The question “How do I maintain my PMP® certification?” & “What is a PDU?” come up regularly in the questions submitted to Velopi by PMP-certified Project Managers.

On this page:

• Understanding PDUs
• Earning PDUs
• PDU Categories
• Carrying Forward Excess PDUs

Understanding PDUs

If you hold the PMP®, PgMP®, PMI-SP®, PMI-RMP®, or PMI-ACP® credential(s), you are required to adhere to the Continuing Certification Requirements (CCR) program, which supports ongoing professional development through education and giving back to the profession. The core principle is that you need to earn and submit Professional Development units (PDUs).

Earning PDUs

Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to earn professional development units (PDUs) toward maintaining your credential(s). The good news is that many of them are free and you get some of them for just doing your job as a Project Manager.
PDUs are split into 6 categories A-F.

PDU Categories

Categories A, B & C are under the Education category and D, E & F are under Giving Back to the Profession category.

For each hour you spend in the category you get 1 PDU.

Category A: Courses from R.E.P’s, chapters & communities
Category B: Continuing Education
Category C: Self-Directed Learning
Category D: Creating New Project Management Knowledge
Category E: Volunteer Service
Category F: Working as a Professional in Project Management

Each certification has a specified number of PDUs you need to achieve in the specified certification period. E.g. the PMP® certification needs 60 PDUs every 3 years.

Carrying Forward Excess PDUs

There are limits to the number of PDUs you can claim in each category.
If you exceed the number of PDUs in a specific category, the PDUs can be carried forward to the next certification, which is great.

Handbook and Submission Process

The full details of the maintenance of your certification are detailed in the handbook associated with your credential

If you have PDUs ready to submit, then please go to the PMI website and submit them. The PMI will then review and approve them. There are also short videos available at this link to fully explain the process.

If you have any questions about maintaining your PMP® or other PMI certification, then please contact us.