CREDENTIALS MATTER (ESPECIALLY CSI CREDENTIALS)

Are you still on the fence about taking CSI’s CDT exam? There’s no doubt about it. Studying for the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) certification exams requires a substantial investment in your time (to study) and your money (to purchase the CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide, and for the exam registration fee).

But if you’re serious about being a part of the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry, CSI certification is something you need.  CSI’s Construction Document Technologist (CDT)  certification shows that you understand, and are committed to, the AEC industry with all its quirks and complexity, and with all its constant change.

My experience: I haven’t taken the time to sift through decades of personal records to refresh my memory about when I took, and passed, the CDT exam. All I remember is that it was soon after the credential was available. I passed the Certified Construction Specifier (CCS) exam shortly thereafter. I’m embarrassed to admit that I actually let both certifications lapse sometime in the late 80’s. I was busy with two small children and a demanding job. We moved from one home to another in 1985,  and I’m blaming an errant address change form for the slip-up.  Sometime thereafter, I came to my senses and passed both exams again, on the same day. Years passed before I got interested in the Certified Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA) exam.  I took it in about 1998, and failed it by 1 point.  In 2002, I think, I took the CCCA exam again and passed it.

• Why I decided to become CSI certified: I looked at CSI certification as essential to professionalizing the art, craft, specialty, or whatever you want to call it, of specification writing. People with all sorts of educational and business backgrounds wind up in the AEC business, and enrich it because of their diversity. The industry thus needs a common core, and CSI Certification provides it.
• Toughest material I studied: I don’t think any of the material in any of the CSI Certification exams is hard to understand.  What is difficult, however, is to get back into the test-taking frame of mind. In addition to understanding the material, you have to be an extremely careful reader when taking the test. You need to understand some extremely fine distinctions between possible answers to the questions.
• Who helped me to pass: I  first took the CDT exam before the Chicago Chapter had study groups, so I was pretty much on my own.
• CSI Chapter Certification Program: I belong to the Northern Illinois Chapter now, and we haven’t had enough exam takers to enable us to offer a certification study group program in the last couple of years. If we get an avalanche of interest from this blog post, however, our Certification Chair Ken Moore and I might just be persuaded to offer a few webinar-style coaching events. If you’re interested, please say so in the comments to this blog post and Ken and I will get back to you. If we offer the coaching webinars, we will not limit attendance to members of the Northern Illinois CSI Chapter.
• Why CSI Certification makes me a better choice for people who are hiring:  For reasons I’ve never really understood, lots of people in the AEC business run for cover when asked to deal with the written word. CSI Certification shows that I have the patience, and the confidence, to deal effectively with the critical written components of construction contract documents.

Why am I trying to talk you into taking the CDT exam?  For your own good, friend.

First, you’ll learn a lot just in the process of studying for the CDT. If your career is anything like mine has been, you learned a lot about how the AEC business works from the school of hard knocks, and from assorted mentors, buddies, cronies, sages, hangers-on, etc. But when you study for the CDT and read The CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide, you’ll develop a deeper understanding of why industry roles, rights, and responsibilities are the way they are. Especially if you participate in a CSI Chapter certification study group, and get the benefit of the group’s camaraderie.

Second, the credential signifies to the world that you took the time and the trouble to learn about all those arcane contract and spec factoids. Nobody can flim-flam you about your rights and responsibilities under a construction contract. You read the book. You know how to navigate a 1000-page Project Manual and find what’s pertinent to you. Your colleagues - most of whom come down with the vapors when called upon to read anything, let alone write anything - will come to you to find and interpret specification provisions.

Third, although there are plenty of other professional credential programs out there, and they’re no doubt valuable, CSI certification has the clearest focus on construction documents. And the construction documents define the rights and responsibilities we in this industry live by every day.

So, just do it.  You know you need it!  Buy the CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide and register for the CDT exam.

Here’s a FREE opportunity to learn more about CDT certification, the gateway to the advanced CCS, CCCA, and CCPR certifications:  Mark your calendar now for CSI’s FREE CDT 101 Webinar on Wednesday, January 26, 2012 at 1pm CT.  Register for the webinar at www.csinet.org/certification.   In this FREE webinar, speaker Lee Orosco, FCSI, CCS, will advise exam candidates on the benefits of CSI’s Construction Document Technologist (CDT) certificate program, and how to successfully prepare for the exam. This webinar will be accompanied by a tweetchat on Twitter.  Use hashtag #CSICertified during the webinar to chat with CSI members who have passed the CDT exam!

