PDU questions, answered in one line each

Professional Development Unit. One PDU is one hour of learning or giving back that PMI counts towards keeping your certification. What are PDUs, and how many do I need?

No. Contact hours get you into the exam. PDUs keep the certification after you pass. They are counted separately and never swap.

Yes. PDUs are claimed in quarter-hour steps, so a 90-minute webinar is 1.5 PDUs and a 45-minute podcast is 0.75.

Education is learning: courses, webinars, reading, training at work. Giving Back is contributing: your job, volunteering, mentoring, writing, speaking. Most of your PDUs must be Education, and only Education counts towards the Talent Triangle minimums.

60 every three years. At least 35 Education, with at least 8 in each Talent Triangle area. Giving Back capped at 25. The full table for every certification.

The same as PMP: 60 every three years, 35 Education, 8 in each area, Giving Back capped at 25. PfMP and PMI-PBA follow the same rule.

30 every three years. At least 18 Education, with at least 4 in each area. Giving Back capped at 12. PMI-RMP, PMI-SP, PMI-CP and PMI-CPMAI are the same.

15 every three years. At least 9 Education, with at least 2 in each area. Giving Back capped at 6.

The minimum Education PDUs in each Talent Triangle area for the 60-PDU certifications: 8 Ways of Working, 8 Power Skills, 8 Business Acumen. They sit inside the 35 Education minimum. How the Talent Triangle works.

Yes. Education has no cap. Giving Back is the one with a ceiling.

Your CCRS dashboard shows it by area. Or put those numbers into the PDU calculator and it tells you the gap and which pack fits.

Yes: PMI webinars, chapter events, books, podcasts, your job, volunteering. They arrive slowly and almost all land in Ways of Working. Every way to earn PDUs, with the caps.

Yes, a capped number per cycle for working as a practitioner: 8 for the 60-PDU certifications, 4 for the 30-PDU ones, 2 for CAPM. It never counts towards a Talent Triangle minimum.

No. The minimums are inside Education. Volunteering and mentoring are Giving Back, so they add to your total and nothing else.

Yes, when the course is about using AI in project, program or portfolio work. A registered course states which area its PDUs fall in.

Yes, if it was a structured session on a relevant topic. Claim it as Education, in the area it covered, and keep the agenda and attendance record.

Power Skills or Business Acumen. Almost everything free is tagged Ways of Working. The 24-PDU pack is 8 in each area for exactly this reason.

In CCRS at ccrs.pmi.org, or in the PMI mobile app. Report PDUs, choose the category, enter the details, submit. The five steps, with a video walkthrough.

A code PMI gives to every registered course. Enter it in CCRS and the provider, title and Talent Triangle split fill in for you. The claim is approved almost at once.

A claim-code report is approved immediately. A self-reported activity is accepted on submission and may be audited later.

No. You only produce evidence if PMI audits you, which is why you keep it for 18 months after your cycle ends.

Do not share your PMI login with anyone for this. Reporting takes five minutes with a claim code; if you are stuck, ask your provider to walk you through it on a screen-share.

Three years to the day after you passed the exam. CCRS shows the date. What happens at each stage after that.

You have 90 days after the end date to finish. Then the certification is suspended for one year; you can still earn the PDUs and renew, but you cannot use the letters. After that it expires and only the exam brings it back.

PDUs count for the cycle in which you earned them. Report them before that cycle ends.

Some can. PMI lets a limited number of PDUs earned in the final year of your cycle, beyond what you needed, transfer to the next cycle; for PMP the limit is 20. PDUs earned earlier in the cycle do not carry over. CCRS applies the transfer for you.

Yes, as soon as every requirement is met. Your next cycle still starts on the original end date, so you lose nothing.

Power Skills and Business Acumen PDUs count for every PMI certification you hold. Ways of Working PDUs count for the certification the course was registered against, and always for PMP. Giving Back counts for all.

No. Report it once. CCRS applies the PDUs to every certification they count for.

No. Each certification has its own three-year cycle from the day you passed its exam. CCRS shows both.

Yes. Every course sold for PDUs on this site is registered with PMI and comes with a claim code and a declared Talent Triangle split. The packs by certification.

No. The courses are self-paced. You work through the modules, the certificate and claim code unlock when you have completed them.

The same day, if you need to. Most people spread a 60-PDU pack over a few weeks. The claim in CCRS takes five minutes.

No, and nobody should. You report them yourself with the claim code; it takes five minutes. If you get stuck, email help@kavitasharma.net and we will walk you through it on a screen-share.