[For Engineers at Construction Consultancies and Construction Companies] How Much Can You Earn for Your Company, Yourself, and the Market by Obtaining the Professional Engineer (General) Qualification — A Complete Map of Financial Incentives Verified with 2026 Latest Data

Recommended for people like this

• Engineers at construction consultancies or construction companies who hold a Professional Engineer qualification in a general department but have not yet taken the General (Soukan) exam

• Those who are told by seniors that "the General qualification is good" but do not know the specific monetary value

• Those who want to understand the construction business evaluation system and visualize their own value within the company

• Those who want to calmly calculate the return on the General qualification for private-sector engineers

What you will learn in this article

• The structure where the financial value of the General qualification is generated across three layers: individual allowance, company value, and market value

• The chain of Construction Business Evaluation System Z-points → Bidding rank → Sales → Individual allowance (latest 2026 system)

• Market rates for allowances at construction consultancies/construction companies (including cases up to a maximum of 75,000 yen per month)

• The numerical logic unique to the private sector, which is a different axis from the civil servant persona

You have likely heard at least once from a senior Professional Engineer that "you should get the General qualification." However, the numerical basis behind those words is often left unspoken. It is difficult to make the decision to shoulder the burden of exam preparation based on a vague "it's good."

This article breaks down and verifies the financial value of obtaining the General qualification from the perspective of a private-sector engineer working at a construction consultancy or construction company. I have passed the General exam, but in this article, I will not share my personal experience of "it was good because I passed," but rather summarize the "numerical evidence" I gathered myself before deciding to take the exam, while clearly stating the sources.

Conclusion: When you look at the benefits of the General qualification through the "3-layer financial structure," you can see the reality behind what your seniors were saying.

The financial value of holding the General qualification is built up across three layers.

• Layer 1: Individual Allowance (Short-term/Certain) — Lump-sum payment of 200,000 to 300,000 yen + monthly qualification allowance. The most direct return visible on the surface

• Layer 2: Value to the Company (Medium-term/Structural) — Addition to Construction Business Evaluation System Z-points → Increase in bidding rank → Expansion of orderable projects → The chain that creates the source of funds for allowances

• Layer 3: Market Value (Long-term/Potential) — Treatment in job changes, independence, and side jobs. Average annual income for Professional Engineers is 6.15 to 6.67 million yen (up to 7.52 million yen depending on company size), and the volume zone for construction consultancy job openings is 6 to 8.5 million yen

The reality of the often-heard phrase "the General qualification is good" is not just about the Layer 1 allowance itself, but lies in the structure where the company value in Layer 2 supports the allowance in Layer 1. The reason why a monthly allowance of 75,000 yen can exist is that the Professional Engineer with the General qualification brings more return than that to the company.

Layer 1: Financial Incentives for Individuals (Short-term and Certain)

1-1. Market Rate for Passing Bonuses

In the construction consulting industry, multiple companies have been confirmed to provide a lump-sum bonus of 200,000 to 300,000 yen upon passing the Professional Engineer (including Comprehensive Technical Management) exam. According to research by Job House Construction, although there is a range depending on company size and industry, 200,000 to 300,000 yen is considered the standard for construction consultants.

While a lump-sum bonus is a 'one-time' benefit, it also serves as a practical means of recovering the costs of taking the exam, as it covers expenses for reference books, mock exams, and correspondence courses.

1-2. Comparison of Monthly Qualification Allowances

Monthly allowances vary significantly by company. The following are industry benchmarks based on multiple surveys.

• Manufacturing/Part of Construction Industry (Small-scale): Less than 10,000 yen to around 10,000 yen per month (Source: Job House Construction)

• Construction Consulting Mid-sized: 10,000 to 20,000 yen per month (Source: Yarigai Jiten = Construction Consulting Career Change Media)

• Construction Consulting Large-scale: 20,000 to 50,000 yen per month (Source: Job House Construction)

• Maximum Case (Specific Construction Consultant): 75,000 yen per month, an increase of 900,000 yen per year (Source: Yarigai Jiten)

'75,000 yen per month' is the upper limit of the market, and it does not mean that many companies offer this level. However, it has been confirmed as an existing figure (from Yarigai Jiten 'Annual Income and Qualification Allowances for Professional Engineer (Construction Division) Qualification Holders').

