Certifications
PDUs
A PDU is the unit PMI uses to measure continuing education. A certification does not last forever — it is maintained with PDUs over a three-year cycle. This page explains what a PDU is, how many you need, where they come from and how to claim them.
What a PDU is
One PDU (Professional Development Unit) is one hour of learning or of giving back to the profession. Less than an hour counts in quarters: 15 minutes is 0.25 PDU. The cycle lasts three years and starts the day you pass the exam. Before it ends the PDUs must be reported and the renewal fee paid — otherwise the certification is suspended.
The PMI Talent Triangle
PMI splits education PDUs into three areas and requires a minimum in each — the numbers are in the table below. The rest can sit in any of the three.
Ways of Working
The technical side of the work: methods, planning, risk, scheduling, agile approaches.
Power Skills
Working with people: leading a team, communicating, negotiating, handling conflict.
Business Acumen
Understanding the business around the project: strategy, regulation, value to the organisation.
Education and giving back
PDUs come from two directions. Education: courses and training, professional meetings and events — including PMI chapter events — online content, reading and structured discussions such as mentoring. Giving back to the profession: working as a practitioner, creating content, giving a presentation, sharing knowledge and volunteering. Education has a minimum, giving back has a maximum, and there is no upper limit on education.
What each certification requires
Over a three-year cycle, per the PMI CCR handbook (April 2026 edition):
- PMPProject Management Professional60total35 · 8 per areaeducation minimum25giving back maximum
- PgMPProgram Management Professional60total35 · 8 per areaeducation minimum25giving back maximum
- PfMPPortfolio Management Professional60total35 · 8 per areaeducation minimum25giving back maximum
- PMI-PBAProfessional in Business Analysis60total35 · 8 per areaeducation minimum25giving back maximum
- PMI-ACPAgile Certified Practitioner30total18 · 4 per areaeducation minimum12giving back maximum
- PMI-RMPRisk Management Professional30total18 · 4 per areaeducation minimum12giving back maximum
- PMI-SPScheduling Professional30total18 · 4 per areaeducation minimum12giving back maximum
- CAPMCertified Associate in Project Management15total9 · 2 per areaeducation minimum6giving back maximum
Requirements are set by PMI and do change — check the current CCR handbook before relying on a number. PMI-CP, PMI-PMOCP and PMI-CPMAI have their own rows in the same handbook. Of any surplus, only PDUs earned in the final year of a cycle carry over to the next: up to 20 for PMP, PgMP, PfMP and PMI-PBA, up to 10 for PMI-ACP, PMI-RMP and PMI-SP, up to 5 for CAPM.
How the conference earns them
- 01The chapter’s annual conference is a PMI chapter event with educational content. In the CCR handbook that is an “Organization Meetings” activity in the education category — one hour attended is one PDU.
- 02One edition of the conference carries [N] PDUs, spread across the three Talent Triangle areas.
- 03If you speak, preparing and delivering the talk counts as giving back (“Give a Presentation”). Volunteering for the chapter is giving back too (“Volunteer”) — one hour is one PDU.
- 04Other chapter events carry PDUs only where the event page says so.
Bracketed values are facts the board has not supplied yet. They are left visible on purpose.
How to claim them
- 1Sign in at pmi.org, open your myPMI dashboard and choose “Report PDUs” — that is the CCRS system. The PMI mobile app has the same thing.
- 2For the conference pick the Education category and the “Organization Meetings” type. Enter the provider (PMI North Macedonia), the event title, the date and the number of hours.
- 3Spread the PDUs across the Talent Triangle areas — one PDU per hour — and submit the claim.
- 4Keep your proof of attendance or the event registration. PMI audits claims at random, and that is exactly what it asks for.
- 5Once you have all the PDUs, PMI notifies you to pay the renewal fee. The deadline is 90 days after the end of the cycle at the latest.