The New York City Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) announced on Nov. 7 that all construction managers working on its $14-billion capital construction program are required to be certified. The announcement was made at the Construction Management Association of America’s national conference in Washington, DC.

“We are raising the bar,” says Kevin Donnelly, deputy DEP commissioner. “In order for us to be successful, we recognize that we need to change our organization, both internally and externally.”

The DEP will expect more leadership from its construction managers in areas such as safety, quality management, risk management, and the timely resolution of issues.

“Our resident engineers will continue to be professional engineers (PEs) registered with the state of New York, but with the high desirability that they also will have the credential of the CCM,” added Donelly.

According to the CMAA, there are currently 1,700 certified construction managers (CCMs) in the U.S., with about 300 more in the process.