1-3. Examples of Additional Allowances for Comprehensive Technical Management

Depending on the company, there are cases where the general division and the Comprehensive Technical Management division are managed with separate points. A tiered addition design, such as '20,000 yen per month for obtaining the general division -> 30,000 yen per month for adding Comprehensive Technical Management (+10,000 yen),' is a structure seen in several mid-sized construction consulting firms.

In other words, even if you are already receiving a Professional Engineer allowance for a general division, you will receive a differential allowance by additionally obtaining the Comprehensive Technical Management qualification.

1-4. Why it looks 'subtle' when looking only at individual allowances

To be honest, many people will likely feel 'is that all?' when looking at an allowance level of 10,000 to 30,000 yen per month. If you convert the time spent studying for Comprehensive Technical Management into an hourly wage, the recovery period for the allowance can be measured in years.

This feeling is not wrong. If you judge Comprehensive Technical Management solely by the ROI of the individual allowance, you might conclude that it is 'not worth it.' However, that perspective only looks at Layer 1. In the next layer, I will answer the question of 'why companies can pay as much as 75,000 yen per month.'

Layer 2: Value to the Company (Source of Allowances)

2-1. What is Keishin (Business Evaluation)

Construction companies and construction consultants who want to participate in public works bidding must undergo a Business Evaluation (Keishin) from the ordering party. The comprehensive rating value (P-point) calculated by Keishin determines the rank of bidding participation qualifications. If the rank rises, the scale of projects that can be participated in expands, and opportunities for receiving orders increase.

2-2. Z points account for approximately 25% of P points

P points are composed of multiple evaluation scores, of which Technical Capability Score (Z points) account for approximately 25% of P points (in the Keshin calculation formula, the coefficient for Z is 0.25).

Z points are calculated as 'Technical Staff Score × 0.8 + Prime Contractor Completed Construction Volume Score × 0.2'. Within this, the Technical Staff Score portion is structured so that points are added for each qualification held.

2-3. 'Professional Engineer (Construction/Comprehensive Technical Management)' is eligible for Z point additions

According to public data from the Misora Administrative Scrivener Corporation (list of qualifications that add to Keshin Z points), the Professional Engineer 'Construction/Comprehensive Technical Management' is explicitly listed as eligible for 5 points (6 points upon completion of the Managing Engineer training). This corresponds to the highest evaluation category, on par with other Grade 1 engineer qualifications.

In addition to the fact that Professional Engineers in the Construction division are already eligible for point additions, having the Comprehensive Technical Management (Construction) certification separately may allow for multiple combinations of point additions (up to 2 business categories can be added per technical staff member).

2-4. Chain of Managing Engineer assignment → Bidding qualification → Order acquisition

For large-scale public works, the exclusive assignment of a Managing Engineer is mandatory. If an engineer holding a Professional Engineer (including Comprehensive Technical Management) certification can be named as the Managing Engineer, that in itself satisfies the requirements for bidding participation. The presence or absence of a Professional Engineer is effective not only for Keshin Z point additions but also as an entry-level issue of 'whether or not you can enter that project'.

2-5. Technical Manager requirements for Construction Consultant registration

In order for a construction consultant to be registered with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, it is necessary to appoint a 'Technical Manager' for each registration division. According to the regulations of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Technical Manager is in principle, a Professional Engineer who has passed the second-stage examination under the Professional Engineer Act in the corresponding elective subject (there is also a certification system based on practical experience, but the Professional Engineer is the primary rule).

For large firms that register in all 21 divisions as construction consultants, the number of Professional Engineers who can serve as Technical Managers is a matter of life and death.

2-6. Why can the company afford to pay 75,000 yen per month?

If one Comprehensive Technical Management Professional Engineer boosts the Keshin Z points and the bidding rank rises by one level, the upper limit of the construction amount that can be ordered expands by tens of millions of yen. For a construction consultant, just adding one person who can enter large-scale projects as a Managing Engineer can generate sales contributions of tens of millions to hundreds of millions of yen per year.

