SICP Overview

Singapore Institute of Certified Planners (SICP) provides certification of planners' qualifications in Singapore. Certified planners undertake to uphold SIP's Code of Ethics of overall responsibility to the public, clients and employers, profession and colleagues and professional conduct.



Why SICP?

SICP Certification brings value to your profession, your employers and the public communities you serve. Enhance your planner's professional credibility by taking the steps in How to Get Certified


SIP 3-year Strategic Roadmap

Background

The idea of accreditation was prompted by DesignSingapore Council (DSg) in Sep 2014 with the potential of availability of funding subject to conditions. The then SIP Council decided to explore the invitation, and initiated a series of actions which included consultations with members as well as non-members from both the public and private sectors. Some of these activities received partial sponsorship from Dsg. We started with programmes like the Urban Planning Foundation Course in Nov 2016 followed by examination in Mar 2017. The 2nd edition of UPFC followed in Nov 2018, with examination in Mar 2019. We reached out to both RTPI and AICP /APA for both editions to deliver lectures, followed with round table discussions on best practices.


Comprehensive study of urban planning industry in Singapore

In Sep 2017, Design Singapore (Dsg) offered funding for SIP to commission a comprehensive survey and analysis of the urban planning industry, with a proposal of a 3-year strategic industry roadmap for SIP.  The study was to address the 4 Pillars on Productivity, Internationalisation, Innovation and Human Capital. A committee was formed and led by the then SIP President.  The study can be said to be a co-creation between the consultant and SIP and was completed in Sep 2018. Those interviewed (n=64) ranked the accreditation of urban planners as their top priority.

SIP set up the Accreditation Development Team in Oct 2019, and made a preliminary application for funding under the Local Enterprise & Association Development (LEAD) programme. The Development Team worked together for one and a half years before the proposal was considered ready to submit a formal application the LEAD Evaluation Panel. We secured a date to present to the LEAD Evaluation Panel (LEP) in late 2020.


SIP was asked to address the following points:

  • The state of the international planning market and the importance of accreditation in the project bidding process
  • The major challenges facing the sector as a result of non-accreditation
  • How planning will resolve these challenges and contribute to strong economic impact wo the private sector planners.
  • Why this accreditation programme is feasible and sustainable.
  • The LEP required the establishment of a quasi-independent accreditation body. (This is not a branch of SIP).  Please see diagram on structure of SICP. SIP was required to benchmark the accreditation standards against the established practices of two professional planning institutes in the industry namely, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) which is the professional arm of the American Planning Association (APA). The ISO standards are used for issues of integrity, confidentiality and security.
  • Letter of Offer was received from ESg in late 2021 for a qualifying period of three years. The grant approved is at 70% of the project cost for the Certification programme, and at 50% of the cost of the Learning Management SystemThe LEP required the establishment of a quasi-independent accreditation body. (This is not a branch of SIP).  Please see diagram on structure of SICP. SIP was required to benchmark the accreditation standards against the established practices of two professional planning institutes in the industry namely, the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) which is the professional arm of the American Planning Association (APA). The ISO standards are used for issues of integrity, confidentiality and security.

Letter of Offer was received from Esg in late 2021 for a qualifying period of three years. The grant approved is at 70% of the project cost for the Certification programme, and at 50% of the cost of the Learning Management System.

 







Benchmarking RTPI and AICP

  • The SIP Certification programme has been benchmarked with the top 2 urban planning institutes namely RTPI and AICP, the professional arm of APA.
  • This is in-lieu of compliance with ISO/IEC 17024:2012 standards. The framework has been endorsed by ESg in our application for LEAD funding.
  • SIP will comply with ISO/IEC 17024:2012 in areas of impartiality, confidentiality and security.