Professional Practice
10% of the examProfessional Practice is 10% of the exam and covers the profession itself: ethics, fiduciary duty, standard of care, legal obligations, and the credential's own institutions. It is the domain where the exam asks not what you would build, but what kind of professional you are.
The legal spine: an agency CM owes the owner fiduciary responsibility and must avoid conflicts of interest — the ethical reflex on gifts from bidders is decline and disclose. The professional standard of care is the skill ordinarily exercised by comparable professionals, not perfection. Once a CM at-risk sets its price it becomes, legally, a general contractor. Statutes that recur: Davis-Bacon on federal prevailing wages, CERCLA within environmental obligations.
Institutional facts are fair game: CMCI — CMAA's independent credentialing body — administers the CCM, accredited by ANSI/ANAB under ISO 17024; CMAA's standard contract forms come in the A-series for agency CM and a GMP series; recognized CM compensation forms run from fixed fee through GMP.
Key concepts
- Fiduciary duty and conflict-of-interest avoidance
- Standard of care: ordinary skill of comparable professionals
- Agency-to-at-risk spectrum; legal conversion at GMP
- Davis-Bacon; CERCLA within CM legal obligations
- CMCI administration; ANSI/ANAB ISO 17024 accreditation
- CMAA contract form series; CM compensation forms
Exam tips
- Ethics answers follow the fiduciary logic: disclose, decline, document
- The CM's liability list includes estimates, scheduling, inspection, and payment applications — not manufacturing the product
- Professional negligence claims turn on standard of care, not strict liability
24 practice questions in this domain
5 are in the free practice test; the rest unlock with premium.