct an IPAN-SoTLAN pre- approved training or educational programme or publishing, examples:

• Training others and Teaching technical courses
• Writing technical articles or books
• Giving technical presentations

Two (2) CPD Credits are earned for each sixty (60) minutes of training or technical presentation carried out. Two (2) CPD Credits for each published article.

3) A maximum of two (2) CPD Credits is given for membership of professional associations/institutes that is relevant/related to IPAN-SoTLAN certification, i.e. one (1) CPD Credit is given for membership of each professional body held during a certification year.

Activities that cannot use for CPD Credits include:

1. CPD hours based on paid presentations, consultations or programmes presented or performed by certified persons for their employers as part of their regular paid core duties.
2. Hours obtained in any year prior to the current certification cycle.
3. Programme/course content that does not relate to the certification category or core duties as per the IPAN-SoTLAN certification scheme.

2.2 Continuing Work Performance Records

IPAN-SoTLAN Certified persons are required to provide IPAN-SoTLAN with the details of work and other related tasks (regular paid core duties) they have performed during each certification year, including the contact details of two individuals that can validate the satisfactory performance these duties. 

2.3 Annual Maintenance Fees (AMF) 

Annual Maintenance Fees are required to maintain IPAN-SoTLAN Certification and enable IPAN-SoTLAN to improve its services and schemes. Such payment helps IPAN-SoTLAN to be a functional organization and a good cooperate citizen in order to meet the certification needs of all eligible applicants and its stakeholders.

3.1 Reporting of CPD Programmes

IPAN-SoTLAN Certified persons shall provide IPAN-SoTLAN with the details of minimum required CPD Credits of CPD programme and other related activities they have performed during each certification year.  Certified persons should update their CPD credits as they are earned using the approved IPAN-SoTLAN CPD Report form (Appendix 3) and submit details of these updated CPD credits to IPAN-SoTLAN at the end of every six (6) months. 

3.2 Reporting of Continuing Work Performance

For IPAN-SoTLAN Certification purpose, “job” means “a position in which certified persons are/were regularly employed for a period of time.” Work performed as part of an educational experience (e.g. work study, graduate research, etc.) may be included. Also, a certified person may have had more than one job per employer, if he/she were promoted.

Certified persons must provide complete information and completely fill out a copy of Continuous Work Experience Report Form (Appendix 4) for every job that they want to be included in their work experience assessment. Also, they are required to provide names, addresses and contact details of two specific individuals that IPAN-SoTLAN can contact to verify their work experience and dates of employment. Work experience should be arranged on the form in order of most recent experience first, followed by less recent experience.

3.2.1 Names of Work Experience References

A work experience reference is a person who will vouch for your technical competence. Certified persons should provide the names of two individuals, who are not related to them, have personal knowledge of their employment and/or teaching, knowledge and expertise on the job. Acceptable work experience references include certified persons’ present supervisors, manager, head of department, instructors, and one of them has to hold a management position within the certified persons’ organization.

NOTE: Certified persons are to send each of these individuals a Work Experience Reference Form which they should complete confidentially and return directly to IPAN-SoTLAN. It is the responsibility of certified persons to follow up and ensure that these individuals complete and return the form.

3.3 Payment of AMF

An IPAN-SoTLAN Certificate requires the payment of an annual maintenance fee. The annual reporting begins with the initial certification date; for the first certification year, the maintenance fees must be paid before the end of that year while for the second (2^nd) and third (3^rd) certification year, the maintenance fees must be paid on/before the end of the ninth (9) month of each of these certification years.   The annual maintenance fee should be paid into IPAN-SOTLAN CONFORMANCE SYSTEMS LTD, GT Bank Plc. Account No.: 0337313753.  

IPAN-SoTLAN will continuously notify certified persons to maintain their certificate(s). The notifications are sent quarterly throughout the certification year; IPAN-SoTLAN certified persons that report CPD hours and submit the full AMF payments on time will receive a confirmation from IPAN-SoTLAN. Failure to submit the AMF payment within the given deadlines will result in the suspension of certified persons’ credential.

In order to renew their certificates annually, IPAN-SoTLAN certified persons will need to demonstrate that they have maintained their certificate(s) on a yearly basis. After three years of successful maintenance of an IPAN-SoTLAN Certificate, certified persons can apply for recertification.

An IPAN-SoTLAN Certification can be withdrawn according the appropriate procedure because of the following reasons:

• AMF has not been paid;
• CPD Credits have not been submitted;
• Insufficient CPD Credits have been submitted;
• Inability to provide evidences of CPD hours upon request; and/or
• Breach of the IPAN-SoTLAN Code of Ethics

Thereafter, the certified persons shall no longer be allowed to present themselves as IPAN-SoTLAN Certified Professionals.

IPAN-SoTLAN will randomly select samples of IPAN-SoTLAN Certified Professional to audit and validate their reported CDP Credits. If required, such certified persons must promptly provide to IPAN-SoTLAN written evidences of the reported activities.

The reported CPD Credits by every certified person must be supported by respective documentation confirming the CPD activities performed. Such documentation includes – letter of confirmation, records of attendance, certificates, others are evidences of conducting relevant seminars, lectures, trainings, presentations or publication of technical papers, etc. and those evidences should be kept in their possession for at least one (1) year after the completion of the previous certification cycle.

Click on IPAN-SoTLAN CERTIFICATION MAINTENANCE GUIDELINES to download a copy.