It seems to me that only three hours of education a year to stay current with building codes is good public policy, a bare minimum, and should be continued.   Unless tradesmen have some other way to stay current, how will they?  My own professional affiliation requires 40 hours a year of professional development, and I am not directly responsible for building safety issues.   Of course some tradesmen would rather not have to sit in a classroom ever again.  I'm sure a lot of doctors, lawyers and other occupations think they know everything they will ever need to know to do their jobs too.  And that's just pure poppycock.  The fact that North Carolina may not have such a requirement only tells me that North Carolina is behind the times and its citizens are less well served and protected.  If anything, the rationale for requiring CE for tradesmen is more valid today than when it was first used to implement the program.  Citizens deserve and should demand better than this.  Reforming the reform means going backward.  Don't go backward.  

--Steve Owen.  Staunton City Manager