Sections
[CFPS Certification Extension Overview]
[Extension Availability]
[Activity-Credit Criteria]
[Validation and Audit]
[Options for CFPS Certification Extension]
[Activity-Credit Table]
[Courses Eligible Fof CEC]
[Conferences Eligible for Certification Extension Activity Credit]
[Non-IFPUG Venue Courses Eligible for CEC]
A successful career is marked by an appropriate degree of professional development, verified by a credible certification program that is recognized by both the public and one’s peers. The CFPS (Certified Function Point Specialist) designation has been the standard of recognition in the metrics community since 1993. It is available to those striving to apply objectivity to software development efforts in the sizing of requirements, the identification of changes to requirements, the estimation of project duration and work effort based on requirements, and the measurement and improvement of productivity and quality. It is a valuable, respected worldwide mark of a professional’s commitment to personal and professional metrics development.
The CFPS is a cornerstone of the IFPUG member recognition program and, to be successful, must be dynamic and improve with the times. The current enhancements to the CFPS program certification requirements will ensure that metrics professionals are recognized as they continue to develop professionally and remain up-to-date with the current concepts of Function Point Analysis. The latest changes to the CFPS certification program reflect the active involvement and commitment of the IFPUG membership to stay current and to enhance and improve both skills and knowledge.
CFPS Certification Extension Overview
In the past, continued CFPS certification has been achieved through reexamination every three (3) years. The CFPS Certification Extension program provides an alternative to the examination. Before their current certification expires, individuals may extend their current level of CFPS certification for up to three (3) years in one (1) year increments by completing cumulative activities in a minimum of one (1) and a maximum of three (3) Activity Categories (as defined later)
Or
Individuals may extend their current level of CFPS certification for up to three (3) years in one (1) year increments by completing multiple occurrences within a given Activity Category with a minimum of one (1) and a maximum of three (3) occurrences.
The only limitation in the number of extensions an individual may obtain is the release of a major change in the Counting Practices Manual (as defined later).
The CFPS Certification Extension program is under the jurisdiction of the IFPUG Certification Committee, with oversight provided by the IFPUG Board of Directors (BOD). It is the Committee’s responsibility to consider suggestions from the members and to ensure that the CFPS Certification Extension program remains current in adapting to the ever-changing metrics environment.
The IFPUG Board of Directors reserves the right to discontinue the CFPS Certification Extension program at any time, without advance notice. CFPS Certification Extension program applications postmarked prior to the discontinuance will be evaluated under the current program rules; applications postmarked after the discontinuance will not be evaluated.
Extension Availability
In order to obtain a CFPS Certification Extension an individual must hold a CFPS designation in the most current Major Change (see 2.4.2) of the IFPUG Counting Practices Manual (CPM). In addition, BOTH the Activity-Credit Criteria described in Section 2.2 must be met AND a valid extension option from the Options for CFPS Certification Extension described in Section 2.4 must be available.
An individual who is applying for a CFPS Certification Extension must ensure that his/her application and supporting documentation arrives at the IFPUG Office or is postmarked 30 calendar days prior to his/her CFPS expiration date. Applications received or postmarked less than 30 days prior to his/her CFPS expiration date will be charged a $100 late fee.
Because of the 30-day lead-time required to validate and audit each application, it is possible that an individual will not have completed 100% of his/her planned Activities prior to the submission deadline. The individual must identify on his/her application the remaining planned Activity(ies) and provide supporting documentation upon completion of the Activity(ies).
Classes taken and conference presentations attended during the same week that an individual sits for the CFPS exam may be applied to his/her next extension period, assuming a successful exam.
All materials submitted as part of the CFPS Certification Extension application process will be retained by the IFPUG Office unless otherwise noted.
Activity-Credit Criteria
In order to qualify for a CFPS Certification Extension, individuals must meet the Activity-Credit criteria described below.
- Individuals may accumulate Certification Extension Activities (CEA) from any of the Activities listed in the Activity-Credit Table.
- Individuals must accumulate a minimum of 1 activity and must not exceed 3 activities in the defined eligibility period.
Or Individuals must accumulate a minimum of 1 occurrence in a given activity and must not exceed 3 occurrences in a given activity in the defined eligibility period
- Individuals are not required to accumulate CEA from any particular Activity.
