CMP Licensing Part I cheat sheet

The standard of care is what a reasonably prudent professional with comparable training and experience would do under the same circumstances; it is not measured against the best possible outcome.

Negligence requires four provable elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. Failure to prove any one element defeats the claim.

Fiduciary duty obligates the professional to place the client's interest above their own and to disclose any interest that could bias a recommendation.

A conflict of interest must be disclosed in writing as soon as it is identified; proceed only with the client's documented informed consent, or decline the engagement.

Confidentiality survives termination of the engagement; disclosure is permitted only with a signed authorization or where law or court order compels it.

Practicing beyond the licensed scope is a disciplinary violation even when the professional is personally competent to perform the task.

Informed consent requires disclosure of material risks, benefits, alternatives, and the right to refuse, and must be documented before work begins.

Record corrections: one line through the error so it remains legible, then the correction, initials, and date. Erasure, correction fluid, and backdating are prohibited.

Statutory and code language: 'shall' is mandatory, 'may' is permissive, and 'should' is advisory and generally unenforceable in model codes.

Only the specific edition and year of a code adopted by reference is enforceable; a later edition applies only after formal adoption.

A citation states the violated provision, the required corrective action, and an abatement deadline; penalties may accrue per day beyond that date.

Requests for variance, alternative means of compliance, or appeal must be filed within the agency's stated window; late filings are typically dismissed as untimely.

Renewal requires the continuing-education hours earned within the current cycle and documented by provider certificates; unused hours generally do not carry forward unless the rule expressly allows it.

Under the OSHA Hazard Communication Standard, a Safety Data Sheet has 16 standardized sections and must be accessible to workers on every shift.

Core compliance records: permits, inspection reports, training logs, calibration certificates, and evidence of corrective-action closure.

Self-reporting a violation generally mitigates penalties, while concealment or falsification generally aggravates them.

Hierarchy of controls, most to least effective: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls, and personal protective equipment.

Instruments used for compliance measurements must be calibrated with documented traceability to a national or international metrology standard; record date, reference standard, and measurement uncertainty.

Sampling results are valid only if the sample is representative of the whole; document locations, methods, volumes or durations, and any blanks or controls.

Chain of custody must be unbroken: every transfer recorded with the handler's name, date and time, and purpose of transfer.

Establish a written work plan specifying methods, sequence, materials, and acceptance criteria before mobilizing; any deviation requires documented approval.

Define acceptance criteria numerically in advance so that post-work verification is a pass/fail determination rather than a subjective judgment.

Correct the source before correcting the symptom: work performed without controlling the underlying cause (moisture source, process fault, subgrade failure) does not meet acceptance criteria.

Any deviation from the plan is documented and communicated to the responsible party the same working day.

Retain each record for the longest applicable period among legal, contractual, and accreditation requirements; the retention schedule names the period per record class.

Entries must be contemporaneous. A record written later is labeled 'late entry' with the actual date of writing and the reason for the delay.

A litigation hold suspends all scheduled destruction of records relevant to the matter and remains in force until released in writing by counsel.

Records destroyed under schedule are evidenced by a certificate of destruction stating what, when, by what method, and by whom.

Electronic records: capture metadata, restrict access by role, maintain regular backups, and preserve an audit trail of edits and deletions.

Employee exposure records are retained 30 years; employee medical records are retained for the duration of employment plus 30 years under OSHA recordkeeping rules.

A project closeout package typically contains record/as-built drawings, permits with final inspection sign-off, warranties, operation and maintenance manuals, and training records.

Apply least-privilege and minimum-necessary principles when granting access to or releasing records.

Risk is scored as likelihood multiplied by severity; each scored risk is entered on a register with an assigned owner and a planned control before work starts.

Control selection follows the hierarchy: eliminate, substitute, engineer, administrate, and only then rely on personal protective equipment.

A written emergency action plan specifies egress routes, an assembly point, the headcount method, designated responders, and a drill schedule.

Report all injuries, illnesses, and near misses; near misses are leading indicators and are investigated with the same process as incidents.

Respirators require a medical evaluation before use, fit testing before first use and annually thereafter, and a user seal check at every donning.

Quality assurance is process- and procedure-based prevention; quality control is inspection and testing of outputs. Both are documented independently of production pressure.

Corrective and preventive action: contain the problem, determine root cause, implement the correction, verify effectiveness, and close with objective evidence.

Stop-work authority: any worker who identifies an imminent danger may halt the task until the hazard is controlled.

A signed written agreement defining scope, schedule, and fee precedes the start of work; any change to those terms requires a signed change order.

Document client communications with date, time, participants, method, and the substance of decisions or approvals given.

Complaint handling sequence: acknowledge promptly, investigate, respond in writing with findings, offer a remedy, and document the resolution and follow-up.

Release of confidential information requires a signed, dated authorization identifying the records, the recipient, the purpose, and the expiration.

Confirm understanding with a reflective restatement of the client's message and a written summary of decisions reached.

Maintain professional boundaries; document any gift, dual relationship, or circumstance that could create a conflict of interest.

Use qualified interpreters for consent and critical instructions; family members should not be relied on to convey consent information.

Escalate to a supervisor or counsel when a client request conflicts with law, code, or the limits of the license.