Renewing Your Florida Massage License

Confused About Your Florida Massage License Renewal Requirements?

You are not alone! You probably know every Florida massage therapist must renew their license every two years, and all 30,000+ licensed massage therapists share the same renewal date. However, if this is your first Florida massage license renewal, you should know more about your unique requirements. And even if this isn’t your first renewal, our renewal requirements have changed.

The next license renewal deadline in Florida is August 31st, 2025.

That part has not changed. But again, not all of us share the same continuing education renewal requirements. This leads to lots of confusion, misinformation spread between colleagues, and anxiety as the renewal date approaches.

If you have questions about your renewal, you are in the right spot! Let’s cover the Rules so you can get started or finish up those remaining hours.

Which continuing education courses are required to renew my Florida massage license?

If This Is Your First Renewal

You have a very unique set of requirements. Your hours are prorated according to the month you got licensed, you can take all of your hours online, and you only have one required course. You can learn more about those requirements here.

If This Is Not Your First Renewal

You must complete twenty-four (24) hours of continuing education. These hours must be completed since the last license renewal deadline. Continuing education hours do not carry over in Florida.

On our Florida Facebook group, we throw around words like “live,” “mandatory,” and “online” courses? The truth is, those three words are not used in any of the Board rules. We know we have to take 24 hours, and loosely (12) twelve must be “live” and the other twelve (12) can be “live” or online. Then there are those three (3) “mandatory” courses (and now four with human trafficking). Let’s review the Board Rules and figure out exactly what they require.

12 “Live” Classroom Hours

64B7-28.009 Continuing Education
(4) During each subsequent biennial renewal cycle, the licensee shall complete:
(a) Two instruction hours in prevention of medical errors, pursuant to Section 456.013(7), F.S.
(b) Two instruction hours in the laws and rules which govern the practice of massage therapy, including Chapters 456 and 480, F.S., and Division 64B7, F.A.C.
(c) Two instruction hours in professional ethics.
(d) One hour in human trafficking awareness.
(e) Twelve classroom hours, taught in an in-person setting, which must include hands-on instruction or demonstration, and must have stated learner objectives

Here are three keys I look at from the above rule for the twelve classroom hours as the word “live” is not used anywhere in the Rules.

1. “Taught in an in-person setting”

2. “Must include hands-on instruction or demonstration”

3. “And focused on massage therapy techniques, skills and protocols as defined in Section 480.033(3)”

The Remaining Hours and Mandatory Courses

There is not much for instructions for the remaining twelve (12) hours. There is no mention of the need to be in person or include hands-on instruction. For this reason, most people complete the remaining twelve (12) hours online. However, we do know from the below that there are three required courses to complete.

Four (4) Mandatory Courses after the First Renewal

• Two (2) hours of Florida Law and Rules
• Two (2) hours of Prevention of Medical Errors
• Two (2) hours of Professional Ethics (such as Roles and Boundaries)
• One (1) hour in human trafficking awareness

The requirements for these can be found in the below Board Rule:

64B7-28.009 Continuing Education
(4) During each subsequent biennial renewal cycle, the licensee shall complete:
(a) Two instruction hours in prevention of medical errors, pursuant to Section 456.013(7), F.S.
(b) Two instruction hours in the laws and rules which govern the practice of massage therapy, including Chapters 456 and 480, F.S., and Division 64B7, F.A.C.
(c) Two instruction hours in professional ethics.
(d) One hour in human trafficking awareness.

General Hours

Now you are down to five (5) hours. The new human trafficking course has dropped it from six to five. These hours that can be completed online, but are not part of your required courses are typically referred to as “general hours.” The rules provide a little guidance of what this should include. This is not what it has to include. Notice “including, but not limited to”.

64B7-28.009 Continuing Education
(4)(f) Five additional instruction hours, including but not limited to courses in communication with clients and other professionals, psychological dynamics of the client-therapist relations, risk management, charting, documentation, record keeping, infection control, or massage practice management.

*Please Note: One (1) Hour of HIV/AIDS is no longer required for license renewal as of 2012.

After You Complete Your Hours

All of your CE hours must be submitted to CE Broker prior to renewal. Florida requires that board-approved continuing education providers submit completed hours on your behalf within 30 days. If your provider is not a Florida board-approved provider (For example: they are only NCBTMB approved) you need to self-submit your hours to CE Broker.

Don’t forget to put your correct license number on your continuing education exams so that your CE provider can submit your hours to CE Broker on your behalf. Now is not the time to be guessing if it is MA66325 or MA66335.

You can then log in to your account on the Department of Health’s website and pay your renewal fee. The current fee is $105.

