PMI Releases New Construction Offering to Address Industry Challenges and Rapid Industrialisation Efforts

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 15 November 2021 – Project
Management Institute (PMI), the world’s leading association for project
professionals and changemakers, has launched Construction
Professional in Built Environment Projects (CPBEP)™, its first
industry-specific solution tailored for construction professionals to address
the challenges and opportunities facing construction professionals and
organisations.

As urban population centres swell, climate
change intensifies, and emerging economies mature, the demand for major
infrastructure projects—and the individuals who manage them—is rapidly
increasing. In fact, McKinsey
found that $3.5 trillion in yearly global economic infrastructure investment
will be needed through 2035.

The new offering by PMI includes seven
online learning courses, three of which include the opportunity to earn a
micro-credential upon course completion. This suite of online courses and
micro-credentials will help professionals in Singapore navigate an increasingly
uncertain world and steer towards success.

According to Turner
& Townsend, in Singapore, construction demand continues to be high,
with around S$5.7 billion of contracts awarded in Q1 2021, a decline of only
0.1 per cent as compared to the previous quarter. At the same time, global
supply chain constraints and other pandemic-related factors are expected to
cause tender prices to escalate by 10 to 15 per cent. Added to this are the
more expensive materials and manpower. These factors suggest that construction
firms and property players in Singapore will continue to be pressured to do
more with less.

“With rising costs and continued
constraints from the pandemic, the construction industry and its professionals
in Singapore need to be more agile to navigate disruptions and steer towards
success. This need for flexibility is also exemplified by the government’s
recent move to prepare more than one concept plan for long-term land use for
the first time in 50 years,” said Ben Breen, Global Head of Construction and
Managing Director, Asia Pacific, PMI. “With more than five decades in the
project management industry, PMI is uniquely positioned to help equip
professionals with the skills needed to transform the surging industry through
developing these innovative learning methods and practices,” added Ben Breen.

PMI worked with leading construction
organisations and subject matter experts to identify common issues that are
detracting from project outcomes and taking a toll on the professionals leading
these projects—and the companies funding them. The new earning solutions help
construction professionals evolve their project management skills and lead
their projects and organisations forward. The courses and micro-credentials can
help these professionals through upskilling to ensure they have the power and
technical skills needed to deliver projects of all sizes more successfully,
especially as construction organisations experiment with various new
technologies and ramp up their work.

In 2020, PMI surveyed more than 40,000
global Project Management Professional (PMP)® certification holders in the
construction industry and found that 72 per cent of them experience project
delays always or often, 70 per cent experience scope creep always or often, and
73 per cent of projects ended over budget.

The first three courses now available are:

• Built
  Environment Project Communication Pro – This
  micro-credential with a course focuses on the power of effective
  communication and how to improve this skill, specifically in a
  construction environment.
• Scope
  and Change Order Management in the Built Environment – This course focuses on project outcomes and understanding
  how technology can support scope development, management, and change order
  processes.
• Interface
  Management in the Built Environment – This
  course focuses on the effective management of communications,
  relationships, and deliverables among various stakeholders in large,
  complex projects.

The
remaining four courses will launch in 2022, along with the capstone exam that
will award the CPBEP certification to professionals who pass the exam.

To learn more about the new offering, visit pmi.org/certifications/construction.