Please don’t give me a hard time about this, but I always assumed if I ever got audited for RBT supervision hours, the documents at my company would cover it.Asked by an RBT. One of 40 questions we collected about supervision — and the one with the most at stake.
Three different things are called “supervision,” and the records are yours, not your employer’s
Almost every supervision question we see comes from one of two mix-ups: confusing three separate requirements that share a name, or assuming somebody else is keeping the paperwork. The second one is the expensive mistake, so let’s take it first.
You keep your own records. For seven years.
If you’re an RBT, the BACB is explicit: you and your supervisor must maintain the documentation, and you both must retain it for at least seven years — even if the supervisory relationship has ended, and even if somebody else has taken over.
What that documentation has to show:
- the days and times you provided behavior-analytic services
- the dates and duration of each supervision contact
- the format — one-on-one or group
- the dates your supervisor directly observed you working with a client
- the names of the supervisors who supervised you
- proof of your supervisor’s relationship to the client
Your employer’s files are not your record. Companies change systems, lose archives, and close. When somebody leaves a job, the login goes with the job. The BACB can audit current and former RBTs and supervisors at any time, and if requirements turn out not to have been met, action can be taken against any or all parties — the technician, the supervisor, or the coordinator. Keep your own copy, monthly, somewhere that isn’t a work account.
The same seven-year rule applies to BCBA fieldwork: both the trainee and the supervisor must keep the signed contract and supervision documentation for at least seven years from the final supervision meeting, and the completed fieldwork forms for seven years after certification. Both parties have to be able to produce it if the BACB asks.
The three supervisions, and which one you’re asking about
| Which one | Who it’s for | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|
| RBT ongoing supervision | Anyone holding an RBT credential | Keeping the credential. Runs the whole time you’re certified. |
| Fieldwork supervision | Trainees accruing hours toward BCBA or BCaBA | Qualifying in the first place. Ends when you certify. |
| Supervision CEUs | BCBAs who supervised during their cycle | Recertifying. Continuing education about supervising. |
They have different rules, different documentation and different consequences. “I’m getting supervision” doesn’t tell you which of the three is satisfied.
What RBT ongoing supervision has to include
- At least 5% of the hours you spend providing behavior-analytic services each calendar month.
- At least two face-to-face, real-time contacts per month. Not phone, not email.
- Your supervisor must observe you providing services in at least one of them. In-person is preferred; video-conferencing counts. Video monitoring with nobody interacting in real time may not.
- At least one of the two must be individual. The other can be a small group of 2–10 RBTs — no more than 10, regardless of how many supervisors are in the room.
One more thing people miss: ongoing supervision and professional development are separate requirements, and one event can’t satisfy both.
If you supervise, you owe supervision CEUs
A BCBA who supervised the ongoing practice of RBTs or BCaBAs on record, or trainees pursuing certification, at any point during the recertification cycle must obtain and enter 3 supervision CEUs to recertify. The trigger is binary. Supervising briefly, once, early in the cycle still turns it on. See our guide to how CEUs work for the rest of the cycle’s requirements.
Questions worth asking before you accept a supervision arrangement
- Will I get a copy of every supervision record, every month, that I can keep myself?
- Who exactly is my supervisor, and what is their relationship to the clients I work with?
- How will direct observation actually happen, and how often?
- What happens to my documentation if I leave, or if my supervisor does?
- Is there a contract, and what does it say about what happens if I stop?
That last one is worth reading closely. We’ve seen practitioners discover a repayment clause in a supervision agreement only after they signed it. A supervision contract is an employment and financial document as well as a professional one; read it as both, and take advice on it if the terms surprise you.
Two things this page can’t tell you
Whether your supervisor needs a state licence. Several people asked us this about remote supervision across state lines, and it’s a real question with a state-specific answer. Certification and licensure are separate systems — see our page on the difference — and the authority is the board in the state where the work happens. Ask them, in writing, before the arrangement starts.
Whether your specific hours count as restricted or unrestricted. That depends on the activity, and the BACB publishes its own fieldwork standards. Read those rather than relying on what a supervisor or employer tells you, because the person who carries the consequence of a miscount is you.
Written by Special Learning’s clinical team from questions practitioners actually asked in public forums, and checked against the BACB’s own RBT Handbook and BCBA Handbook (both Updated 06/2026). Requirements change and the handbooks are reissued periodically — read the current version in your BACB portal account before relying on any summary, including this one. General information, not advice about your situation or your contract.
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