Your First Florida Massage License Renewal

If this is your first renewal after receiving your Florida license, your renewal requirements are slightly different. Here is what the Florida Board Rules (64B7-28.009 Required Continuing Education for Massage Therapists. F.A.C.) say about first renewals:

(3) During the first biennial renewal cycle, the licensee shall complete:
(a) Two instruction hours in prevention of medical errors, pursuant to Section 456.013(7), F.S.
(b) One hour in human trafficking awareness.
(c) One instruction hour for each month or partial month licensed. The overall number of required hours for renewal in the first biennial renewal cycle shall include the required hours of instruction in prevention of medical errors and human trafficking awareness.

What Does That Mean?

You are required to complete one (1) CE Hour for every month or partial month from your date of licensure until the renewal date (August 31st, 2025).

Here is an example of how that works. If you received your license on 12/15/20, you would need to complete nine (9) continuing education hours because there are 9 months between the license issue date and the August 31st deadline. If you received your license on 12/15/19, you would need to complete twenty-one (21) hours of continuing education because there are 21 months until the August 31st deadline from that issue date.

The only two courses you are required to complete are 2-hour Prevention of Medical Errors and one hour of human trafficking awareness. This requirement is not in addition to your required hours. For instance, if you need ten (10) hours for your renewal, two of those must pertain to the prevention of medical errors and one must be human trafficking awareness.

Check the date on your license to see how many hours your need.

Month Licensed	CE Hours Needed:	Month Licensed	CE Hours Needed:
September 2023	24	September 2024	12
October 2023	23	October 2024	11
November 2023	22	November 2024	10
December 2023	21	December 2024	9
January 2023	20	January 2025	8
February 2023	19	February 2025	7
March 2023	18	March 2025	6
April 2023	17	April 2025	5
May 2023	16	May 2025	4*
June 2023	15	June 2025	0*
July 2023	14	July 2025	0*
August 2023	13	August 2025	0*
*Massage therapists licensed during the open renewal period (May-ish, 2025 – August 31, 2025) do not need to renew their license in 2025, and will need 24 CE hours for the next renewal (August 31, 2027).

Required Courses

Here are the main points you need to remember for your first Florida massage license renewal.

You need to complete one hour of CE for every month your license is active. Please refer to the above chart to determine how many hours you need for this renewal.

Your CE hours this renewal must include two (2) hours of Prevention of Medical Errors and one (1) hour of Human Trafficking Awareness. You are not required to take two (2) hour Florida Law and Rules and two (2) hours of professional ethics, as is required for regular license renewal. Lots of other massage therapists that have been licensed longer are going to try to tell you otherwise.

For your first renewal only, all courses may be completed in an online/ home study format. You are not required to complete twelve (12) “live” hours for your first renewal.

All hours must be obtained through Florida Board-approved providers. Courses can by NCBTMB approved providers are acceptable, as long as they fall within the scope of massage. NCBTMB providers are not required to submit your hours to CE Broker and you will need to self-report those hours. If your provider has a Florida provider number, they are required to submit your hours to CE Broker within 30 days of completion.

Your hours must be completed after the date your Florida license was issued. Hours completed before that date cannot be used for renewal.

After You Complete Your Hours

All of your CE hours must be submitted to CE Broker prior to renewal. Florida requires that board-approved continuing education providers submit completed hours on your behalf within 30 days. If your provider is not a Florida board-approved provider (For example: they are only NCBTMB approved) you need to self-submit your hours to CE Broker.

Don’t forget to put your correct license number on your continuing education exams so that your CE provider can submit your hours to CE Broker on your behalf. Now is not the time to be guessing if it is MA66325 or MA66335.

You can then log in to your account on the Department of Health’s website and pay your renewal fee. The current fee is $105.

Florida Massage License Renewal FAQ

Having been a Florida Massage CE Provider for several renewal cycles now, I have received hundreds of emails and phone calls regarding license renewal.

Many of them are due to confusion between licensing, first-time renewal, and regular renewal requirements. Some of them are due to receiving the wrong information from other therapists. Others are due to a lack of available information, or vague definitions that can be left open to interpretation.

Below, I have listed the seven questions that I most frequently receive and how I have seen them enforced and responses I have received from the Board office. Remember, they are not the Board and I am not a lawyer, but the below should provide you some answers and guidance. If you have specific questions about how a Law or Rule pertains to you, contact your lawyer or the Board office for more information.

1. I live out of state and do not want to travel to Florida to complete my CE hours. Where can I find Florida board-approved continuing education in my state?

Short Answer

Continuing Education taken from NCBTMB Approved Providers may be used toward your Florida License Renewal.

Further Explanation

When I first obtained my massage license in Florida, I wondered how I was going to complete my Florida-approved hours while living and practicing in Iowa most of the year. As it turns out, it is really not that difficult to accomplish. Take a look at 64B7-28.010 Requirements for Board Approval of Continuing Education Programs.

