The Professional Development Programme (PDP)

The Professional Development Programme (PDP), is a great measure for recently graduated and or final year students setting foot in the construction sector. The programme will support young professionals to build essential competencies that will enhance their career prospects and provide excellent reporting for your intuitional employability data.

What is the PDP?

The Professional Development Programme (PDP) is a tailored route to Chartered Membership for graduates and part time students who are employed and undertaking a degree qualification in either construction related or non-construction related course.

Whilst on the programme candidates will gather together a portfolio of work-based evidence to show that they can meet competencies across a range of assessment criteria. All work is submitted online using an e-portfolio system called Learning Assistant which allows the candidate to track their progress. Candidates will upload evidence into 12 different PDP units; some of which are highlighted below:

• Managing Health and Safety
• Implementing Sustainable Construction and Development
• Knowledge of Commercial, Contractual and Legal issues
• Commitment to CPD

All candidates will need to have an Assessor (either someone within their company or the CIOB have a list of Independent Assessors) who will assess the work they put forward and ensure the candidate gains the experience required to complete the programme. The only requirement of an Assessor is that they are already a Chartered Member of the CIOB or any other construction related institute such as RICS or ICE for example. There is no specific start or end date to the PDP and the main advantage is that the e-portfolio allows assessments to be made remotely and the whole programme can be completed this way.

Support from CIOB

The CIOB will assign candidates an approved Internal Verifier who will regularly check the assessments being made. The Verifier will also support and encourage candidates through to completion of their portfolio, ensuring the evidence they put forward is relevant and of the right quality. The CIOB also offers training to candidates and assessors and is able to do live demonstrations on Learning Assistant showing how the programme works.

We encourage you to sign post your students, recent graduates and employer partners to our PDP programme. Discover the full details here.