IRMI Launches New Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS) Designation

Release Date: March 15, 2005
Contact: Contact Us

DALLAS—International Risk Management Institute (IRMI) has developed a new insurance designation for insurance agents, brokers, and underwriters who sell construction insurance. The Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS) continuing education program is a specialized curriculum consisting of five courses that are presented entirely through the program’s website, www.irmi.com/sf/insurance-continuing-education/cris. In addition to earning state insurance CE credit, those who complete the program are entitled to display the CRIS designation to certify their knowledge of construction insurance. The program also establishes the agent’s commitment to the construction industry with an ongoing continuing education component focusing on construction risk and insurance.

With a basic charge of $49 per course, the CRIS program is quite affordable, and, for $10 more, insurance CE credit is also available in many states. This allows agents and brokers to leverage a nominal CE investment into both a designation and state credit.

"We developed the CRIS program in response to concerns expressed by many contractors about the difficulty of determining whether their insurance agents or brokers had the specialized knowledge necessary to properly design and arrange their insurance programs,” said IRMI president Jack P. Gibson, CPCU. "Agents and brokers who complete the CRIS curriculum will have a certification to show their construction clients and prospects that they understand contractors’ most important insurance needs. We also think many underwriters and insurance buyers with construction firms will find the CRIS program to be beneficial.”

The self-paced courses and their final exams may be taken from any computer with Internet access. WebCE’s state-of-the-art Internet system is the Web delivery platform for the program. This proven platform served up more than 175,000 insurance CE courses for agents and brokers last year.

For more information about the CRIS continuing education program and designation, visit the website at www.irmi.com/sf/insurance-continuing-education/cris.