Understanding your CPD requirements

Verifiable training is 10-hours of training delivered by approved training providers. In 2023, the 10 hours are made up of three hours of mandatory topics and seven hours of elective topics.

You can choose which REA approved training provider you complete your verifiable training with and whether you complete it face-to-face, online or by webinar. The providers set their own fees for verifiable training. Some real estate agencies also offer training for their licensees.

Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi(external link) is the only approved training provider authorised to deliver CPD topic Te Kākano (the Seed). This topic is one of two mandatory topics required to be completed this year as part of verifiable training. 

REA-approved training providers will let us know when you have completed any verifiable training with them.

View the approved training providers(external link) 

Use the licensee portal(external link) to check we have received your verifiable training details. Please allow up to six weeks after completing your training for your information to show.

Non-verifiable training is active, structured training to help you to continue to improve as a licensee.

The training providers do not need to be approved by REA, but you do need to keep records to demonstrate you have undertaken at least 10 hours of non-verifiable training each year.

Annually, REA audits licensees on their non-verifiable training.

If you are audited, you will be asked to submit evidence you have completed your non-verifiable training. Failure to provide the necessary evidence may result in the cancellation of your licence.

Non-verifiable training can include:

• taking part in training sessions at industry and franchise conferences
• in-house training provided by agencies (apart from training about in-house systems)
• information technology (IT) courses
• sales, marketing or listing training by external trainers
• commercial and residential property management training courses
• studying and completing training for relevant trades such as architecture, building inspection or surveying
• seminars about council bylaws
• viewing videos and webinars as part of a structured training session
• time spent reading and becoming familiar with the information on the settled.govt.nz and rea.govt.nz websites
• studying REA’s elective verifiable training material (if the topic has not been counted towards your verifiable CPD in the previous two years)
• Salespersons and branch managers taking courses to upskill their real estate licence may attribute this towards non-verifiable training for the year.

Non-verifiable training for branch managers and agents can include:

• accounting and finance training
• business management
• communications training
• trust account training such as auditing or management accounting

Non-verifiable training does not include:

• unrelated community training courses
• agency induction courses or courses about an agency's internal operating or computer systems
• awards dinners, networking or social functions
• reading journals

Non-verifiable training resources

REA has developed several free training resources that can count towards your non-verifiable training. Find out more about these resources at topics for non-verifiable CPD

Recording non-verifiable continuing training

It is a good idea to fill in a log as you complete non-verifiable training. A trainer, manager or supervisor must verify all training to confirm they have seen documentary evidence to show you have completed the training.

You can use the non-verifiable training log template to record your non-verifiable training throughout the year.

Download the Non-verifiable training log template [PDF, 206 KB]

If you have completed one of the qualifications listed in regulation 12(external link) and schedule 3(external link) of the Real Estate Agents (Licensing) Regulations 2009(external link), you may be exempt from the CPD requirements in the year you complete the qualification and the following calendar year.

You must have completed the whole qualification to apply for the exemption and you will need to provide a copy of your completion certificate. 

Please note, this exemption only applies to those with New Zealand qualifications and who have been issued with a branch manager's licence or agent's licence. 

Email licensing@rea.govt.nz with a copy of your completion certificate before 31 December.

Salespersons who are first issued their licence between 1 September and 31 December, are exempt from the CPD requirements for that year, regardless of when they completed their prescribed New Zealand qualification.

You do not need to apply for this exemption. We will notify you by email when your licence is issued.

Please note this does not apply if you obtained your licence via the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act (TTMRA), or if you have been previously licensed.

If you have completed a paper towards a prescribed qualification, you may be exempt from some of the CPD requirements in the year you completed the paper. You must have completed the paper and you must provide REA with a copy of your NZQA certificate to apply for the exemption.

This exemption only applies to those with New Zealand qualifications.

Email licensing@rea.govt.nz with a copy of your completion certificate before 31 December.

Licensees registered with an approved professional body may apply for an exemption from all or part of their CPD requirements. There are two approved professional bodies:

• Property Institute of New Zealand (PINZ)(external link)
• Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS)(external link)

If you are a member of PINZ or RICS and would like to apply for an exemption from all or some of your annual REA CPD, read and complete the following form and return it to REA by 30 June of the year you are applying for an exemption.

Application for exemption for licensee registered with another professional body form [PDF 78KB](external link)

To be able to apply you must work solely in one or both of:

• commercial real estate agency work (including, but not limited to, commercial letting and leasing)
• business broking

You are not eligible to apply for this exemption if any of your real estate work is in residential or rural real estate.

The CPD exemption is for one calendar year only.

These are the criteria for professional bodies whose members may apply for exemption:

• The professional body has a CPD programme that REA considers to be at least equivalent to REA’s CPD programme and requirements - its CPD is compulsory and there are consequences for members if CPD is not completed.
• Some topics in the professional body’s CPD programme must have elements that relate to real estate agency work.
• The professional body has registered members, i.e., a tiered membership system. A member must meet the body’s qualification and experience criteria to become a registered member of that body.
• The body represents a group of professionals and some of its registered members are licensees.

Licensees may apply for an exemption or deferral from all or part of their CPD requirements in exceptional circumstances.

Complete the following Exceptional circumstances application form and email to licensing@rea.govt.nz along with any evidence to support your application.

Application for exemption or deferral in exceptional circumstances form [PDF, 65 KB]

Applications should be made before 31 December where possible. Please note applications are unable to be processed if they are received after a licence has been cancelled.

From time to time, REA will specify that a mandatory topic cannot be exempted. For example, the AML topic was not included in any exemption granted in 2019.

You will be required to complete your CPD as if you had been active. This means you will need to make sure you complete the CPD requirements for both the calendar year in which you suspended your licence and the year in which you revive your licence — if they are different years.

You will need to complete CPD in the calendar year you revive your licence. You will also need to complete a verifiable refresher course within three months of the date your licence is revived.

Refresher training involves one or more topics specified by REA for the purpose of updating the knowledge or skill of a licensee who revives a licence after a period of suspension for 12 months or more. Refresher training is delivered by an REA approved training provider. You have 3 months from the date your licence is revived to complete the training.

In 2023, the refresher training course covers the following topics:

• Ethics
• Disclosure: obligations to your client and customer
• Know the property
• Anti-Money Laundering: Due Diligence
• Agency agreements
• Land Information Memoranda (LIMs)

In 2022, verifiable training was made up of 4 hours of mandatory topics and 6 hours of elective topics.

To complete your 2022 CPD, please contact an approved training provider(external link)

See the list of mandatory and verifiable topics for 2022(external link)