Iowa Propane Training Requirements Under PEP — 2026 Guide

owa law actually says

Iowa regulates LP-gas safety through the State Fire Marshal Division of the Iowa Department of Public Safety, under Iowa Administrative Code agency 661, Chapter 226 (adopting NFPA 58 with Iowa amendments; statutory authority Iowa Code chapter 101). The training rule is 661—226.4(101), "Qualifications of personnel." The operative text, verbatim:

"Persons who transfer liquefied petroleum gas, who are employed to transport liquefied petroleum gas, or whose primary duties fall within the scope of this chapter shall be trained in proper handling and emergency response procedures. … Initial training shall include participation in a recognized training program and shall include both a written qualification assessment (closed-book test) and a skills assessment, based on the objectives set forth in the recognized training program and the requirements of NFPA 54 National Fuel Gas Code, 2018 edition, NFPA 58 Liquefied Petroleum Gas Code, 2017 edition, and any applicable requirements established in this chapter."

And the parts that bite:

• Refresher training at least every three years — itself requiring a proctored closed-book written assessment plus a hands-on skills assessment (226.4(1)"a"(2)-(5)).
• "The written qualification assessment shall be proctored through the training agency providing the refresher training or another qualified party." (226.4(1)"a"(3))
• "The hands-on skills assessment … shall include a verification of completion that shall be signed by the individual completing the required skills and the skills evaluator." (226.4(1)"a"(4))
• A parallel track, 226.4(2), imposes the same initial/refresher/assessment structure on persons who install, service, test, or maintain propane utilization equipment or gas piping.
• 226.4(3): "All training programs shall be instructor-led by a competent trainer."
• 226.4(1)"b": all training documented; documentation maintained by the current employer.
• 226.4(5): end users are exempt — but the moment a "user" also transfers or transports LP-gas, the full rule applies.

Citation: Iowa Admin. Code r. 661—226.4(101) (ARC 9235B eff. 1/1/11; last amended ARC 4642C, IAB 8/28/19, eff. 10/2/19). Verified at legis.iowa.gov, 2026-07-13.

The plain read: Iowa is a training-required, program-silent state. "Recognized training program" is deliberately generic — CETP qualified without being named, and PEP can qualify the same way. What is NOT generic is the delivery format: instructor-led, proctored closed-book testing, and a signed hands-on skills verification are written into the rule itself. Note also that Iowa pins specific code editions — NFPA 58 (2017) and NFPA 54 (2018) — so training content is assessed against those editions plus Iowa's chapter 226 amendments. One correction worth making to older reference lists: LP-gas personnel qualification in Iowa belongs to the State Fire Marshal, not the Iowa Utilities Board or the Division of Labor.

Nationally: PERC is archiving CETP on a rolling basis — each module retires roughly 12 months after its PEP replacement releases. There is no single national cutoff date. PEP, the successor, is role-based and modular: employees complete only the learning paths their job requires, the credential is a PERC Learning Center transcript entry instead of a paper CETP certificate, and the proctored CETP exam is replaced by module knowledge assessments plus an OJT (on-the-job training) worksheet verified by a PEP-Recognized Field Trainer.

For Iowa, that collision matters more than in most states, because the rule's format requirements were built around the CETP-era model:

• The proctoring leg. Iowa requires the written assessment to be *proctored* by the training agency or another qualified party. PEP's default online module assessments are unproctored. Something — an IPGA classroom session, an in-house qualified proctor, an SFM-accepted arrangement — has to close that gap.
• The instructor-led leg. 226.4(3) requires instructor-led delivery by a competent trainer. Self-paced eLearning alone does not read as instructor-led; the practical Iowa pattern has been association-delivered classroom courses built on PERC material, and IPGA's Iowa Basic and Bobtail refresher courses (which explicitly satisfy 661—226.4(101)) are already updating to current PERC content.
• The skills leg. Iowa's signed hands-on skills verification maps naturally onto PEP's OJT worksheet verified by a Field Trainer — this is the one place PEP's structure may actually fit Iowa *better* than CETP did. But the signature requirement (trainee + evaluator) is Iowa's, so make sure the paperwork carries both.

The three-year refresher clock, meanwhile, carries over untouched — it is Iowa's own requirement and doesn't care which program name is on the certificate.

1. Keep training on PEP content — delivered in a rule-compliant format. The cleanest path in Iowa is the one operators already use: association-delivered, instructor-led courses built on PERC's current (now PEP) material, with proctored testing built in. Check the Iowa Propane Gas Association course calendar first.
2. Map every employee to the right track. Transfer/transport personnel fall under 226.4(1); install/service/maintain techs under 226.4(2). Same structure, but track them separately so nobody's refresher lapses.
3. Put the three-year refresher on a real calendar. The rule says "at least every three years," per person, with both assessments each cycle. A missed cycle is a rule violation, not a paperwork nit.
4. Close the proctoring and instructor-led gaps in writing. If you rely on PEP eLearning for any part of initial or refresher training, ask the State Fire Marshal Division how they treat it against 226.4(1)"a"(3) and 226.4(3) — and keep the answer.
5. Match your skills paperwork to the rule. The hands-on verification must be signed by both the employee and the skills evaluator. Fold that into your PEP OJT worksheet flow so one document serves both.
6. Hold onto prior CETP certificates. They remain valid records in the PERC Learning Center, and they anchor each employee's three-year refresher history.

• The PERC Learning Center transcript for each PEP-trained employee (PEP issues no paper certificate — the transcript is the record).
• Proof each written assessment was proctored — who proctored, when, under what arrangement (226.4(1)"a"(3)).
• The signed hands-on skills verification for every initial and refresher cycle — signed by BOTH the employee and the skills evaluator (226.4(1)"a"(4)). Align this with PEP's OJT worksheet so one record serves both systems.
• The three-year refresher date for every covered employee, both tracks (transfer/transport and install/service).
• Instructor-led delivery records — course rosters, trainer identity, agenda (226.4(3)).
• Any prior CETP certificates — keep them; they stay in the Learning Center as valid history.
• Remember: the current employer holds the records (226.4(1)"b") — when you hire an experienced tech, collect their training file on day one.