AACE Project Controls Certification Guide
AACE International certification guide covering CCP, CEP, EVP, PSP, PRMP, DRMP, CFCC, CCT, and CST route selection for project controls, cost, scheduling, risk, and claims.
Use this guide when your project-management work is really project controls: cost engineering, estimating, scheduling, earned value, risk, claims, or construction-dispute support. AACE International sits close to PMI-CP, PMI-SP, and PMI-RMP, but it is more specialized around cost, schedule, controls, and total cost management.
Dedicated AACE simulator routes are not live in PM Mastery yet. These pages help you compare the AACE certifications, choose the right lane, and request coverage if one of these credentials is your target.
Credential level shortcut
AACE groups these credentials by level. Use the level first, then choose the discipline.
| Official AACE level | Credentials here | Best use |
|---|
| Technician | Certified Cost Technician (CCT)
, Certified Scheduling Technician (CST) | Best when you need foundational cost or scheduling recognition before moving into professional-level project-controls roles. |
| Professional | Certified Cost Professional (CCP)
, Certified Estimating Professional (CEP)
, Earned Value Professional (EVP)
, Project Risk Management Professional (PRMP)
, Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) | Best when your job already includes ownership of cost, estimate, earned value, risk, or schedule decisions. |
| Expertise | Certified Forensic Claims Consultant (CFCC)
, Decision & Risk Management Professional (DRMP) | Best when your work is senior, specialist, and decision-heavy: construction claims, dispute support, decision analysis, or advanced risk. |
Best page to open first
| If your goal is… | Best page | Why |
|---|
| Validate broad cost-engineering and project-controls depth | Certified Cost Professional (CCP) | Best AACE route when cost, schedule, earned value, risk, and total cost management need to come together. |
| Focus on estimating and project funding decisions | Certified Estimating Professional (CEP) | Best route when your work centers on estimate basis, scope, quantities, pricing, contingency, and estimate communication. |
| Focus on planning, scheduling, baseline control, and delay analysis | Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) | Best route when schedule logic and control are central to your role. |
| Focus on earned value management | Earned Value Professional (EVP) | Best route when integrated scope, schedule, cost, EVMS reporting, and forecasting are the core skill set. |
| Focus on project risk and decision uncertainty | Project Risk Management Professional (PRMP)
or Decision & Risk Management Professional (DRMP) | PRMP is the project-risk route; DRMP is the senior decision-and-risk route. |
| Focus on construction claims and disputes | Certified Forensic Claims Consultant (CFCC) | Best route for forensic claims, causation, damages, and expert-style dispute support. |
| Start at technician level | Certified Cost Technician (CCT)
or Certified Scheduling Technician (CST) | CCT is cost-focused; CST is scheduling-focused. |
Use this table to separate the AACE routes by exam shape before opening the detailed page. The professional and expertise routes are not all the same: some include memo or essay writing, while the technician routes are shorter open-book multiple-choice exams.
| Route | Official level | Exam shape | Resource rule | Best preparation focus |
|---|
| Certified Cost Professional (CCP) | Professional | 5 hours; 119 multiple-choice/scenario questions; 1 memo task | Closed book with onscreen formula sheets | Broad cost engineering, controls integration, and clear written communication |
| Certified Estimating Professional (CEP) | Professional | 5 hours; 119 multiple-choice/scenario questions; 1 memo task | Closed book | Estimate basis, quantities, pricing, uncertainty, and estimate communication |
| Earned Value Professional (EVP) | Professional | 5 hours; 119 multiple-choice/scenario questions; 1 memo task | Closed book | EVMS structure, baseline control, variance analysis, and forecasting |
| Project Risk Management Professional (PRMP) | Professional | 5 hours; 119 multiple-choice/scenario questions; 1 memo task | Closed book | Risk process, terminology, analysis, response, and monitoring decisions |
| Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) | Professional | 5 hours; 119 multiple-choice/scenario questions; 1 memo task | Closed book | Planning logic, schedule updates, critical path, float, and recovery choices |
| Certified Forensic Claims Consultant (CFCC) | Expertise | 5 hours; 100 multiple-choice questions; 4 essay tasks | Open book with two bound resources of the candidate’s choice | Claims, causation, damages, documentation, and expert-style explanation |
| Decision & Risk Management Professional (DRMP) | Expertise | 5 hours; 119 multiple-choice/scenario questions; 1 memo task | Closed book | Decision analysis, cost risk, schedule risk, uncertainty, and contingency logic |
| Certified Cost Technician (CCT) | Technician | 3 hours; 100 multiple-choice questions | Open book using approved AACE cost references in binder form | Cost terminology, process knowledge, and technician-level cost support |
| Certified Scheduling Technician (CST) | Technician | 3 hours; 100 multiple-choice questions | Open book using approved AACE scheduling references in binder form | Schedule inputs, schedule creation, maintenance, and deliverables |
AACE certification route map
flowchart TD
A["CCT: Certified Cost Technician"] --> B["CCP: Certified Cost Professional"]
C["CST: Certified Scheduling Technician"] --> D["PSP: Planning & Scheduling Professional"]
E["CEP: Certified Estimating Professional"] --> B
F["EVP: Earned Value Professional"] --> B
G["PRMP: Project Risk Management Professional"] --> H["DRMP: Decision & Risk Management Professional"]
I["CFCC: Certified Forensic Claims Consultant"] --> J["claims and dispute support"]
What each AACE lane is really for
| Route family | Best fit | Current PM Mastery availability |
|---|
