CSI CERTIFICATION SEASON HAS ARRIVED!
by Kevin O'Beirne, P.E., CSI, CCS, CCCA
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. / CSI Buffalo-WNY Chapter Certification Chair

It’s time to register for the spring 2009 Construction Specification Institute (CSI) certification exams. This article presents some info on CSI’s certification programs and what’s new for the spring 2010 exams. The following CSI certifications are available: Construction Documents Technologist (CDT), Certified Construction Specifier (CCS), Certified Contraction Contract Administrator (CCCA), and Certified Construction Product Representative (CCPR)—information on each is presented below.

All exams are held during the week of March 29-April 3, 2010; the early-bird (reduced fee) registration deadline is January 29, 2010 and the final registration deadline is February 26, 2010. For complete information, see CSI’s certification website—which is chock-full of information, including free, downloadable study guides—at www.csinet.org/certification.


Certifications and Exams

Advance your knowledge and career through CSI’s certification programs! For those who have thought, “There ought to be a ‘how-to book’ for, and ways to measure knowledge of, construction documents and the construction administration process,” this program is for you!

CSI certification is the key to increased knowledge and career advancement, whether you are a design professional, contractor, subcontractor, owner, product representative, or anyone else who works in the construction industry. Certification shows your commitment to excellence within the construction industry. It offers a substantive, flexible, yet practical education that can be applied directly to the job-at-hand.

With CSI certification, you become part of a select group of individuals with the CDT, CCS, CCCA, or CCPR designation associated with their name ... and you receive the industry-wide respect and recognition that goes along with it.

Learn more about CSI’s certification programs at www.csinet.org/certifications. All the exams are closed-book, multiple-choice, and administered via computer. CSI offers four exams/certifications:

1. Construction Documents Technologist (CDT). The introductory level "certificate" program, covering project delivery systems, construction documents, procurement (bidding or negotiating), construction administration, facility management, and more. The CDT exam is 100 multiple choice questions with a two-hour time limit. Preparing for the CDT exam will also assist you with preparing to become a LEED-AP (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional).

A CDT certificate is required to take the advanced certification courses (CCS, CCCA, CCPR). The CCS, CCCA, and CCPR exams are each 200 multiple choice questions with a four-hour time limit. CCS, CCCA, or CCPR accreditation requires obtaining professional development hours accredited by CSI or by your state’s professional engineering licensing division, and payment of a tri-annual fee to CSI to keep the accreditation up-to-date. An individual may obtain more than one advanced-level certification. Like the CDT exam, preparation for the CCS, CCCA, and CCPR exams also assist registrants for the complexities of a LEED-accredit building project and other elements of sustainable construction. Information on the advanced-level certifications is presented below:

2. Certified Construction Specifier (CCS). This advanced level certification covers the preparation of construction documents and specifications, and requires knowledge of industry-standard formats by CSI, such as OmniClass, UniFormat, MasterFormat 2004, SectionFormat/PageFormat 2007, and CSI’s Project Resource Manual.

3. Certified Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA). This advanced level of certification covers procurement and construction administration and requires knowledge of project delivery systems and the contractual relationships associated with each, and knowledge of industry-standard documents such as AIA’s A101 Owner-Contractor Agreement; A201 General Conditions; and B101 Owner-Architect Agreement; and EJCDC’s C-520 Owner-Contractor Agreement; C-700 General Conditions; and E-500 Owner-Engineer Agreement; and CSI’s Project Resource Manual. After the CDT, the CCCA is CSI’s second-most-popular certification program.

4. Certified Construction Product Representative (CCPR). The advanced-level CCPR certification is for product representatives and covers the product representative’s role and responsibilities in the design, procurement, construction, and facility management phases of a project.

What’s New for Spring 2010

The scope of the CDT exam has expanded to new topics. Starting with the autumn 2009 exams, the CDT exam now includes questions on green building design, building information modeling (BIM), and a new project delivery system—integrated project delivery (IPD). AIA, GSA, and US EPA study materials covering these new topics are linked on CSI's certifications website's "study materials" page. While the AIA and GSA documents are somewhat lengthy (the US EPA document is only two pages), CSI's CDT study guide helps to focus your efforts by directing you to a limited number of specific pages in the AIA and GSA documents. The new topics are expected to be covered in approximately eight questions (eight percent) of the exam.

