BACB fieldwork & RBT supervision, explained

Each calendar month, at least 5% of the hours an RBT spends providing behavior-analytic services must be supervised, across at least two face-to-face, real-time contacts (at least one of them individual), with at least one direct observation of the RBT working with a client. It resets every month, with no running total and no end point, and it is met separately at each organization.

For exampleA month with zero service hours needs no supervision that month.

It is worked out on behavior-analytic service hours, not payroll or scheduled time, and measured one calendar month at a time. It is a flat 5%, with no lower rate later on. There is no total to finish: each month starts fresh, and extra supervision doesn't carry over.

For example100 service hours in a month means at least 5 hours supervised.

In the app The RBT dashboard shows each workplace's supervision percentage for the month as you log.

The 5% is measured on the hours an RBT spends providing behavior-analytic services that month, not on total or payroll hours. A month with no service hours owes no supervision.

Contacts happen face-to-face and in real time, in person or by live video. Phone calls and email don't count. At least one of the two must be individual, with no other RBTs or trainees there. The other may be a small group of 2 to 10 RBTs, never more than 10, however many supervisors are present.

In at least one contact each month, the supervisor directly observes the RBT providing services to a client. Live video counts. Video monitoring on its own, without real-time interaction or feedback, may not count as supervision.

The BACB doesn't publish an official monthly RBT supervision form, but it does say what an RBT's records must show: the days and times services were provided, the dates and length of supervision, individual or group, the dates of direct observations, the supervisors' names, proof of each supervisor's relationship to the client, and additional documentation, such as session notes, if records disagree. The RBT and the supervisor each keep records for at least seven years. They are kept for an audit, not routinely sent to the BACB.

Conducting assessments, designing behavior plans, and analyzing data, for example. BCBA trainees need at least 60% of their total fieldwork hours unrestricted, and BCaBA trainees at least 40%, counted across all of fieldwork, not month by month. Every hour that counts is either unrestricted or restricted, supervision meetings and group supervision included: the activity decides, never the format.

For exampleDesigning a behavior plan is unrestricted; running it with a client is restricted.

Implementing behavior plans and running teaching sessions with clients, for example. Restricted hours can be no more than 40% of total fieldwork hours for BCBA trainees and 60% for BCaBA trainees, counted across all of fieldwork. Some activities depend on context: collecting data during treatment is restricted; collecting data for a functional assessment is unrestricted.

Independent hours count toward your total, and each one is restricted or unrestricted. The month's supervision percentage is worked out on all of the month's hours, independent and supervised together.

2,000 total hours for the BCBA or 1,300 for the BCaBA, under both the pre-2027 and the 2027 standards, with at least 5% of each month's hours supervised. A supervised fieldwork month that falls short of 5% can count fewer of its hours, so the 5% is met.

1,500 total hours for the BCBA. For the BCaBA, 1,000 under the pre-2027 standards and 800 under the 2027 standards. At least 10% of each month must be supervised, except BCBA under the 2027 standards at 7.5% (BCaBA stays at 10%). A concentrated month that falls short can't be prorated, so that month's hours don't count. Often shortened to concentrated fieldwork.

It depends on your credential, your fieldwork type, and (for BCaBA concentrated) your standards: 2,000 (BCBA supervised), 1,500 (BCBA concentrated), 1,300 (BCaBA supervised), 1,000 (BCaBA concentrated, pre-2027), or 800 (BCaBA concentrated, 2027). Eight pathways, five totals, all within five consecutive years.

Conferences, workshops, and university courses; coursework; studying for the exam; meetings with little behavior-analytic content; nonbehavioral admin such as scheduling and billing; CPR and crisis trainings; nonbehavioral assessments; interventions that aren't behavior-analytic; and role-play that isn't tied to a real client. All fieldwork must be tied to a specific, real client.

Supervised hours divided by the month's total fieldwork hours. At least 5% on supervised fieldwork and 10% on concentrated, except BCBA concentrated under the 2027 standards at 7.5% (BCaBA concentrated stays at 10%). It is measured every supervisory period, one calendar month, never as a running total, so a strong month can't make up for a short one. Supervised hours include supervision meetings and the activities your supervisor observes.

In the app Your dashboard shows the month's supervision percentage against your pathway's minimum as you log.

