The benefit of obtaining the Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) Exam Certification

Certifications offered by the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering (AACE) have been a mark of distinction for more than thirty years, and more and more employers are requiring these certifications as a prerequisite for jobs. PSP is one of AACE's commonly recognized qualifications that cover subjects related to the preparation and scheduling of projects. Obtaining an AACE qualification also leads to greater peer acceptance and increases job and income prospects.

While a licensed professional engineer is usually considered “certified” in any field in which he or she works (imposing self-discipline to not “practice outside one's areas of expertise”), for both licensed engineers and unlicensed technicians, the national mood is to require certification in specialty disciplines. A welcome response to the increased power of our software tools in education and training in theory as well as practice and qualification regulated by our professional societies, such as AACE (with the PSP exam noted above and PMI (with the PMI-SP exam).

Topics of Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) Exam

The Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) Exam consists of two main sections, Planning and Scheduling, each further broken down into two sub-sections. The core topics for each of the two sections are listed below. These contents are likely to be used for the examination. However, on any particular delivery of the test, other similar topics could also appear.

Applicants are recommended to use these contents and/or other resources including PSP exam dumps where possible to provide background information on the exam objectives. The syllabus for the Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) Exam is listed below with detail of each section and their topics:

1. Planning - PLANNING DEVELOPMENT

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize that the planning process is a dynamic process repeated throughout each phase of a program or project life cycle.
• Scaling of the planning process must be appropriate and equally weighted to each phase of work to achieve a balanced and usable product.
• Effective implementation of a plan results in a schedule.
• Understand the fundamental concepts of the planning process and its terminology.
• When conditions change, the planning process and deliverables should be examined and updated as necessary. The plan for one phase of a project offers a pattern for developing the plan or next phase of the project as well as the project as a whole.

Objectives covered by this section:

INPUT & DATA

• General and special conditions
• Constructability Methods
• Change management
• Delivery methods
• Identification of Stakeholders
• Contract types
• Contract Requirements

CONSIDERATIONS & CONSTRAINTS

• Identification of Resources
• Project Variables
• Value Engineering
• Stakeholder Consideration

2. Planning - PLANNING PRODUCT

Objectives covered by this section:

OUTPUT & DELIVERABLES

• Periodic Forecasts
• Review by Stakeholders
• Risk & Recovery Plan
• Define Project Goals
• Define the Project Plan
• Baseline Plan
• Establish Cost Breakdown Structure
• Cost Estimate Development
• Establish Organization Breakdown Structure
• Establish Work Breakdown Structure
• Define the Scope of Work
• Phase Definition
• Sequencing & Phase Relationship

3. Scheduling - Schedule Development

Objectives covered by this section:

Input & Data

• Feedback from stakeholders
• Breakdown structure relationships
• Define Schedule and scope
• Schedule specification
• Cost estimation model

Creating Schedule

• Schedule quality analysis
• Types of schedule
• Relationships
• Activities
• Constraints and calendars
• Cost and resources
• Milestones
• Durations
• Schedule basis documentation

4. Scheduling - Schedule Maintenance & Controlling

Objectives covered by this section:

Maintain Schedule

• Schedule change management
• Tracking schedule progress
• Baseline scheduling
• Acceleration
• Cost & resource management
• Schedule maintenance feedback

Output and Deliverables

• Schedule forecasts
• Management summary
• Schedule analysis
• Constructability review
• Recovery schedules
• Variances and trends
• Progress reports and reviews
• Control level schedules

Reference: https://web.aacei.org/certification/certification-information/certifications-offered/professional-certifications#PSP