The Evolution of ACMO’s New RCM Requirements
In 2023 ACMO announced that it was modifying the requirements to attain the prestigious Registered Condominium Manager (RCM) designation, which led to some members to question why and express concern that doing so might somehow diminish the designation’s reputation. To give members a better understanding of our rationale, we thought we should provide a more detailed explanation on how and why we’ve evolved the RCM designation requirements.
When ACMO introduced the RCM designation back in 1983, managers wishing to attain it were required to successfully complete ACMO’s four college courses in condominium management, gain adequate work experience managing a condo, and then attain a 75% average in the RCM Exam which tested their knowledge of the course content. Since that time, most of today’s best, and most experienced condominium managers achieved their RCM in this manner, and today the RCM remains the industry’s leading professional designation for condominium managers.
All of this changed in 2021 when the CMRAO assumed responsibility for licensing education and introduced their new Condominium Management Certificate Program. As a result, effective November 1, 2022, ACMO’s four courses were deemed invalid for licensing purposes, and by extension, the RCM exam became a test of knowledge of invalid course content.
In a further development, the CMRAO introduced a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) program in 2023 requiring managers to log 10 hours of continuing education seminars to renew their General Licence. This is nothing new for RCMs – they had to fulfil continuing education requirements to renew their RCM since 2011 – but this requirement does open the door to ACMO becoming a potential provider of high-quality continuing education to condo managers, and a new reason for them to join the association.
All of these changes necessarily forced ACMO to rethink its traditional role as the provider of licensing education and the requirements to achieve our prestigious RCM designation. Since the introduction of government licensing, the number of RCMs has been in decline, which could negatively impact our voice and influence within the industry. In rethinking the RCM designation strategy, the board felt the primary goal should be to build more awareness and perceived value into the designation as the industry’s higher standard, but equally important, to increase the number of managers holding the designation.
In deciding whether to maintain an RCM exam, the board considered the fact that those taking the new CMRAO program already take exams for each course, and that exam results are not necessarily a reliable determinant of condo management success. In fact, some managers struggle with traditional exam performance, particularly if English is their second language. We concluded that the real determinant of manager success is one’s commitment to continuous learning and improvement and the voluntary pursuit of a higher standard, not completion of a test.
Ultimately, the board decided that the new RCM requirements should include more and varied work experience than that of the General Licence, with the addition of mandatory high quality continuing education courses and ongoing engagement with our professional learning community. As such, the new RCM pathway requires a valid General Licence, an additional year of full-time experience with principal responsibility for managing a condo, and the successful completion of five ACMO Certificate Courses (2 mandatory + 3 elective).
To support this new approach, ACMO recently announced that all Advanced Certificate Courses would be made available to RCM and Affiliate members for FREE with their membership. With this valuable new member benefit we hope to encourage more managers to join our professional community and attain the RCM designation to continuously improve their knowledge and skills and further differentiate themselves in a competitive marketplace.
A large, growing community generates a louder voice!
RCM Requirements & Application
