NEWS CENTER

March 31, 2020—NCCCO is continuing to monitor the COVID-19 information coming from national, state and local authorities. In light of the March 29 decision to extend national social distancing guidelines through April 30, 2020, we have made the following changes to our previous response dated March 19, 2020.

At this time, NCCCO staff and operations remain functioning and plan to continue to do so unless a required shutdown is mandated by local or federal government or the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Most of our employees will be telecommuting, and all NCCCO offices are taking additional recommended precautions.

Candidate Testing Deadlines

NCCCO realizes that candidate and certificant ability to test in a timely fashion has been impacted due to various local and federal government restrictions. As such, NCCCO is taking the following actions:

• Candidates in the process of obtaining certification – Typically, candidates have 12 months to complete certification after passing their first exam (Except Lift Director candidates, who have 24 months). Effective immediately, candidates whose deadline to complete certification is in March 2020, April 2020, or May 2020 will now be extended to June 30, 2020. This extended time is automatic, no request needs to be made by the candidate.
• Computer-based testing candidates – Typically, those applying for CBT exams must take their exams within 12 months of the application being approved. Effective immediately CBT candidates whose applications were approved in March 2019, April 2019, or May 2019 and have not tested will now have until June 30, 2020 in which to take their CBT exam. This extended time is automatic, no request needs to be made by the candidate.
• Recertification Candidates – Typically, certificants must complete all recertification requirements in the 12-months prior to their expiration date.

Effective immediately, certificants will be granted additional time in which to complete recertification requirements. Certificants whose certification expires in March 2020, April 2020, or May 2020 may now test for recertification no later than June 30, 2020 and thereby meet recertification requirements. This extended time is automatic, no request needs to be made by the candidate.

Temporary Extension of Certification Expiration Date

Further, NCCCO will provide a temporary extension of the certification expiration date for certifications expiring in March, April or May of 2020. The extension will be valid through June 30, 2020. This extension will be reflected in the Verify CCO Online (VCO) system. VCO users will see the original expiration date crossed out and the extended expiration date of June 30, 2020 in red along with a note explaining the extension and reason. NCCCO expects this update to the VCO to be available by April 1, 2020. This extension is automatic. No request needs to be made by the candidate.

Please note that, when certificants recertify, the new certification cycle will reflect the original month of certification. For instance, a certificant whose certification originally expires in March 2020, but is permitted to recertify in June 2020, will be issued a certification card with an issue date of March 2020 and an expiration of March 2025.

NCCCO will continue to monitor the situation and make any adjustments as needed.

Of course, NCCCO staff remains available to all stakeholders to answer any questions or address any concerns. Please feel free to contact us at any time.