Fellowship Policy.
Recognising sustained, significant contribution to the profession.
Overview
Fellowship is PCI’s highest recognition of contribution — intended for individuals who give back to project controls through leadership, knowledge and ethical practice. It recognises contribution; it does not replace the credential.
At a glance
Intended basis for fellowship
- Depth of experience and professional leadership
- Contribution to the body of knowledge or community
- Commitment to ethical, AI-responsible practice
- Service to the profession and to PCI’s mission
What fellowship is and is not
PCI applies this consistently and documents what it does, so the approach can be checked and improved. Final detail is published as the institute matures, and is governed by the related policies below.
Common questions
Is fellowship the same as certification?
No — it recognises contribution and does not replace the PCL-AI credential.
How will fellows be selected?
Final criteria and process will be published before nominations open.
Are fellows held to standards?
Yes — to the code of conduct.
Why this matters
Clear policies matter because they are how fairness is made real. A certification body that treats everyone consistently — on eligibility, conduct, security, impartiality and appeals — is one whose decisions can be trusted, and whose credential therefore means the same thing for everyone who holds it. These pages set out those commitments plainly.
PCI states its position honestly, including where processes are still being established. The aim is not legal cover for its own sake but genuine, transparent governance — the substance that lets a credential, and the body behind it, earn and keep professional trust.
- Substance over marketing
- Fair, transparent process
- Honesty about our status
- Responsible, governed use of AI
Founding-stage document · Version 1.0 — effective date to be confirmed · Reviewed under PCI governance. PCI makes no claims of accreditation or recognition beyond what is true today.
What sustained contribution looks like
Developing others
Years of mentoring, teaching and sponsoring practitioners — the quiet work of building the next generation of the discipline.
Advancing knowledge
Contributions that outlast a single project: methods, writing, tools and input to the body of knowledge that other professionals now rely on.
Community leadership
Building the profession's institutions — chapters, committees, events — and doing the unglamorous work that keeps them running.
Ethical leadership
Setting the standard under pressure: honest reporting when the numbers are unwelcome, and governed, transparent use of AI when shortcuts were available.
No single strand is required, and titles alone establish none of them. It is the sustained pattern — contribution over years, visible to peers — that fellowship is intended to recognise.
How recognition is expected to work
The criteria and process are in development, and PCI will publish them in full before any nominations open — no one will be assessed against rules they could not read. The intended shape is straightforward: a nomination supported by evidence of contribution; review by people independent of the nominee, free of conflicts; a decision against the published criteria, recorded with reasons; and a check that the nominee's conduct standing is clear. Fellowship will be announced as a recognition, not sold as a product — there is no route to it through payment or seniority alone.
What fellowship does — and does not — confer
Fellowship sits within the membership framework as its highest recognition of contribution — see the Fellow grade — but it is not a qualification and must never be presented as one. A fellow who has not earned a PCI credential holds no certification, and a fellow who has must still keep it current like every other holder.
Are fellows held to a higher standard of conduct?
Fellows are held to the same code of ethics as everyone else — but visibly. Recognition amplifies example, and conduct that falls short can put the recognition itself at risk.
Can I express interest before the process opens?
Yes — contact the institute and you will be notified when criteria and nominations are published. Expressions of interest carry no advantage in the eventual assessment; they simply keep you informed.
Keep going
What Fellowship recognises
Fellowship is the Institute’s recognition of sustained, verifiable contribution to the discipline — advancing practice, developing others, and upholding the standard publicly — over and above competent practice, which certification already attests.
It is conferred, not purchased: nominations are evidenced, assessed against published criteria by a panel free of conflicts, and confirmed by governance. Fellows carry a heightened conduct expectation; the post-nominal is withdrawn where that expectation fails.