On December 1st 2015, the Project Management Institute (PMI)® changed its Continuous Certification Requirements (CCR). While the total number of PDUs for every 3-year re-certification cycle of PMP® is still 60, there are a number of changes to types of PDUs you will need to maintain your certification. There have also been changes to other PMI® certifications.

First off, what are PDUs?

PDUs are Professional Development Units. After you receive your Project Management certification – since PMI® is all about continuous growth and learning – you will need to acquire PDUs as part of PMI® CCR programming order to maintain your certification.

There are two types of PDUs: “Education” and “Giving back to the profession”. 

Education PDUs are essentially the same as contact hours – so if you’re getting a certification for the first time, don’t get worried if PMI® application form asks you to fill in your PDUs. They just want to know the number of formal training hours you’ve completed. Simplilearn offers a range of training programs geared toward different PMI® certifications.

From December 2015 onwards, you will need a minimum of 35 PDUs classified according to the following three new skills areas to receive a certification: Technical Project Management, Leadership, and Strategic and Business Management. Together, these 3 areas form PMI Talent Triangle®.

How many Education PDUs do I need?

Different PMI® certifications require different numbers of PDUs – with a specific breakup between technical, leadership, and strategic PDUs. For example, if you are looking to renew your PMP® or PgMP® certifications, you will need 60 PDUs in total: 35 education PDUs and 25 giving back to the profession PDUs.

From the 35 education PDUs, you will need a minimum of 8 technical PDUs, 8 leadership PDUs, and 8 strategic PDUs. You can choose the remaining 11 education PDUs across the 3 categories as per your preferences.

Visit PMI®’s website to check the exact number of PDUs you’ll need for the certification you want! The PMI-ACP®, PMI-RMP®, and PMI-SP® now require a total of only 30 PDUs.

After you’ve finished Simplilearn’s training and have your PDUs in hand, you need to upload the details onto PMI®’s website. You are only allowed to take the certification exam after you have uploaded your PDUs, so do this as soon as possible!

And finally, follow these steps to upload PDUs onto PMI®s website:

1. Log into PMI® CCRS: https://ccrs.pmi.org/login/index

2. Click Report PDUs.