There’s a lot of confusion when holders of PMP and other PMI Project Management certificates look to maintain their qualification through continuing professional development. PMP holders need to earn 60 Professional Development Units (PDUs) during each 3 year cycle in order to maintain their PMP credential.
There are 5 Categories of activity which will earn you PDUs:
1. Formal Academic Education
eg a university course
2. Professional Activities and Self Directed Learning
eg article in a professional journal
3. Courses offered by PMI Registered Education Providers
eg a PRINCE2 course from a training company that teaches PMP
4. Courses from Other Training Providers
eg a PRINCE2 course from a training company that does not teach PMP
5. Volunteer Service
eg application of project management skills to assist a charitable organisation
PMP Credential Handbook:
The project management training covered under Categories 3 and 4 should be of a professional standard and relevant to the qualification concerned. Each contact hour relevant to project management equates to one PDU. Typical courses which can be used to earn PDUs include the following (figure in brackets indicate approx PDUs obtained; the number can vary depending on specific course chosen):
- APM Introductory Certificate (13)
- Change Management Practitioner (20)
- Finance for Non-Financial Managers (14)
- ISEB Foundation in Green IT (21)
- ITIL Foundation (21)
- ITIL Capability Certificates (35)
- ITIL Lifecycle Certificates (21)
- ISEB Project and Programme Support Office Essentials (20)
- Managing People in Projects (14)
- Microsoft Project 2003/2007/2010/2013 (7-14)
- M_o_R Foundation (20)
- M_o_R Foundation and Practitioner (27)
- MSP Foundation (21)
- MSP Foundation and Practitioner (35)
- PMI CAPM (Certified Associate in Project Management) (35)
- PMI PMP (Project Management Professional) (28)
- PRINCE2 Foundation (21)
- PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner (35)
How To claim the PDUs upon completion of the course, please follow the steps outlined below:
You can claim PDUs from a selection of our most popular courses, all of which will count towards your PMI Credential requirements. This means that as well as earning a world-class recognized Best Practice qualification, you can now also gain your PDU requirement at the same time!
Step 1 > Log in to www.pmi.org as usual
Step 2 > Go to https://ccrs.pmi.org/certificants/ClaimPDU.aspx
Step 3 > Click Report Professional Development Units (PDUs)
Step 4 > Select PDU “Category B” from the drop-down lists, then click Next
Step 5 > Use the calendar icons to select the activity Start date and End date, and answer the questions to indicate your evaluation of the course. Click Next to continue.
Step 6 > Type in the number of PDUs earned for your credential requirements
Step 7 > Review the confirmation agreement and click the checkbox to indicate your acceptance of the terms. Click Submit to finish your claim.
Step 8 > Submission results display listing all credentials for which you have claimed PDUs. Your PDU claim submission is now complete.