Membership of CIOB, at whatever grade, is a significant career milestone, demonstrating a commitment to excellence in the built environment.

But while reaching professional membership is monumental, it is not a one-off achievement: it is the start of an ongoing commitment to continuing your own professional development, setting and maintaining the highest standards in the profession. 

We work in an industry that continually changes. New legislation, building safety requirements, technology, materials, working practices and expectations around sustainability all affect the knowledge and skills needed to work effectively. Maintaining professional competence therefore requires a continuing commitment to learning.

On becoming a member of the Institute at whatever grade, you agree to abide by the Rules of Professional Competence and Conduct, including the requirement to complete sufficient Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in each subscription year. (RetMCIOB and RetFCIOB members are exempt.)

Our CPD Policy describes CPD as any learning that increases a member's occupational knowledge, skills and professionalism, helping them to maintain and extend their professional competence. 

This is particularly important for a professional body such as CIOB. Our Royal Charter commits the Institute and its members to promoting the science and practice of building and construction for the public benefit, as well as advancing public education in the profession. Those objectives underpin the standards expected of CIOB members and the Institute's responsibility to uphold them.

Membership therefore brings responsibilities alongside its benefits.

CPD as a regular professional habit

This is also why CPD works best when it is treated as part of professional practice rather than an exercise completed to meet a deadline.

CIOB's updated policy reflects this approach. From the 2026 subscription year, all members are required to undertake at least 25 hours of CPD each year, including at least three hours in each of four core areas: professionalism; quality; health, safety and wellbeing; and sustainability. The remaining 13 hours can be directed towards the member's own learning and development needs. 

Members can draw on the wide range of learning available through the CIOB Academy, and our hub network, to help meet these requirements and support their wider professional development. This includes webinars, courses and other learning resources covering the core CPD areas as well as broader technical and leadership skills.

Members must also complete an annual reflective account considering what they have learned, how that learning has been useful and what development they may need next. The intention is to encourage an annual cycle of planning, undertaking and reflecting on learning throughout a member's career.

What happens if CIOB’s CPD requirements aren’t met?

For professional standards to have value, they must also be enforceable.

CIOB carries out regular CPD audits by selecting a random sample of eligible members and asking them to provide their CPD records. If a submission does not meet the requirements, for example because information or an adequate reflective statement is missing, the member is given an opportunity to review and resubmit it. Members who have not submitted their CPD are given a deadline, followed by a reminder if they do not respond. 

Members who have a reason why they cannot comply with the CPD requirements if called to audit, should contact the Governance team ([email protected]) as soon as possible to discuss their circumstances.

If a member fails to provide their CPD by the deadlines given, CIOB can consider this as a breach of its Rules and Regulations of Professional Competence and Conduct, that can lead to disciplinary proceedings. Where a case reaches the Professional Conduct Committee, sanctions can be imposed, including expulsion from CIOB.

In 2025, 114 individuals were ultimately expelled from CIOB following CPD-related disciplinary cases. This figure underlines the importance that CIOB places on the completion and proper recording of CPD, and serves as a reminder that maintaining and demonstrating competence is part of the professional commitment an individual makes when they join CIOB and renew their membership.