And here’s still more information about CSI Certification:

General CSI Certification Information: www.csinet.org/certification
Registration link:  https://webportal.csinet.org/Conference/RegistrationProcessOverview.aspx?id=80
·       Exams will be offered April 2 - April 28, 2012, in the U.S. & Canada.
·       Early registration deadline: February 2, 2012
·       Final registration deadline: March 2, 2012

CDT Information
General information about the CDT exam: www.csinet.org/cdt
·       Cost Before Feb. 2: $235 (member) $370 (non-member)
·       Cost after Feb. 2: $295 (member) $430 (non-member)
·       Cost for qualified students: $105
The CDT exam is now based on the CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide: www.csinet.org/pdpg

Advanced Exam Information
Cost of an advanced exam:
-          Before Feb. 2:  $275 (member) $410 (non-member)
-          After Feb. 2: $340 (member) $475 (non-member)
CCS information: www.csinet.org/ccs
-          Now based on the Construction Specifications Practice Guide (www.csinet.org/cspg)
CCCA information: www.csinet.org/ccca
-          Now based on the Construction Contract Administration Practice Guide (www.csinet.org/ccapg)
CCPR information: www.csinet.org/ccpr
-          This is the last year this exam will be based on the PRM (www.csinet.org/prm)
You don’t have to be a CSI member to register for an exam – but if you join first, you get the member discount! www.csinet.org/joincsi

WHY NOT BE A SPEC WRITER?

Young architects and engineers:  Are you wondering how you can carve out a satisfying career niche in the AE business?


Are you looking for something unusual that increases the likelihood that your services will be in demand in this turbulent economy?


Why not consider becoming a spec writer? Spec writing is a niche job that very few architects and engineers seem to want to do even occasionally, let alone full time. Why?  Beats me.  I think I’ve got the best, most interesting job in the office.
I’m not suggesting you become your father’s spec writer. Not the irascible old guy with all the red pencils and the six-inch scale in his shirt pocket who talks to himself. 

I suggest that you aspire to something more along the lines of a knowledge manager, as the concept is explained by Robert S. Weygant in his new book BIM Content Development - Standards, Strategies, and Best Practices. A couple of passages from Mr. Weygant’s book, which I recommend highly (emphasis in italics is by me):

“Knowledge management is the supply, maintenance and delivery of graphical and topical information related to a project. With the advent of building information modeling (BIM), there has been a considerable increase in the amount of information and collaboration during the design of the project. Because so much information is being passed between so many different parties, a single responsible party or team should be assigned to manage this information to ensure consistency between the plans, specifications, model, and other supporting documents.”


“As construction documents are created and the project manual is assembled, the knowledge manager can organize information based on its specification section and export the information from the model for use by the specifier. In many cases, the specifier is the individual who makes decisions regarding the performance attributes of certain components. Cases such as this lead me to believe that a seasoned specifier may be the most appropriate individual to take on the role of knowledge management. A seasoned specifier is not an individual who simply understands how to edit a form document, but one who understands the differences between products based on their performance values, when to use certain components, and the appropriate methods for documenting them.”

Why spec writing is already interesting and will get even better:

• Spec writing is entertaining. As a full-time spec writer, I get to work on many of the projects in our office. The pace of the work and constant deadlines pretty much preclude boredom, and the wide range of project types and sizes in our office mean I have to be constantly researching and learning.
• The job is way more than just editing master specs. Spec writers help to express the owner’s business objectives in the bidding and construction process.  Owner’s complicated business needs and objectives mean lots of custom writing of bidding requirements, bid forms, and General Requirements.  
• Ditto for projects using Integrated Project Delivery (IPD).
• BIM/spec linkage will require parts of spec production  to switch from  word processing to a relational database approach - another opportunity to add to your specifier’s skill set.

How to get started in spec writing/knowledge management:

• Commit to being a lifelong learner; stay informed and relevant because change is constant and inevitable.
• Find a mentor, or maybe a few mentors.  Find someone who knows construction detailing. Find someone who knows the bidding process.  Find someone who knows a lot about construction contract administration.  Listen.  Learn.  Repeat.
• Hook up with a CSI Chapter somewhere.  Listen, learn, volunteer.  You’ll learn a lot about the business and will meet people that will eagerly help you.
• Take the CSI Construction Documents Technologist (CDT) certification exam as soon as you can.  Professional credentials really matter in this business, not to mention the fact that you’ll learn a lot in the process of studying for the exam.  After you pass the CDT, take the Certified Construction Specifier (CCS) and/or Certified Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA) exams.
• Read everything you can find about BIM-linked specs, because that’s the future of the profession.
• Tune in to CSI’s free BIM Practice Group, and Specifying Practice Group, monthly webinars, and every other BIM/spec forum you can find.
• Set up Google Alerts and RSS feeds for BIM and specs to ensure a steady flow of up-to-date information.
• Find and follow every BIM and spec-related Twitter account. Watch the dialog for a while and then join in.
• Become the BIM go-to person in your firm.
• Read Robert S. Weygant’s book BIM Content Development - Standards, Strategies, and Best Practices.
• Read Randy Deutsch’s new book BIM and Integrated Design - Strategies for Architectural Practice.  I’m reading it now.
• Jump on the first opportunity you see to work with BIM-linked specs.  Few others will want to follow, and you’ll soon become the go-to person.
• And if you get lucky, you’ll probably be rewarded with a spec writer/knowledge manager role. 
• Put it all together and you'll be a very sought-after professional.