The AACE International Certification Institute’s Certification Board is excited to announce that the DRMP certification examination is officially open for registration after a two-year restructuring. This expertise-level certification, long considered a benchmark for excellence in cost engineering and project controls, has been reimagined to reflect our profession’s evolving landscape better and ensure it continues to set a high standard for professional expertise.

The decision to pause the exam was to provide time and devote resources to update the content and structure since launching AACE’s Project Risk Management Professional (PRMP), the professional level certification in 2021 – which was borne out of the DRMP exam. During the restructuring period, the DRMP Committee worked closely with leading experts and industry partners to ensure the restructured certification remains relevant in today’s dynamic risk management environment that reaches numerous industries.

What’s New?

• Updated Content: The revamped exam now includes the latest developments in decision and risk management, ensuring that certified professionals are current with the skills and knowledge that matter most at the highest levels of responsibility.
• Improved Delivery: We’ve made the certification more accessible by offering in-person testing and secure online options through remote proctoring, allowing candidates to choose the best schedule and location for the exam.
• Refined Domain Structure: Domain 1 focuses on basic cost engineering and statistics. Domain 2 will allow test candidates to choose a memo based on their preference for a risk—or decision-based scenario. Domain 3 focuses on complex decision and risk management practices scenarios. Domain 4 focuses on general decision and risk management practices. These enhancements aim to provide a practical, hands-on assessment of critical skills.
• Revised Recommended Practice: RP71R-12 has been updated to reflect an extensive list of all relevant RPs, PPGs, and PPDs published since the first edition in June 2013.
• Revised DRMP Study Guide: This has been updated to include changes made to the examination, references, and recommended practice.

The DRMP has long been a prestigious credential within our community, and AACE’s relaunch ensures it continues to hold that reputation. Those who earn this certification demonstrate mastery of critical skills, a commitment to professional development, and excellence in executing responsibilities.

Do you want to be a DRMP?

The first thing you must do is understand if you’re eligible. The eligibility requirements are:

• 4-year college or university degree*
• 4 years of industry-related experience
• 4 years of experience (does not need to be continuous) directly related to the field of decision and risk management, with at least 18 months of recent experience required, demonstrated by providing any combination of the following:
  • • Three (3) letters of recommendation from a client (past or present) describing the project’s complexity, the type of risk management implemented, and the candidate’s role in implementing or providing such risk management services. All letters submitted must include the time the candidate spent on decision and risk management tasks. If three letters of recommendation and no work products are submitted, those durations must sum to 4 years of combined experience.
    • Three (3) work products personally produced by the candidate that demonstrate having performed any aspect of the risk management work (decision analysis, schedule and cost risk analyses, implementation of risk management programs, risk workshops, etc.) on their projects to sum 4 years. The candidate must demonstrate they were the primary author/contributor in developing the work product. Merely being a junior-level participant or member of a larger team without being the lead is not an adequate demonstration of a senior-level practitioner with leadership responsibility. NOTE: A candidate may provide a total of three (3) letters of recommendation or three (3) work products, or a combination of two (2) letters of recommendation and one (1) work product, or a combination of one (1) letter of recommendation and two (2) work products, etc.

Depending on the combination that works for your application, remember that at least one recommendation letter or work product must demonstrate recent experience within the past 18 months.

* Applicant may substitute a 4-year of college degree with an additional 4 years of industry related experience or one of the following professional certifications: AACE’s CCP; CEP; EVP; PSP; Certified Construction Manager (CCM); Certified Professional Constructor (CPC); Professional engineer (PE); Registered Architect (RA); or Chartered Surveyor.

Registration is now open for all eligible candidates. When you are ready to register, click here. For step-by-step instructions for creating your application, click here.

Thank you for your continued support and commitment to excellence within the AACE International Certification Institute.  We look forward to seeing many of you achieve this highly valued credential and to celebrating your career successes.