How to Renew Your CSCP Certification: Requirements, Points and Deadlines
Read this guide in Arabic: اقرأ بالعربية
Passing the exam is the hard part. Keeping the credential is easy, as long as you know the rules and do not leave it to the last month. We meet CSCP holders in Riyadh and Al Khobar every year who have done plenty of qualifying activity but never recorded any of it, and a few who let the credential lapse entirely and had to sit the exam again. Neither needs to happen.
Here is how CSCP maintenance works, what counts, what it costs and the practical ways professionals in Saudi Arabia collect points without extra effort.
The five year cycle and the 75 point rule
ASCM, the body behind the CSCP, requires holders to earn 75 professional development maintenance points within five years of certifying, then submit a maintenance application with a professional development journal listing the activities. Do that and your certification is renewed for another five years, with a new expiry date on your certificate.
Two details people miss. First, points must be earned inside your own cycle; activity from before you certified does not count, and the exams you passed to earn CSCP in the first place are not eligible. Second, there are no maximums per category in the current handbook, so you can build your 75 points from education alone, service alone or any mix.
ASCM sends reminder emails roughly one year, 90 days, 60 days and 30 days before your deadline, but those go to the address in your account. If you changed employers and lost the email you registered with, update your ASCM account now. Responsibility for the deadline sits with you, not with the reminder.
What activities earn points
Activities fall into two groups, education and service, and the point values in the ASCM maintenance handbook at the time of writing include the following.
- Passing another APICS or ASCM certification exam: 20 points per exam. Completing a certification learning system with a post assessment score of 80 percent or higher: 30 points.
- Education or training taken: 1 point per hour. The same training taught: 2 points per hour. Professional development meetings, webinars, workshops, seminars and site tours follow the same rule.
- ASCM conference attendance: 8 points per day, up to three days. College or university courses count as credit hours multiplied by weeks.
- Reading relevant books of 200 pages or more: 5 points per book. Relevant articles: 1 point each. Writing a book: 40 points. Writing an article: 5 points, divided among the authors.
- ASCM membership: 6 points per year. Membership in another industry body: 2 points per year. Serving as a chapter or channel partner officer, or on an ASCM committee: 5 points per year per position. Mentoring through the formal program: 2 points per year per mentee. Leading a relevant project with a signed charter: 2 to 10 points depending on hours.
Check the current handbook on the ASCM site before you count, since rubrics are updated from time to time. The list above is what we see candidates use most.
Fees and how to submit
At the time of writing the maintenance application fee is around USD 75 for ASCM members and about USD 150 for nonmembers, so an ASCM membership, which at the time of writing costs in the region of USD 199 a year with the certification upgrade, pays for part of itself through the discount and the 6 membership points a year. Our CSCP cost and fees article keeps the full price list, and you should confirm current fees on ascm.org before you pay, as pricing changes.
Submission is straightforward. Log in to your ASCM account, open the certification maintenance application, list each activity with dates, hours and point values, upload evidence such as certificates of attendance or a letter from your employer, pay the fee and submit. Keep the evidence for your own records too; approvals occasionally ask for backup.
Our practical tip: build the journal as you go, not at the end. A simple spreadsheet with date, activity, hours and points takes two minutes per entry and saves a stressful week later. Candidates who track live almost always find they passed 75 points a year or more before the deadline.
Deadlines, suspension and what happens if it lapses
If you reach five years without meeting the requirement, your credential moves to suspended status. You then have a 90 day window to submit the maintenance application. Miss that and the certification expires, and the only route back is to sit the CSCP exam again. Where a credential is reinstated after a period of suspension, additional points are required, so the longer you wait the more you owe.
Suspended status also shows publicly. Employers and clients can check credential status on the ASCM verification page, which matters if your role or your company's tender documents list certified staff. In sectors like ours in Saudi Arabia, where contractor prequalification often names certifications, that is not a small thing.
Easy ways to earn points in Saudi Arabia
You are probably already earning points. Internal training your employer runs on supply chain, planning or logistics counts at 1 point per hour taken. If you deliver any of that training yourself, it is 2 points per hour, which is why we encourage certified staff to teach the induction sessions nobody else wants.
Supply chain conferences and exhibitions held in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran, webinars from ASCM and local chapter events all count. So does reading: a serious supply chain book is 5 points, and industry articles add up quietly over five years.
The fastest route for many of our alumni is a second credential. Passing another ASCM exam earns 20 points, and completing a learning system with a good post assessment score earns 30, so one program can cover most of a cycle while also improving your CV. Planners usually go for CPIM, while logistics and transport professionals choose CLTD. Both run in Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar and live online, and many employers fund them from the same training budget that pays for internal courses, so put the request in early in the budget year.
If your CSCP has already expired and you need to sit the exam again, our CSCP preparation program is built for exactly that, and refreshers move fast because the foundations are still there. Start with our CSCP exam guide for current format and booking details, and our CSCP practice questions to gauge how much revision you actually need.
Frequently asked questions
How many points do I need to renew my CSCP?
CSCP holders need 75 professional development maintenance points within each five year cycle, submitted with a maintenance application and a professional development journal. Points come from education and service activities. Always check the current requirement in the ASCM maintenance handbook.
How much does CSCP renewal cost?
At the time of writing the maintenance application fee is roughly USD 75 for ASCM members and about USD 150 for nonmembers. An ASCM membership also earns 6 maintenance points a year. Confirm current pricing on ascm.org, since fees change.
What happens if my CSCP expires?
Missing the five year deadline puts the credential in suspended status with a 90 day window to submit your application. After that it expires and the only way back is to retake the CSCP exam. Reinstatement after suspension also requires extra points.
Does my employer training count toward CSCP maintenance?
Yes, if the content relates to supply chain, operations or logistics. Training taken earns 1 point per hour and training you deliver earns 2 points per hour. Keep attendance certificates or a signed letter from your employer as evidence.
Can another certification renew my CSCP?
Passing another ASCM certification exam earns 20 points and completing a certification learning system with a post assessment score of 80 percent or higher earns 30 points. A single CPIM or CLTD program can therefore cover most of a five year cycle.
When should I start collecting CSCP points?
From the month you certify. Points must fall inside your own cycle, and activities before certification do not count. Track each activity in a simple spreadsheet as it happens so the application takes an hour rather than a stressful week.