64B7-28.010 Requirements for Board Approval of Continuing Education Programs
(3) The following courses, that meet the criteria for approval under this section, and conform to Section 480.033(3), F.S., are approved by the Board:
(a) Organized and accepted courses of study offered by providers approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork;
(b) Organized courses offered by a Board Approved Massage School;
(c) Continuing education courses offered by or sponsored by the Florida Board of Massage Therapy;
(d) Continuing education courses sponsored by the Florida State Massage Therapy Association;
(e) Continuing education courses sponsored by the American Massage Therapy Association or the American Massage Therapy Association Florida Chapter; and,
(f) Continuing education courses offered by the Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals.

In case you missed it, 64B7-28.010 (3)(a) allows you to take courses from providers approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB). NCBTMB providers can be found in every state.

The only stipulation is that you have to upload your own certificate or transcript to CE Broker if the NCBTMB provider does not have a Florida provider number. Entering your own credits into CE Broker is very easy to do.

2. I don’t want to practice massage in Florida anymore, or not for a while, what should I do?

Short Answer

You may move your license to inactive status, or relinquish it altogether.

Further Explanation

This is a question I have seen more of since the background/ fingerprinting requirement. You have a couple options. You can relinquish your license or put your license on inactive status.

If you are completely done practicing massage therapy in Florida, you can relinquish your license. To do this you need to send a letter indicating that you want to relinquish your license along with your paper license to the Board office. Choose this option only if you are sure you are done practicing massage in Florida.

You may also place your license on inactive status if you see yourself returning to the field. This will require you to log in to your account on the board website and pay the renewal fee. Then when you are ready to practice again, you will only need to show proof of your continuing education hours to resume practicing (instead of going through the whole application process again).

64B7-28.0043 Biennial Renewal of Massage Therapist License.
(4) A licensee whose license is in active status may choose inactive status as provided in Section 456.036(4)(a), F.S.
(a) To choose inactive status at the time of renewal, the licensee must submit the appropriate form as required by subsection 64B-9.001(1), F.A.C., the renewal fee, and if delinquent, the delinquent license fee specified in Rule 64B7-27.100, F.A.C.
(b) To choose inactive status at any other time, the licensee must submit a written request, along with the change in status fee and if delinquent, the delinquent license fee specified in Rule 64B7-27.100, F.A.C.
(5) A licensee may choose retired status as provided in Section 456.036(4)(b), F.S.
(a) To choose retired status at the time of renewal, the licensee must submit the appropriate form as required by subsection 64B-

3. Can I really take all my courses online for my first Florida massage license renewal?

Short Answer

Yes.

Further Explanation

I have confirmed this with the Board more times than I can count. The Board rules do not explicitly say “you can take all your hours online”. Rather, it is the absence of the 12 hours in the presence of an instructor that is mentioned after the first-time renewal requirements that allow you to take all your continuing education credits in a home study format.

Here is the difference from the board website (link here):

Read under the requirements section, click on “CE” in the sub-menu.

Then read through “First Biennial Renewal Only”:

and compare it to “Following Your First Renewal”:

Notice there is no “live” requirement under the first renewal requirements.

Let me reiterate, this is for First Renewal Only!

4. Does CPR count as “Live” Hours?

Short Answer

Probably not.

Further Explanation

CPR is no longer a subject included in the Continuing Education Rule. Even so, you run into the argument about it pertaining to massage.

5. Do webinars count as “Live” Hours?

Short Answer

Probably not used to be my answer for this. But…

Further Explanation

2020’s special distance learning rule looks to make a case for live webinars. So the below, is what I used to say. Again, these words were pre-2020.

I contacted CE Broker and they said “no.” I contacted the Board office and they also gave me the, “that is a great question, but probably not.” So I just go by what the Rule says about “being in the presence” of an instructor. A couple of boards under the MQA do allow this learning option in their Rules, but apparently not for massage therapists at this time.

If this changes, I will post an update here. In the meantime, you can contact the board office if your license is delinquent and you need to renew.

6. Am I required to purchase a subscription to CE Broker?

Short Answer

No.

Further Explanation

CE Broker has a free basic account as well as paid accounts that have more benefits and features. You may still confirm and enter completed credits with a basic (free) account. A professional account is $29/year and a concierge account is $99/year. You can read more about the different account benefits here.

7. Do you submit to CE Broker?

Short Answer

Yes.

Further Explanation

All Florida board-approved providers are required to submit completed credits to CE Broker within 30 days as long as the correct license number has been provided. Under most circumstances, Our website automatically submits hours for Florida renewal courses to CE Broker within one (1) business day after successful exam completion and provided you enter the correct license number. Our average time of submitting hours on CE Broker is 34 minutes.

Got a Question Not Listed Here About the Florida Massage License Renewal?

If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me.