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Certification Criteria
Sponsored jointly by The NCAZO and the School of Government at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill .
The Course
The Zoning Official Certification Course is a week-long course that is designed for local government zoning officials seeking to be certified by the North Carolina Association of Zoning Officials. The course is designed to help students develop administrative skills in reviewing plans, inspecting sites, enforcing the ordinance, and providing service to customers. Special attention will be given to the enforcement of the ordinance in the field. The course will serve as both a prerequisite to and a review of the skills and knowledge upon which the zoning official certification program examination will be based.
Syllabus
The course generally includes presentation of the following topics:
- Office Practice and Record-Keeping
- Maps and Geographic Information Systems
- Investigative and Research Techniques Field Inspections
- Legal Issues in Field Enforcement
- Inspector and Local Government Liability
- Communication Skills
- Dealing with Conflict
- Enforcement Actions
- Ethics
Further information is available on the http://www.sog.unc.edu/node/918 page in the short course section of the SOG Resources portion of the NC Planners web page. A course application is also posted on that page before each course offering.
Prerequisites
The Zoning Official Certification Course is intended for the more experienced zoning official who qualifies as a candidate for certification and is eligible to take the certification examination, which will be given at the end of the course. As a result, the course is open only to an individual who meets at least one of the following eligibility requirements or will do so by the time the certificate examination is given:
1. A candidate must have the equivalent of at least five years experience as a local government zoning official
OR
2. A candidate must have at least two years experience as a local government zoning official and have completed the week-long introductory zoning course at the School of Government.
Part-time experience as a zoning official qualifies to the same extent as fulltime experience.
Each applicant for the certification course and candidate for the examination must fill out and submit a summary-of-experience form.
Examination Certification
No person is eligible to sit for the examination unless he or she has completed the certification course. To complete the course, a student may miss no more than the equivalent of one full day of the course. No certificate will be awarded simply for completing the course.
However, the NCAZO will award a special certificate to those who pass the certification examination. Each person who attends the course will be expected to take the examination.
Application and Enrollment
Application forms, when available, may be obtained on-line at the Zoning Certification page in the short course section of the SOG Resources portion of the NC Planners web page or by writing:
Local Government Zoning Official Certification Course
School of Government B# 3330
Knapp Building
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3330
Materials - A notebook of materials will be distributed to each student at the beginning of the course.
Faculty - The director for the course is Richard Ducker of the School of Government. He, and other faculty members, private consultants, and local government zoning practitioners will present the program.
Location - The course is generally held in Chapel Hill.
Lodging Information - Accommodations are available at a number of motels in the Chapel Hill/Durham area. A list of these will be sent to accepted applicants.
