The Canadian Construction Association (CCA) and the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS) have inked an agreement in Toronto designed to streamline the path to certification in the estimating profession. The arrangement allows CIQS members to access Gold Seal certification and CCA members to access CIQS professional certification.
The Canadian Construction Association (CCA) and the Canadian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (CIQS) have inked an agreement designed to streamline the path to certification in the estimating profession.
“We are very excited to have signed a new certification agreement with CIQS, which expands on the relationship we had previously with the institute,” said Barry Brown, chair of the CCA’s Gold Seal committee and president of Maple Leaf Construction.
“This arrangement allows CIQS members to access Gold Seal certification and CCA members to access CIQS professional certification, both of which ultimately promote excellence in the management of construction.”
Gold Seal is a national certification program for construction management personnel. In the case of estimators, certification is available in a range of categories including general, mechanical, trades and electrical contracting as well as roadbuilding and heavy construction.
The CIQS program offers construction estimator certified (CEC) and professional quantity surveyors (PQS) designations in the architectural, mechanical and electrical fields. The institute represents the quantity surveying and construction estimating profession in Canada.
Under the terms of the agreement, signed Oct. 26 at the Albany Club in Toronto, individuals who have achieved CEC status will be accepted automatically into the Gold Seal intern program. Those personnel with a minimum of five years of estimating experience will be allowed to write the appropriate Gold Seal exam.
Individuals who have achieved PQS status will qualify automatically for certification as Gold Seal estimators without further examination or additional experience requirements.
By the same token, Gold Seal-certified estimators will qualify automatically for CEC status under the CIQS program. The institute will allow Gold Seal estimators to achieve the PQS designation by writing certain “direct final” exams and the “practice problem” portion of the test of professional experience.
Currently, more than 1,200 CIQS members have achieved either professional quantity surveyor or construction estimator certified designations.
To date, some 1,515 Gold Seal estimator certificates have been issued.
CIQS president Roy Lewis said the institute believes the agreement will facilitate full integration of the services provided by members of both organizations.
“We operate in the same business environment,” he said. “We owe a duty of care to our customer clients to deliver an optimal technical and fiscal solution.”
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