IDA Website Spotlight: Certification Maintenance

Certification maintenance is required of Certified Detailers at all levels as a part of certification and skill upkeep.

What is certification maintenance?

Certification maintenance is the process of maintaining your certification, which is required if you wish to keep your credentials of Certified Detailer (including specialties), Skills Validated, or Recognized Independent Trainer. To maintain your certification, you must complete 8 full hours of detailing-related continuing education over a two-year period beginning with the month of your initial certification. You will receive one CE credit hour for each full clock hour of a qualifying program with a max of 4 credit hours per calendar day. (MTE's Education Day is the only exception to this. You can earn more than 4 credit hours on Education Day.)

How much does certification maintenance cost?

You must renew within two months of your Certification Expiration Date to retain your certification at the discounted rate. If you renew within the first two months past your expiration date, the cost is:

• $100 for IDA members
• $150 for non-members

If you have passed the two-month window after your Certification Expiration Date, you still have one full year to renew your certification, but at the full rate:

• $200 for members
• $400 for non-members

If your certification lapses for a full year past your Certification Expiration Date, you are no longer able to maintain your certification with continuing education credits; you will need to restart with the Phase I - Certified Detailer (CD) exams in order to regain your certification designation.

What counts toward my continuing education?

Any detailing-related continuing education activities can be applied. They do not have to be IDA events. The IDA does offer free monthly live webinars that can be attended for one credit hour each. Certified Detailers must check-in to the live webinar to receive credit, and are solely responsible for verifying that the earned credit appears in their Online Certification Journal following the event. If you miss a live webinar, members also have the option of watching our webinar recordings and completing a brief associated survey, which can then be applied for one full hour of credit.

If you hold any specialty IDA Certifications (Watercraft, Motorcycle, RV), you must ensure that at least two credit hours are earned via continuing education activities related to each specialty.

Other options include attending tradeshow education sessions, writing articles for the IDA newsletter or other industry publications, or attending other detailing training programs. Please note that training sessions you proctor or sessions that you present at do NOT count as continuing education. If you have any questions on a specific activity, you can always contact us for clarification.

How do I complete the certification maintenance process?

There are two required steps for IDA certification maintenance. First, you need to ensure that your continuing education hours are entered into your Online Certification Journal. Second, you need to pay the correct certification maintenance fee (as explained above). Once both steps have been completed successfully, your certification maintenance will be processed.

STEP 1:
Enter all your continuing education hours into your Online Certification Journal. Credits for live webinars to which you checked-in and webinar recordings for which you completed the associated survey should already be recorded in your journal.

Certified Detailers can find their Online Certification Journal at any time by selecting "Manage Profile" from the right rail menu and then selecting the "Professional Development" tab. The Central Office must review each credit entry that you input manually. You can speed up this process by entering your credits with as much detail as possible.

For a video explaining how to properly enter continuing education credits into your journal, click here.

STEP 2:
Pay the correct certification maintenance fee (as explained above), according to your Certification Expiration Date. You can find your Certification Expiration Date in your profile information.

The Central Office must review each certification maintenance application for correct payment. You can speed up this process by making sure you pay the correct fee.

What happens once my certification maintenance application is processed?

You will be notified of your successful certification maintenance application by email and new certification materials will be mailed to the address in your profile. Please be sure this address is kept up-to-date to ensure you receive your new certification materials in a timely manner. The length of this process generally takes one to two business weeks. However, it depends on the accuracy with which the Certified Detailer submitted their materials.

What if I need assistance completing my certification maintenance?

Please contact the Central Office if you have any questions about the certification maintenance process.

Thank you for maintaining your certification with the International Detailing Association!