Info for the Buffalo-Western NY Area

CSI’s certification exams will again be offered at over 400 Prometric test centers nationwide. Our area has two local Prometric test centers: 1) Prometric, 4927 Main Street, in the Snyder Place Shopping Center, Buffalo, NY 14226, (716) 565-0570; and 2) Bryant and Stratton College, 200 Red Tail, Suite 10A, Orchard Park, NY 14127, (716) 677-9500. Other test centers are located in other upstate New York, Pennsylvania, Ontario, and northeastern Ohio cities, including Erie PA, Rochester NY, Hamilton ON, Toronto ON, Niles (Ohio), East Syracuse NY, Mentor (Ohio), Vestal NY, Pittsburgh PA, and Albany NY. Test center locations can be viewed at www.prometric.com/CSI.

CSI’s Buffalo-Western New York (WNY) Chapter will again offer study/exam preparation courses online (“webinars”) free of charge for the CDT and CCCA exams, through Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. Participation in these courses is limited to a total of ten people, so sign up early to get a space. The study courses will be held during lunch hours from late January through late March; eight CDT sessions/presentations and seven CCCA sessions/presentations are planned. To further assist participants in preparing for their exam, also included are free distribution by the Chapter/Malcolm Pirnie of a practice exam for the CDT and CCCA programs, and a daily listserver e-mail with the “CDT practice question of the day” with answers and related commentary provided the next business day. Program participants will be invited to participate in a free listserver and secure Internet website where exam preparation information will be posted. For more information on the Chapter/Malcolm Pirnie free programs, contact Kevin O’Beirne, (716) 667-6667, kobeirne@pirnie.com.

Online, free CDT and CCS study courses are also offered by AEC Daily at www.aecdaily.com/csi. AEC Daily’s courses can be taken by the individual at any time convenient to you. On AEC Daily’s CSI page, select the course titled, “Construction Documents Education Program” for the CDT, and select “Construction Specification Education Program” for the CCS; each AEC Daily CSI course has eleven units. To access these courses, it is necessary to obtain a free AEC Daily online account.

Unfortunately, the Buffalo-WNY Chapter does not offer a study course for, and we are not aware of any online courses for, the CCPR exam.

Registration Information

Registration for the spring exams opened in September. Registration can be done online at www.csinet.org/certificatoin or via hardcopy (PDF) forms that can be downloaded from CSI’s certification website. Registration fees and deadlines are:

Registration fees are unchanged from 2009.

The registration fees listed above include a free study guide (downloadable at www.csinet.org/certifications) but do not include costs associated with acquiring other study materials, such as CSI’s Project Resource Manual textbook, or the CSI, AIA, and EJCDC standard documents on which the exams are based.

Applicants/registrants must use their legal name, as it appears on your government-issued photo ID that you will use to gain entrance to the exam, on your application and in all communications with CSI/Prometric.

Several weeks after submitting your application to CSI, you will receive a notice ("Authorization to Test") from CSI/Prometric via US Mail asking you to select your exam site, day, and time in the spring exam week. The "Authorization to Test" is your exam entrance ticket--print it out and bring it with you to the exam.

Cancellation Policy: Cancellations received by CSI up to 14 days before your scheduled exam date are eligible for a full refund; cancellations received by CSI between 14 and two days prior to the scheduled exam date are eligible for a 50 percent refund; and cancellations received by CSI less than two days before the scheduled exam are not refundable. Registrants have the option to reschedule their exam date or time at their Prometric test center, provided it is within the same testing week, and there is an available appointment at the test center. Deferment to a subsequent exam (i.e., in a different exam week) is not allowed by CSI; rather, a registrant seeking to defer to a different exam week must cancel their registration and re-register and pay the full fee for the subsequent exam.

For more information on CSI’s certification programs, and the Buffalo-WNY Chapter’s associated programs, please contact Kevin O’Beirne at Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., (716) 667-6667, kobeirne@pirnie.com.