Step 1:

Log-in to the SACQSP website using your username and password. If you do not recall these, select FORGOT or RESET PASSWORD, type in your 4-digit registration number as your username and you will be issued with a temporary password and instructions to sign-on. Please do not register on-line again, as this may result in you accidently duplicating your registration and possibly losing your entire history. If you still cannot log-in, call the SACQSP offices and you will be telephonically assisted to sign-in to the online administration programme.

Step 2:

Select from the right hand side of the page click on MANAGE PROFILE.

Step 3:

Select EDIT BIO and check all your personal information is correct and all the blanks are filled in. Be sure to scroll-down to the bottom of the page and save your data on completion.

Step 4:

Select MANAGE PROFILE again and scroll down to PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT and press enter.

This is the Journal of all the CPD credits inputted to date. The top section entitled Certifications / Programs is a summary of certification of the current 5-year CPD Cycle, plus the current 1-year cycle for Category 1 and Category 2. If the certificate is marked "Complete”, on the left-hand-side a small certificate icon will appear and you can open and print this certificate of compliance for your records. If any of the Certification is marked "Incomplete”, you need to scroll down and check and add to the Journal entries below. Remember – the current 5-year CPD cycle showing is for the one commencing Jan 2013 and ending December 2017 which we will get the software programmers to fix shortly.

Step 5:

Calculate where you are short in respect Category 1 and Category 2; remember a maximum of 15 hours may be claimed per year in Category 2, but Category 1 can be rolled over from year to year until you accumulate the minimum of 50 hours within the 5-year cycle. Select the category required in the drop down - alternatively Category 1 and Category 2. In this "filter mode” you can see by date the particular deficiencies and surplus of hours credited to your CPD Journal per year.

Step 6:

Collect together the history of all possible items falling under Category 2 as defined in the CPD policy guideline – maximum 15 hours per year. From the PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT page select Add Entry A pop up will appear - Associate with Certificate/Program? Click "yes” and select CATEGORY 2 from the drop down box. Proceed to type in your data being careful to record the year deficient CPD hours (up to a maximum of 15 hours per annum) with expiry 12-months later from the date of entry, which would be the date on which you did the certification.. Repeat the process for every item that you extract from your files required to achieve the Category 2 compliance per annum.

Step 7:

Collect all your documentation evidence of Category 1 CPD. This category cannot be credited to your CPD Journal without credible evidence (e.g. attendance certificates, certificates of qualification, etc.) for items categorized per the CPD policy guidelines. The documentation needs to be scanned and submitted on-line.

Step 8:

Follow the same process as detailed in Step 6, but for Category 1 hours.

Step 9:

If you have previously completed Acta Structilia quizzes and they are not already recorded in your Journal; be sure to complete the quizzes on-line by merely selecting the relevant quiz from the right-hand-side of the SACQSP web-page. If you are still short of Category 1 hours, you can follow the instructions in past Newsletters to earn units of 3 – 5 CPD hours in the comfort of your office/house by reading the documents saved in CPD On-Line section of the website. This is quick, convenient and at no-cost. The on-line quiz results are automatically posted into the Category 1 CPD annual journal.

Step 10:

This is the final stage of posting all your annual CPD undertaken into the 5-year journal. Start by filtering the CPD journal into Category 1 items as fully described in Step 5. Add up each year’s CPD documented and just like the instruction fully described in Step 6 add a new 5-Year Cycle item with the description – e.g. 2008 Accumulated Category 1 CPD. Repeat this same step for each year. Remember you should ensure that the input date is a date during December of the year for which you are entering the accumulation of data and the expiry date should be the last input date of your current 5-year cycle, e.g. 2014/03/31

Once you have completed posting all Category 1 items, change the filtering to Category 2 and repeat the same annual posting as above. Remember that a maximum of 15 hours of Category 2 can be posted into your 5-year cycle per year.

Step 11:

At the conclusion of all the above steps, double check that you are fully compliant by going to PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT and all the summary items should indicate "Complete”. If any item is incomplete, speak to a CPD Advisor for guidance.

