RBT supervision requirements

Supervision is the part of RBT practice that most often falls behind quietly. Hours accumulate week by week, the percentage is only visible once someone adds it up, and a shortfall is usually discovered at the end of the month — when it can no longer be corrected. This page explains what the monthly obligation actually consists of and how to keep it visible while the month is still running.

The four things a supervision month has to contain

The percentage is calculated on hours delivering behavior-analytic services — not on every paid hour. Drive time, canceled sessions and administrative time are not service delivery. Define this precisely for your organization and apply it the same way for everyone.

Working the percentage while the month is open

The useful question is never "did we hit 5%?" at month end. It is "given the hours already delivered, how much supervision is owed right now, and how much more will be owed if the current pace holds?" That converts a month-end audit into a weekly decision.

Contact format: what actually counts

• Contacts must be real-time and face-to-face — in person, or by synchronous video where permitted. Phone calls and email exchanges do not count.
• At least one of the two monthly contacts must be individual, with no other RBTs or trainees present.
• Group supervision is limited to 2–10 RBTs, regardless of how many supervisors are in the room. A large all-staff training is not supervision.
• The observation with a client may be in person or by webcam, subject to applicable law and client consent.
• Record the format of every contact so the individual-to-group split can be checked without reconstructing it later.

Who may supervise, and for how long records are kept

• The supervisor must be a designated RBT Supervisor or RBT Requirements Coordinator who has completed training based on the BACB's Supervisor Training Curriculum Outline.
• The supervisor needs sufficient client-specific knowledge — normally through the same organization or a contractual relationship with the client.
• Both the RBT and the supervisor retain supervision documentation for seven years, including after the supervisory relationship or the employment ends.
• Failure to meet the ongoing supervision requirement can result in certification termination, a six-month bar on reapplying, and enhanced audit on requalification.

What to document for each contact

The documentation standard matters more than most teams expect. A contact that happened but was never written down cannot be counted, cannot be reviewed, and cannot be used to show a technician what they were coached on three months ago.

When a month falls short

1. Record the shortfall honestly rather than backdating a session.
2. Note the cause — supervisor caseload, technician leave, scheduling failure, or a spike in service hours.
3. Put a corrective action against a named owner with a date.
4. Check whether the same supervisor has shortfalls across several technicians; that is a capacity problem, not an individual one.

Requirements are set by the certifying body and can change. Always confirm the current standard in the BACB's published handbook for your credential before making an organizational decision. This page is operational guidance, not a compliance determination.