The COI program was developed to contribute to the prosperity of CEDIA members by leveraging the CEU requirements of various design & build professionals to facilitate long term business partnerships for your organization. We also aim to raise awareness of the industry and CEDIA within residential building channels. We empower CEDIA members to deliver a consistent message through relevant high quality education.

This valuable member benefit program enables instructors to provide continuing education to their local design and build industry partners, helping you establish vital business-to-business networking contacts and lifetime strategic partnerships, whilst raising the awareness of CEDIA, its members, and the custom electronics industry.

Your company must be a CEDIA member and you must successfully complete the CEDIA outreach instructor course and pass the peer-evaluated presentation assessment.

There is no continuing education requirement or renewal fee, but COIs must complete a minimum of two CEU presentations each calendar year to keep their credential. Furthermore, instructors are expected to follow program guidelines for registering upcoming classes and reporting attendance.

If a COI changes companies, the credential stays with the individual, but they can only actively participate in the program if currently employed with a CEDIA member company.

Pre-work, which is provided upon registration, is REQUIRED and should be reviewed and prepared prior to arrival. The pre-work information is extremely important, as part of it contains an abbreviated PowerPoint presentation which you will be expected to practice and present during the peer evaluation. This peer evaluation will be the determining factor as to whether or not a participant passes or fails the class.

Successful completion of the COI “Train the Trainer” course allows participants to earn eight CEUs toward a current CEDIA certification, and COIs may petition to earn one CEU per hour each time they teach a class. Additionally, in order to help your colleagues meet their continuing education requirements, CEDIA-certified staff at the COI's company may petition to earn one CEU per hour for each class in which they participate.

These informative courses can be delivered to any organization, and currently, members of the following associations may receive continuing education credit for their attendance:

• American Institute of Architects (AIA)
• American Institute of Building Design (AIBD)
• American Society of Interior Designer, (ASID)
• International Interior Design Association (IIDA)
• Interior Designers of Canada (IDC)
• National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
• National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI)
• Ontario Association of Architects (OAA)
• Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC)
• Architects’ Association of New Brunswick (AANB)
• Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC)
• The Alberta Association of Architects (AAA)
• Saskatchewan Association of Architects (SAA)
• Manitoba Association of Architects (MAA)
• Nova Scotia Association of Architects (NSAA)
• Architects’ Association of Prince Edward Island (AAPEI)
• Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Architects (NAA)
• Northwest Territories Association of Architects (NWTAA)
• The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
• The British Institute of Interior Design (BIID)

For professionals with AIA, ASID, IIDA, and IDC, CEDIA will report their attendance directly to the association. For all other organizations, attendees can self-report using the certificate of completion that the COI provides.

The COI presentations are provided in Microsoft PowerPoint format, and each is password protected, which means no alterations of the presentations can be made. CEDIA does not provide unprotected files for Mac computers, iPads, or other tablet devices. Participants are advised to research the best methods for accessing these protected presentations and install the software needed to successfully use the courseware. It is recommended that Mac users purchase and install “PowerPoint for Macs.”

The classes are designed to provide industry partners with free education and help COIs establish mutually-beneficial relationships with those businesses and organizations. COIs are not allowed to charge industry partners for their participation in these classes.

The COI courses are approved for face-to-face delivery only. Additional requirements are needed to satisfy online learning through various industry partner associations, and CEDIA has elected to submit its COI courses for in-person delivery only.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some institutions have approved online delivery of continuing education content. Please check with the respective association to confirm whether they are currently accepting online delivery.

For additional information, contact the CEDIA Education Team.