Masons: Construction Industry Institute Endorses CM Certification

The Construction Industry Institute (CII) of the University of Texas, a consortium of leading owners; engineering and construction contractors; and major suppliers dedicated to improving delivery of capital projects and programs, has endorsed the Certified Construction Manager designation as "a value-adding credential for those in responsible charge positions of major phases of capital projects."

In making this endorsement, CII's Professional Development and Executive Committees also urged CII member companies to "seriously consider the benefits that the CCM credential can bring to the execution of their individual capital projects."

CII's membership of more than 130 organizations includes many of the largest and most innovative capital program owners in the United States, along with major general contractors, engineering services providers, major suppliers, and leading academic institutions. CII emphasizes rigorous research into critical trends and topics affecting the construction industry, together with performance assessment and promotion of a portfolio of tested, evidence-based construction Best Practices.

The CM certification program is accredited by the American National Standards Institute based on the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 17024 standard. It is administered by the Construction Manager Certification Institute, which recently announced the enrollment of the 2,000th Certified Construction Manager.

CII's endorsement of CM certification, announced on the eve of its 30th Annual Conference in Orlando, Fla., results from a process that has extended for more than two years. During this time, a large joint committee of representatives from CII and the Construction Management Association of America made a detailed comparison of CII Best Practices and CMAA's Construction Management Standards of Practice. The two organizations then collaborated on a strategy for integrating the Best Practices into the body of knowledge on which the CCM certification is based. This included creating a new pool of questions for the CCM examination.

As a result, the CII leadership concluded that "the examination questions robustly represent CII Best Practices content."

CII and CMAA launched an alliance in 2010 under the theme, "Best Practices - Best Practitioners." Institute Chair Glenn Gilkey, senior VP at Fluor Corp., notes that both parts of this formulation are equally important.

"CII's Best Practices are evidence-based and proven effective," Gilkey explains. "Incorporating them into your projects will improve your results. But it is critical that the professional practitioners managing programs and projects be thoroughly familiar with Best Practices and committed to implementing them. We believe this endorsement is a significant milestone. It will help CII achieve our purpose of measurably improving the delivery of capital facilities."

Bruce D'Agostino, CAE, FCMAA, president and CEO of CMAA, praised the CII decision as the result of commitment and hard work by more than 24 volunteers. "Both CII and CMAA recruited for this effort the most experienced and far-sighted individuals among their members, and this group worked conscientiously through a very complex process to achieve the best possible outcome."