ABO–NCLE INFOMATION PAGE

The California State Board of Optometry (CSBO or Board) licenses and regulates all opticians practicing in California. Optician licenses are called registrations. Pursuant to Business and Professions Code §23.7., “license” means license, certificate, or registration.

Here’s what CSBO needs you to know:

What’s the difference between ABO-NCLE Certification and Board Registration?

ABO & NCLE Certifications are issued and maintained by ABO–NCLE. According to ABO–NCLE, certification can benefit you in the following areas: public recognition; employment opportunities and increased earning power; job mobility and more. However, ABO–NCLE Certifications are NOT the same as a Registration (license) to practice Opticianry in California.

As mandated by California law, you need the Registered Spectacle Lens Dispenser (SLD) and/or Registered Contact Lens Dispenser (CLD) registrations to fit and adjust spectacle lenses and/or contact lenses without direct supervision. CSBO regulates these registrations and requires SLD and CLD applicants to pass the related ABO–NCLE Exams.

What does my Board Registration allow me to do?

It depends on what type of practice you will be performing. California separately registers SLDs, CLDs, Registered Dispensing Ophthalmic Businesses (RDOs), and Nonresident Ophthalmic Lens Dispensers (NOLDs). The separate registrations are straightforward. SLDs are registered to fit and adjust spectacle lenses. CLDs are registered to fit and adjust contact lenses. RDOs are the sole owners, corporations, or firms who are registered to fill prescriptions written by Optometrists or Physicians and Surgeons. NOLDs are ophthalmic lens dispensers located outside of California that are registered to deliver ophthalmic lenses to patients in California.

To learn more about the differences between the Board and ABO–NCLE, please read The Spectacle – Winter 2024 newsletter article called Credentials in Opticianry: Making Sense of Board Licenses and ABO–NCLE Certifications.

For more information on ABO–NCLE and their certification process, please contact them directly.

ABO and NCLE

American Board of Opticianry & National Contact Lens Examiners

217 North Upper Street, Suite 201
Lexington, KY 40507
Toll Free: 1–800–296–1379   https://www.abo-ncle.org/
mail@abo-ncle.org   customerservice@abo-ncle.org