Every supervisory period, your supervisor must observe you with the clients you serve. Under the pre-2027 standards that is at least one observation a month. Under the 2027 standards it is measured in minutes added up across the month: at least 60 minutes on supervised fieldwork and 90 minutes on concentrated.

The BACB states the balance two ways, each with its own base:

• “At least 50% of the supervision meeting time must be individual supervision each supervisory period.”
• “Group supervision hours may not exceed half of the total supervised hours in each supervisory period.”

A group never has more than 10 trainees, however many supervisors are there. Unless you're supervised at an organization with several supervisors, your group supervision comes from the supervisor who gives your individual supervision. Each group hour is still restricted or unrestricted, like any other hour.

In the app ABA FT checks the second sentence: the month's group hours against half of its supervised hours. It doesn't check meeting time, so talk the first sentence through with your supervisor.

Under the pre-2027 standards, supervised fieldwork needs at least four supervisor contacts a month and concentrated needs six. The 2027 standards drop the contact count: the BACB announced in its March 2022 newsletter that the supervision percentage already covers it. The handbooks' supervision section still mentions four and six and hasn't caught up yet.

Fieldwork is measured month by month. The supervision percentage, the 20-hour minimum, the monthly cap, observation, and (under the pre-2027 standards) contacts are all judged inside each calendar month. Your unrestricted share and your total hours add up across all of fieldwork.

A month needs at least 20 fieldwork hours. Under 20, the month earns no eligible hours at all: it is a floor, not a proration.

130 hours a month under the pre-2027 standards and 160 under the 2027 standards, for both fieldwork types. You can work more, but no more than the cap counts that month.

In the app Your month's hours show against your pathway's cap as you log, and hours over it are flagged. Your entries always save.

Under both the pre-2027 and the 2027 standards, every pathway's hours must be accrued within five consecutive years. A slower pace is fine, as long as each month you count has at least 20 hours and everything fits inside the window.

One form per supervisor, or per organization when several supervisors work together there. You and your supervisor sign it by the last day of the calendar month after the month of supervision, or no hours count for that month. You and your supervisor keep it for at least seven years; it isn't sent with your application. Applying on or after January 1, 2027? Use the 2027 forms.

In the app Your supervisor reviews and signs each month's form in the app.

Signed at the end of each supervision relationship. Supervised and concentrated hours go in separate sections, always as the actual hours accrued. It is submitted with your certification application.

Earned with a graduate degree, fieldwork (2,000 hours supervised or 1,500 concentrated), and the exam. BCBAs practice independently, renew with 32 CEUs every two years, and can supervise BCaBAs, RBTs, and fieldwork trainees once they meet the supervisor requirements.

Earned with a bachelor's degree, fieldwork (1,300 hours supervised, or concentrated: 1,000 pre-2027 and 800 under the 2027 standards), and the exam. BCaBAs practice with ongoing BCBA oversight and can supervise RBTs.

RBTs deliver behavior-analytic services, with ongoing supervision every month they provide services. To earn it: be 18 or older with a high school education or equivalent, pass a background check and an abuse registry check, complete the 40-hour training and an Initial Competency Assessment, and pass the exam. It is kept with 12 PDUs every two years. RBT service hours don't automatically count as BCBA or BCaBA fieldwork.

Which standards apply is decided by when the BACB receives your complete application, not when your fieldwork started: received by December 31, 2026, the pre-2027 standards; after that, the 2027 standards. The 2027 standards raise the monthly cap from 130 to 160 hours, measure observation in minutes (60 supervised, 90 concentrated), drop the contact count, lower BCBA concentrated supervision from 10% to 7.5%, and lower the BCaBA concentrated total from 1,000 to 800 hours. RBT ongoing supervision doesn't change.

An active BCBA or BCBA-D in good standing who has completed the BACB's 8-hour supervision training, keeps up supervision CEUs, and has at least a year since certifying (or monthly consultation in their first year).

An active BCBA, BCBA-D, or BCaBA in good standing who completed the 8-hour supervision training before supervising. An RBT may have more than one supervisor, and needs one for every client they work with.

Must be a BCBA or BCBA-D; a BCaBA can't hold this role. An organization can have several coordinators, but each RBT may have only one coordinator per organization.