- All CFPS Certification Extension application and supporting documentation submitted must be in English.
- The eligibility period for accumulating CEA credit is three years prior to the expiration of an individual’s CFPS Certification.
- An individual has three (3) years from the date that they become certified by passing the CFPS Exam to accumulate sufficient CEA credit to have their CFPS Certification extended for a minimum of one year and a maximum of three years.
- Activities completed more than three (3) years before the time the current CFPS Certification or CFPS Certification Extension expires will not be considered for CEA credit.
- Any specific instances of an activity previous awarded CEC will not be considered for CEC.
- The subsequent eligibility period for accumulation CEA is based on the length of time the CFPS Certification Extension has been granted.
- During the subsequent eligibility period, an individual can accumulate sufficient CEA credit to have their CFPS certification extended by one (1), two (2) or three (3) years based on the number of CEA.
- Activities completed prior the subsequent eligibility period will not be considered for CEA Credit.
EXAMPLE – If a CFPS received a two year Certification Extension by way of the Certification Extension Program, that CFPS would have the two years prior to latest CFPS expiration date to accumulate sufficient CEA Credit to have their CFPS certification extended for a further length of time (1, 2, or 3 years). Any CEA activities completed prior to that two year period would be ineligible for CEA Credit consideration.
Validation and Audit
Each Activity listed in the Activity-Credit Table has Basic Validation and Audit criteria associated with it. All Basic Validation tasks for a given Activity will be performed every time an applicant applies for credit in that Activity. In addition, Audit tasks for any Activity may be performed at random or at the discretion of the Certification Committee for any application. See section 3.2 for Basic Validation and Audit criteria for each Activity.
Multiple individuals may be involved in reviewing an applicant’s CEA documentation. No individual may in any way be involved in reviewing his/her own CEA documentation.
Options for CFPS Certification Extension
Take the Current CFPS Exam
An individual may take the current CFPS exam to continue his/her CFPS Certification (become “re-certified”). This option eliminates the requirement for any additional education, experience or training classes for that individual. The CFPS expiration date is based solely on the date the individual passed the current CFPS exam.
Major Change to the Counting Practices Manual (CPM)
If there is a Major Change to the CPM, an individual will be required to take the current CFPS Exam reflecting the Major Change to become certified (“re-certified”) under the new Major Change version of the CPM.
A Major Change is generally defined as a “substantial change” to the CPM that warrants a version change to the next X.0 (e.g.; 4.0 to 5.0) version designation. The version number is updated as recommended by the Counting Practices Committee (CPC) with IFPUG BOD approval.
A caveat to the CFPS Certification Extensions is that an individual will only be allowed to obtain one CFPS Certification Extension if a Major Change occurs during their current CFPS Certification. The extension of this scenario would extend their current level of certification and would not provide the individual with certification at the new Major Change level.
Minor change to CPM OR No change to CPM
An individual must accumulate CEC from the Activity-Credit List. The CEC must be accumulated before the current CFPS Certification expires. The accumulation of CEC would “extend” an individual’s CFPS Certification for a period of up to three years.
An individual may, if desired, make his/her certification “current” with the latest version of the CPM under a minor change. This would be accomplished by taking a class that categorizes and explains the minor changes to the CPM, similar to the FP230 class that was available for the version 4.0 to 4.1 changes. Note that this option does not extend an individual’s certification expiration date.
Activity-Credit Table The following table identifies the Activities that may be used for Certification Extension Activity credit.
