CETP certification is the propane industry's Certified Employee Training Program, now run by the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) for drivers, plant workers and service techs. PERC is replacing it with the PERC Education Program (PEP), one module at a time, starting in 2025. Training already earned under CETP stays on the employee's record.
We do the paperwork. Trainers do the training. Need your crew trained on site? We can connect you with a training partner.
Questions operators ask about CETP and propane training
Does CETP certification expire now that PEP is here?
No. Every CETP completion stays on the employee's PERC Learning Center transcript, and PERC has published no blanket expiration. Renewals still run on your state's cycle and the refresher schedule in NFPA 58.
What is PEP?
PEP is PERC's newer training program, built by job role. A driver takes different modules than a service tech. Each module has an online knowledge check plus hands-on worksheets, and completion shows up as a transcript entry instead of a paper certificate.
When does a CETP module stop being offered?
About 12 months after its PEP replacement comes out. Modules 1.0, 2.2, 2.4, 4.1 and 4.2 are confirmed archived. An archived module stops taking new students. Training people already finished under it still counts.
Who needs propane training?
Anyone whose work falls under NFPA 58: people who deliver or transport propane, move it in or out of tanks and cylinders, or install and service tanks and equipment.
How often does propane training have to be refreshed?
NFPA 58 calls for refresher training at least every three years. Drivers and other hazmat employees also need DOT hazmat training repeated at least every three years under 49 CFR 172.704.
Who signs off the hands-on part under PEP?
A PEP-Recognized Field Trainer or a CETP Skills Evaluator. The online part tracks itself in the Learning Center. The hands-on worksheets do not, so the employer keeps them.
Does my state require CETP or PEP?
Some states write CETP or the PERC program into their licensing rules. Some of those haven't said how they treat PEP. Texas licenses through its Railroad Commission on its own system. Check your state with your regulator and get the answer in writing.
Is a CETP or PEP completion enough for DOT?
It helps, but the employer still owns the record. DOT expects a training record for each hazmat employee, with the employer's certification that the person was trained and tested.
Does Propane Safety Pro train crews on site?
No. We keep the records and write the manuals. Need your crew trained on site? We can connect you with a training partner.
What we keep on file for you
We do the paperwork. Trainers do the training. Your instructor teaches to your company's policies, and we hold what comes out of the room: completions, skills sheets, who signed, what date. We start the three-year clock the day of the class and tell you before it runs out, not the week after somebody asks.
Your fuel mix, your policies and your crew's daily tasks decide which modules apply to which employee. We map that with you and build the record around it, so what your trainer covers and what your file shows match. It's written to NFPA 58 and 54, the codes an inspector will hold it against.
Your trainer runs the skills evaluation. We keep the record of it, and every other completion, so your file has more behind it than a folder.
Need your crew trained on site? We can connect you with a training partner. Tell us what you need.
CETP modules (several are now archived and replaced by PEP)
- CETP 1.0 Basic Principles and Practices (archived)
- CETP 2.1 Propane Delivery Operations and 2.4 Cylinder Delivery (2.4 archived)
- CETP 2.2 Bobtail Delivery Operations (archived)
- CETP 3.1-3.5 Basic Plant Operations
- CETP 4.1 Designing and Installing Exterior Vapor Distribution Systems (archived)
- CETP 4.2 Placing Vapor Distribution Systems and Appliances into Operation (archived)
- CETP 4.3 Installing Appliances and Interior Vapor Distribution Systems
- CETP 4.4 Basic Electricity for Propane Appliance Service
- CETP 4.5 Basic Appliance Service and Troubleshooting
- CETP 4.6 Advanced Propane Appliance Service and Troubleshooting
- CETP 5.1 Designing and Installing Dispenser Transfer Systems
PERC has not published one master calendar for the rest. Check any module not marked here before you plan around it.
Find out which modules your crew actually needs on file, and which ones are missing, before somebody asks to see them.
Where the records split
The Learning Center tracks the online modules. It does not track the hands-on worksheets. Those stay with the employer, and so does the job of putting both halves together when an inspector or an underwriter asks.
Propane Insider keeps a free state-by-state CETP and PEP checker that lists the regulator to call in each state.
To keep training records and renewal dates for the whole roster in one place, Tank Spotter tracks each employee's training and flags renewals before they lapse. The training itself still comes from PERC's program and your trainer.
Training is one piece. Here's the written program an inspector asks for.
A certificate or transcript proves one person finished one module. It doesn't show your company's own policies, how your crew handles a transfer or a leak call, or who signed off that each person was trained on your equipment. Federal hazmat rules want that last part in writing: under 49 CFR 172.704(d), the employer keeps a training record for each hazmat employee and certifies that the person was trained and tested. A CETP or PEP completion is good evidence for that file. The rest of the file is yours.
Two documents carry most of that weight.
- A policies and procedures manual. The written program behind the training: your procedures, your training policy, and the NFPA 58 and DOT sections each one answers to. See the Propane Safety Pro policies and procedures manual.
- A DOT hazmat security plan. Any company that ships or hauls more than 3,000 liters (792 gallons) of propane, a Division 2.1 gas, in a single tank needs one under 49 CFR 172.800(b)(3). A typical bobtail tank is well past that line. The plan gets reviewed every year, and the drivers it covers need in-depth security training on your plan. See the Propane Safety Pro DOT hazmat security plan.
For the code behind all of this, read NFPA 58 in plain English.
Propane Safety Pro publishes this page and sells the manuals and plans linked from it. Tank Spotter and Propane Insider are sister products from the same publisher. This is general information, not legal advice. Confirm training requirements with your state regulator and your insurer.