13.3 Maintaining EDGE Professional Status & Pricing Your Services
Key Takeaways
- EDGE Experts retain active status so long as they comply with the EDGE Expert Code of Conduct and any skills update requirements, and may use the EDGE logo only while active.
- EDGE Auditors pay a biennial maintenance fee of $150 or INR 10,000 and must complete one qualifying activity every two years: a project audit, at least 4 hours of refresher training, a retake of the EDGE Exam, or another activity determined by GBCI.
- The EDGE Exam Eligibility ID is emailed by IFC within about two weeks of completing training, and the exam must be taken within two months of the exam approval date or the candidate must reapply and pay all applicable fees including training.
- A failed EDGE Exam may be retaken once within two months of the first attempt, with a different exam paper and a further $100 fee; failing within that period means retaking the training.
- Fee transparency is an ethical requirement, not just good practice: Auditor scope and fees must always be itemised separately from consultancy services on proposals and contracts.
13.3 Maintaining EDGE Professional Status & Pricing Your Services
Exam Focus: Sub-topics 5.8 "Renewing/maintaining EDGE status" and 5.9 "Pricing" close out Domain 5.0. Candidates routinely confuse the Expert maintenance regime with the Auditor one — they are materially different.
Becoming an EDGE Expert: The Path and Its Deadlines
| Step | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Eligibility | A higher education qualification in a construction-industry-related field; or three years of practical construction industry experience plus a higher education qualification in any field. LEED APs are automatically prequalified. |
| Training | Complete GBCI's EDGE Technical Workshop. The online on-demand version runs about 8 hours and is offered in English or Spanish. |
| Eligibility ID | IFC emails an EDGE Exam Eligibility ID within about two weeks of training completion. |
| Exam | 75 multiple-choice questions, 2.5-hour limit, closed book, delivered by Prometric at a test centre or by remote proctoring, currently $100. |
| Licensing | Provide the exam result to your EDGE local or global certifier so the EDGE licensing agreement can be processed. |
Two deadlines that end candidacies
- The two-month sitting window. Prometric's candidate bulletin states: you have 2 months from the exam approval date to sit for the exam. After 2 months, you will need to reapply as a new candidate with EDGE and pay all applicable fees including training. GBCI directs candidates needing an extension to contact IFC.
- The retake window. You may retake the EDGE Exam once more within two months of your first attempt. Retaken exams differ from the original. Each attempt costs $100, payable to Prometric. If you do not pass within the specified period, you must retake the training.
A useful preparation note: an official EDGE practice exam is available via Prometric for $30, and workshop resources remain accessible for one year after purchase.
Maintaining EDGE Expert Status
The EDGE Expert regime is principle-based rather than fee-and-activity based. The IFC Approval Protocol for EDGE Experts states:
EDGE Experts will retain active status so long as they comply with the EDGE Expert Code of Conduct and skills update requirements as may arise from time to time.
There is no published biennial fee and no mandatory audit count for Experts. What there is:
- a Code of Conduct that must be complied with continuously, and
- skills update requirements that IFC may introduce from time to time.
The branding right that depends on active status
EDGE Experts are allowed to use the EDGE logo in their email digital signature, on business cards, on their website and on their LinkedIn profile — for as long as they maintain their active status. The logo right is therefore a live indicator of standing, and continuing to display it after status lapses is itself a misrepresentation.
One Code of Conduct clause worth knowing
Among the conduct obligations is a requirement to refrain from speaking negatively about other EDGE Experts, Auditors and Partners, as well as about EDGE Certification and other green building certification programs. Note the breadth: it protects competing certification systems too. Winning work by disparaging LEED or a rival consultant is a conduct breach, not merely poor form.
Maintaining EDGE Auditor Status
The Auditor regime is concrete and quantified — the contrast with the Expert regime is exactly what the exam tests.
| Element | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite | Be a current EDGE Expert (training completed and EDGE Exam passed) |
| Qualification | Higher education qualification in a construction-industry-related field and three years of practical construction industry experience |
| Application | Submit an application uploading a copy of the EDGE Expert certificate; GBCI reviews and notifies |
| Workshop | Complete GBCI's EDGE Auditor Candidate Workshop, including passing a mock audit exercise. GBCI does not guarantee all candidates pass and does not refund those who do not |
| Agreement | Sign and return an EDGE Auditor Agreement with GBCI |
| Maintenance fee | $150 / INR 10,000, covering a two-year period, charged every two years |
| Maintenance activity | Every two years, one of: a project audit; refresher training of at least 4 hours; a retake of the EDGE Exam; or another activity as determined by GBCI |
| Working scope | May provide EDGE Auditor services in any country where GBCI administers EDGE certification |
A candidate may hold both the EDGE Expert and EDGE Auditor credentials. The prohibition is on holding more than one role on the same project.
Pricing Your Services
EDGE does not set professional fees. What it regulates is how fees are presented and what the fee may buy.
The hard rules
- Auditor fees are negotiated directly between the client and the Auditor, and are independent of the registration and certification fees paid to the certifier.
- Where a firm provides more than one EDGE service, the Auditor scope of work and associated fees must be listed separately from any other services — including EDGE Expert consultancy — on the proposal and contract.
- An Auditor may not provide any other services to a project they audit, so no fee may be quoted for anything else on that project.
Pricing an Expert engagement honestly
The Expert's fee is unregulated but the ethics of quoting it are not. Three practices keep an engagement clean:
- Itemise what is included. Modelling, evidence assembly, response to audit queries and re-modelling after value engineering are separable activities with very different effort. Section 14.3 explains why the number of certification submissions included is the variable that most often destroys an Expert's margin — the certification fee covers one Preliminary and one Final submission, and each additional submission costs $999.
- Never price on a contingent-outcome basis. A fee payable only if the project certifies gives the Expert a financial stake in the audit outcome and pressures the evidence, which is the conflict the independence architecture exists to prevent.
- Disclose related interests. If you have a commercial relationship with a supplier whose product you are recommending as a measure, disclose it in writing. Section 8.2 covers the conflict-of-interest rules in full.
A cost the client often misses
Remind clients that GBCI now offers free online on-demand EDGE training in English for up to two project team members for each registered EDGE project. On a portfolio, that is a real saving and a way of building client-side capability rather than dependency.
How does an EDGE Expert maintain active status?
A candidate receives their EDGE Exam Eligibility ID but does not sit the exam within two months of the exam approval date. What is the consequence?
Which activities satisfy an EDGE Auditor’s two-yearly maintenance requirement?
An EDGE Expert proposes a fee structure under which they are paid only if the project achieves EDGE certification. What is the principal objection?