| Activity Number |
Activity Description |
Credits |
| 1 | Take one CEA Eligible and registered FP classes at any type of IFPUG Workshop, other than introductory classes such as FP101 OR non-IFPUG venue, other than introductory classes such as FP101 | 1 Year Extension per documented occurrence |
| 2 | Teach a CEA eligible FP class at any type of IFPUG Workshop, including introductory classes such as FP101 OR Teach a CEA eligible and registered FP class at a non-IFPUG venue, including introductory classes such as FP101 | 1 Year Extension per documented occurrence |
| 3 | Author a CEA eligible FP class to be taught at any type of IFPUG Workshop, including introductory classes such as FP101 OR Author a CEA eligible and registered FP class to be taught at a non-IFPUG venue, including introductory classes such as FP101 | 1 Year Extension per documented occurrence |
| 4 | Attend an IFPUG Conference that is CEA eligible OR Attend an IFPUG Affiliate/Chapter Conference that is CEA eligible | 1 Year Extension per documented occurrence |
| 5 | Present one CEA eligible presentation at an IFPUG Conference OR Present one CEA eligible presentation at an IFPUG Affiliate/Chapter Conference | 1 Year Extension per documented occurrence |
| 6 | Perform CEC eligible FP counts (minimum 2000 UFP) | 1 Year Extension per documented occurrence |
| 7 | Validate 10 CEC eligible FP counts | 1 Year Extension per documented occurrence |
| 8 | Author/co-author two CEC eligible FP white papers or articles | 1 Year Extension per documented occurrence |
| 9 | Participate on an IFPUG Counting Standards Committee (Counting Practices Committee, New Environments Committee, Certification Committee) | 1 Year Extension For Each Year Of Service |
| 10 | Participate on an IFPUG Affiliate/Chapter Counting Standards Committee | 1 Year Extension For Each Year Of Service |
| 11 | Other FP Activity. This Activity is to cover FP activities that are not included in the current Activity-Credit Table. Credit is given at the discretion of Certification Committee and with the approval of the IFPUG Board. | Credits TBD |
COURSES ELIGIBLE FOR CEC
| Eligible for CEC? Yes/No | ||||
| Class/Workshop Number | Class/Workshop Title | Take | Teach | Author/Co-Author |
| FP101 | Introduction to Function Point Counting: Basics | No | Yes | Yes |
| FP103 | Function Point Counting Refresher | No | Yes | Yes |
| FP108 | Organizing & Facilitating a Function Point Count with Introductory Case Studies | No | Yes | Yes |
| FP201 | FP Counting for Application Enhancement | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FP211 | Applying FP Rules to Emerging Business Applications | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FP212 | Applying FP Rules to Emerging Technologies | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FP221 | Estimating Project Size early in the Life Cycle | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FP231 | CPM 4.2 Update | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FP241 | CPM 4.3 Update | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FP301 | CFPS Exam Preparation & Exercises | No | Yes | Yes |
| FP320 | FP Workshop: Counting Web Applications | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FP331 | Function Point Counting Validation | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FP350 | FP Workshop: Counting Client Server Applications | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FP370 | FP Workshop: Counting Object Oriented Applications and Projects | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| FP380 | FP Workshop: Counting Data Warehouse Applications and Projects | Yes | Yes | Yes |
This list of CEC eligible classes is subject to change without notice. Any CEC eligible class found to contradict the IFPUG CPM will lose its CEC eligibility and will be removed from the list of CEC eligible classes without advance notice.
Conferences Eligible for Certification Extension Activity Credit
See the page, Conferences Eligible for Certification Extension Credit.
Non-IFPUG Venue Courses Eligible for CEC
Registered Service Providers Offering Courses:
Service Provider: Cloud Perspectives a Division of Woodward Systems Inc.
Service Provider Website: www.cloud-perspectives.com
Provider Class Contact Name: Steven Woodward
Contact Phone Number: 613-823-7573
Contact Email Address: steve@cloud-perspectives.com
Service Provider: David Consulting Group
Service Provider Website: www.davidconsultinggroup.com
Provider Class Contact Name: Sheila Dennis
Contact Phone Number: Sheila Dennis (303-947-4213)
Contact Email Address: sdennis@davidconsultinggroup.com
Service Provider: Q/P Management Group, Inc.
Service Provider Website: www.qpmg.com
Provider Class Contact Name:
Melanie St. Germain
Contact Phone Number: (781) 438-2692
Contact Email Address: Mst_Germain@qpmg.com
Non-IFPUG Venue Courses Eligible for CEC
- FP211 Applying FP Rules to Emerging Business Applications;
Provider: Cloud Perspectives a Division of Woodward Systems Inc..
This list of non-IFPUG venue CEC eligible classes is subject to change without notice. Any CEC eligible class found to contradict the IFPUG CPM will lose its CEC eligibility and will be removed from the list of CEC eligible classes without advance notice.
If you have questions, Contact the Chair of the Certification Extension subcommittee at cep@ifpug.org