| Certified Cost Technician (CCT) | Cost-engineering foundations, cost terminology, and early project-controls work | Status page live; dedicated practice not yet live |
| Certified Scheduling Technician (CST) | Scheduling foundations, basic schedule process, and early planner/scheduler work | Status page live; dedicated practice not yet live |
| Certified Cost Professional (CCP) | Broad cost engineering, total cost management, estimating, controls, and stakeholder communication | Status page live; dedicated practice not yet live |
| Certified Estimating Professional (CEP) | Estimating, cost estimate quality, budget support, value engineering, and funding decisions | Status page live; dedicated practice not yet live |
| Earned Value Professional (EVP) | Earned value, integrated scope/schedule/cost control, variance analysis, and forecasting | Status page live; dedicated practice not yet live |
| Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) | Planning, scheduling, baseline updates, critical path logic, recovery, and schedule communication | Status page live; dedicated practice not yet live |
| Project Risk Management Professional (PRMP) | Risk planning, identification, analysis, response, and monitoring | Status page live; dedicated practice not yet live |
| Decision & Risk Management Professional (DRMP) | Senior decision analysis, cost and schedule risk, uncertainty analysis, and contingency decisions | Status page live; dedicated practice not yet live |
| Certified Forensic Claims Consultant (CFCC) | Construction claims, forensic analysis, dispute support, causation, damages, and expert communication | Status page live; dedicated practice not yet live |
Fast discipline chooser
| Your daily work sounds most like… | Start with | Avoid starting with |
|---|
| cost control, estimating context, schedule/risk awareness, and broad stakeholder reporting | Certified Cost Professional (CCP) | a narrower route such as CEP, EVP, PSP, or PRMP unless that discipline is clearly your job |
| estimate basis, quantities, pricing, contingency, and budget support | Certified Estimating Professional (CEP) | PMP or PMI-CP if your real need is estimating depth |
| EVMS setup, variance, forecasting, and integrated performance measurement | Earned Value Professional (EVP) | PSP if the issue is performance measurement rather than schedule logic alone |
| schedule logic, progress updates, critical path, delay, and recovery choices | Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) | CCP if you do not need broad cost-engineering scope |
| project risk process, risk response, thresholds, and monitoring | Project Risk Management Professional (PRMP) | DRMP unless decision analysis and uncertainty modeling are central to your work |
| cost risk, schedule risk, contingency, go/no-go decisions, and senior uncertainty analysis | Decision & Risk Management Professional (DRMP) | PRMP if you need advanced decision-and-risk depth |
| claims preparation, causation, damages, dispute support, and expert-style communication | Certified Forensic Claims Consultant (CFCC) | PMI-CP if your target is forensic claims rather than general construction delivery |
How AACE compares with adjacent PMI routes
| If you are deciding between… | Main distinction |
|---|
| AACE CCP vs PMI-CP | CCP is broader cost engineering and project controls; PMI-CP is PMI’s construction-delivery, contract, stakeholder, and governance route. |
| AACE PSP vs PMI-SP | PSP is the AACE planning-and-scheduling route; PMI-SP is PMI’s scheduling specialist route. |
| AACE PRMP or DRMP vs PMI-RMP | AACE risk routes sit inside project controls, cost, schedule, and decision analysis; PMI-RMP is PMI’s specialist risk route. |
| AACE CEP vs PMP | CEP is estimating-specific; PMP is broad project leadership. |
Current PM Mastery availability
- Dedicated AACE simulator routes are not live in PM Mastery yet.
- These pages are route-selection and availability pages for candidates comparing project-controls credentials.
- If you need live PM Mastery practice today in an adjacent lane, start with PMP 2026
, PMP
, PMI-CP
, PMI-SP
, or PMI-RMP
, depending on your target.
Official AACE sources
Use the PM Mastery pages for route selection and availability status. Use the official AACE pages for current eligibility, fees, delivery rules, study-material references, and policy details before applying.
Family-level AACE pages are also useful when you are still choosing a level: AACE certifications offered
Best next page
In this section
- AACE Certified Cost Technician Practice Status
Track AACE Certified Cost Technician (CCT) practice status, review cost-technician route fit, and request a PM Mastery coverage update.
- AACE Certified Scheduling Technician Status
Track AACE Certified Scheduling Technician (CST) practice status, review scheduling-technician route fit, and request a PM Mastery coverage update.
- AACE Certified Cost Professional Practice Status
Track AACE Certified Cost Professional (CCP) practice status, review cost-engineering route fit, and request a PM Mastery coverage update.
- AACE Certified Estimating Professional Status
Track AACE Certified Estimating Professional (CEP) practice status, review estimating-route fit, and request a PM Mastery coverage update.
- AACE Earned Value Professional Practice Status
Track AACE Earned Value Professional (EVP) practice status, review earned-value route fit, and request a PM Mastery coverage update.
- AACE Project Risk Management Professional Status
Track AACE Project Risk Management Professional (PRMP) practice status, review risk-route fit, and request a PM Mastery coverage update.
- AACE Planning & Scheduling Professional Status
Track AACE Planning & Scheduling Professional (PSP) practice status, review scheduling-route fit, and request a PM Mastery coverage update.
- AACE Certified Forensic Claims Consultant Status
Track AACE Certified Forensic Claims Consultant (CFCC) practice status, review forensic-claims route fit, and request a PM Mastery coverage update.
- AACE Decision & Risk Management Professional Status
Track AACE Decision & Risk Management Professional (DRMP) practice status, review decision-and-risk route fit, and request a PM Mastery coverage update.