RBT PDU Requirements by State

The BACB has added a 12-PDU professional development requirement for RBTs, and the date it first applies to you is your own recertification date, not a national start date. If you certify or recertify in 2026, your two-year cycle starts then and you need your 12 PDUs before you next recertify — for most RBTs that is 2028. There is no recertification in 2027. But many states also have their own behavior technician licensure or registration requirements that add training, supervision, or renewal obligations beyond the BACB standard.

This guide shows what you need for both: your BACB certification and your state. Search for your state below.

What the BACB requires

These are from the RBT Handbook (updated 06/2026). It is the authority on your certification and this page is not — read it yourself, and check anything here against it.

• 12 PDUs per two-year recertification cycle, for RBTs who certify or recertify in 2026 and after. Every PDU must fall inside the cycle it is applied to, and surplus PDUs do not carry over.
• Three ways to earn them, with three different providers. Your employer's in-service training, delivered by a BCaBA, BCBA or BCBA-D at your service organization; a professional development event from a BACB Authorized Continuing Education (ACE) Provider; or didactic behavior-analytic university coursework passed at C or better. The BCaBA/BCBA/BCBA-D trainer rule belongs to the in-service route — it is not a rule about all three, and we have corrected this page for previously saying it was.
• Content should expand upon the RBT 2026 40-Hour Training Requirements and Curriculum Outline, the RBT Ethics Code (2.0), other BACB requirements, or other content appropriate for RBTs.
• Repeating an activity does not count. Neither does ongoing RBT supervision, client-specific training, or supervised fieldwork toward BCaBA or BCBA certification.

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Related: RBT PDU Requirements  |  Supervisor Compliance Guide  |  Complete PDU Guide