This entire process may have been very time consuming for the first time, but if you regularly electronically post your CPD undertaken, this should not take more than 15 minutes per year to complete.

 

Frequently asked questions…..

1. I am retired and the ASAQS does not require me to do CPD. The SACQSP is not the ASAQS and we do not have a "Retired” tier of registration. If you wish to remain registered as a PrQS and retain the title and practice (be it only part-time), you need to comply.

2. I am living overseas, do I need to still to do CPD, plus I can’t attend CPD lectures in RSA. Again, if you wish to remain registered as a PrQS and retain the title, you need to comply. The SACQSP has over 100 hours of Category 1 CPD hours available to be undertaken on-line irrespective of where you are located in the world, plus there are many relevant on-line weekly journals that you can subscribe to. Reading and courses/lectures undertaken outside of the RSA are also very relevant and eligible to be claimed as CPD Category 2.

3. am a recently registers PrQS, do I have to worry about this 31^st January 2014 deadline? No – only if you were registered as a PrQS before 31^st December 2008 does this deadline affect you. However, you are still obliged to submit your annual CPD returns as your future Letters of Good Standing are dependent upon your historical and current CPD submission.

4. Can I send all my CPD data via email/fax/mail to the SACQSP offices? The SACQSP does not have the staffing capacity to do the tasks that is your responsibility and at this 11^th hour it is impossible to assist everyone by the 31^st January 2014. Please follow the CPD lodging instructions above and load all your data yourself, particularly the Acta Structilia quizzes.

5. I have Letters of Good Standing – that means I am fully CPD compliant. This is a false impression – Only Letters of Good Standing issued since May 2012 has been thoroughly checked that all the supportive documentation has been submitted and will meet audit requirements.

6. The SACQSP can’t suspend my registration or de-register me. The SACQSP needs to apply the Regulations as promulgated per the Act and indeed have suspended and de-registered persons who did not comply with the published CPD policy. The net effect of suspension/de-registration is that it is illegal to continuing to practice and undertaking the identified work of a professional quantity surveyor. Such breach of the law will result in the reported person/s to be investigated by the police and possibly face prosecuted as a felon with the consequence of facing a fine of R60,000 or a prison term of up to 3-years per case.

7. I have been mentoring students, can I claim this? Yes – provided the person being mentored is a registered Candidate, you can claim 5 CPD Category 2 hours per year per Candidate. Please document the Candidates name and IT number in your input in order for the system to verify the mentorship claim.

8. I have no hope of getting CPD compliant now. Non-Compliance has very serious financial and business consequences; you need to put your life on hold immediately and invest time and possibly money to get your CPD affairs in order. Most persons have inadvertently undertaken the Category 2 CPD hours during the normal course of their lives and have merely failed to recognise the learning done and have failed to record and claim the credit of this time expended. The documentary proof of Category 2 CPD is less onerous as is largely based on trust. Category 1 CPD is a lot more difficult; ideally if one has records of formal lectures/education/courses undertaken that needs to be documented with substantiated evidence, failing that, commence reading the various on-line learning offerings that we have been promoting since 2012. This is a Category 1 form of learning, you will have to complete an on-line quiz to assess your understanding of your reading.

9. I am of the older generation and don’t have a scanner to load my documents. Most persons have access to a fax machine. Sign-up for a free fax-to-email number and you can send faxed document electronically to your email inbox and then you can submit your documents per the on-line filing instructions. Go to www.free-faxmail.co.za for free instant access.

10. The summary of my current 5-year is nil – what is happening? Your data has not been lost - it is only the summary that is not showing your current 5-year CPD cycle. Please ensure that the expiry date of your 5-Year Cycle submissions matches that as reflected on your CPD profile.

11. All these instructions and on-line submission requirement is just too complicated for me. Any new computer programme appears to be complicated at first, but we have been complimented by many persons on the ease of use of the system. If you are still lost/confused/reluctant, please contact one of the CPD Advisors noted in Newsletter 36 for personal assistance and guidance. They are prepared to visit your offices to assist you or alternatively can process your scanned/faxed data remotely. Please contact them directly and agree your requirements.