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Cape Town - The SA Institute of Black Property Practitioners (SAIBPP) announced the launch of the internationally acclaimed Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) Certified Property Manager (CPM) certification last week.
It is claimed to be a first for the African continent and done in partnership with Wits University and commercial retail property investment fund Pareto.
According to SAIBPP, the US-based IREM is the leading international association of professional property managers. It is responsible for determining global best practice, promoting superior management and maximising value of real estate investments through education and certification.
The 80-year-old organisation boasts a global membership of 20 000 individuals, 570 corporate members and 14 international chapters.
SAIBPP has been working with IREM since the early 1990s when the chairperson at the time, Saul Gumede, first signed the protocol agreement between IREM and SAIBPP.
The main objective of the protocol agreement was “to cooperatively build a foundation of ongoing education and professional credibility to enhance the stature of property managers in SA”.
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Unregulated
SAIBPP said commercial property management remains one of the few professions within the real estate sector that is unregulated and not standardised and with limited options available locally for formal studies.
In its view, the introduction of the IREM CPM qualification to the SA commercial property industry will not only introduce an internationally recognised standard for commercial property management, but will enable increased international mobility for domestically educated commercial property managers as the qualification is globally recognised and accredited.
Wits University is currently the only non-American University that is accredited to offer the IREM CPM designation.
“As the leading retail property investor in SA, we are passionate about investing in developing a sustainable and high quality local skills base. This partnership with IREM will not only assist in raising local standards of commercial property management, but will also assist in fast-tracking access to the industry for new entrants,” said Pareto CEO Malose Kekana.
The Pareto IREM CPM designation is currently being offered as an eight-day winter school programme at the Wits Professional Development Hub and is currently only available to existing holders of the Wits Post Graduate Diploma in Property Development and Management.
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