From that perspective, the 75,000 yen per month (900,000 yen per year) allowance is not 'labor cost' but a structure of 'returning a portion of the return on investment'. The scale of calculation for whether it is 'worth it' for the individual and whether there is 'a basis for paying the allowance' for the company is fundamentally different.

Layer 3: Market Value (Independence, Job Change, Side Business)

3-1. Average annual income of Professional Engineers

According to multiple aggregations (Shikaku Hiroba, SAT, etc.) based on the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's Basic Survey on Wage Structure, the average annual income of a Professional Engineer is 6.15 to 6.67 million yen. Compared to the average annual income of all wage earners nationwide (around 4.36 million yen), this is a level with a premium of 1.8 to 2.3 million yen.

By company size, the average is 7.52 million yen for large companies with 1,000 or more employees, 6.69 million yen for those with 100-999 employees, and 6.06 million yen for small companies with 10-99 employees (MHLW Basic Survey on Wage Structure). The scale gap is approximately 100:89:81 in real numbers, with small companies at about 80% of the level of large companies.

3-2. Job offer range in the construction consultant job change market

According to the JAC Recruitment survey (2024-2025 edition), the volume zone for annual salaries for job changes in the construction consultant field is 6 to 8.5 million yen, with an average performance of approximately 7.35 million yen. It is mentioned that job openings listing the Professional Engineer qualification as "required" or "preferred" generally expect an annual salary increase of around 500,000 to 1.5 million yen.

While cases of "doubling annual salary" are not impossible to confirm, they are limited to special situations where senior professionals in their late 40s or older move from major firms to mid-sized or independent ones. I do not intend to stir up excessive expectations; the realistic figure in the job market falls within the 6 to 8.5 million yen range.

3-3. The Door to Independence and Side Jobs

Under the Professional Engineer Act, a Professional Engineer is defined as an expert who performs work requiring "high-level professional applied ability regarding science and technology." Independent Professional Engineers can earn compensation through consulting services, third-party evaluations, research and development assistance, and technical guidance.

By holding the Comprehensive Technical Management certification, you can position yourself in high-value roles involving the management and supervision of entire projects, which strengthens the basis for your unit price setting. Even when acquiring projects as a side job or freelancer, the appeal of being "a professional who can integrate the 5 management areas" differentiates you from Professional Engineers in general departments. The specific income realities of independence and side jobs will be covered in a separate article.

Scarcity Backs Financial Value — 2025 Latest Data

Behind financial value lies the element of scarcity. Here are the figures confirmed from the results of the 2025 Professional Engineer Second-Stage Examination published by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

• Comprehensive Technical Management Department (Second Stage): Applicants 3,157 / Examinees 2,575 / Successful 584

• Pass rate against examinees: 22.7% (Higher than the 11.4% average for all departments)

Looking only at the pass rate, one might misunderstand it as "easy to pass," but the pool of examinees is already limited to those who have passed the Professional Engineer exam in other departments. It is a two-stage rocket structure where those who have passed the second-stage exam in a general department challenge the second-stage exam for Comprehensive Technical Management. Considering the "difficulty of entry," holders of the Comprehensive Technical Management certification are in a significantly high tier among all engineers.

Out of 2,752 total second-stage successful candidates (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology 2025 Professional Engineer Second-Stage Examination Statistics), 584 are Comprehensive Technical Management successful candidates, accounting for 21.2% of the total. It is not so rare that it is unavailable in the market, nor so common that it has become obsolete—the balance between scarcity and versatility leads to the maintenance of stable financial value.

Data Collected by the Operator Before Taking the Exam

This article is based on data I collected before deciding to take the Comprehensive Technical Management exam. Even now that I have passed, I have not changed my stance of showing "numerical evidence" before "personal experience."

There is something I can say from this position. The words of seniors saying "Comprehensive Technical Management is good" were not wrong. However, by verifying the basis for those words with numbers, "it feels good somehow" changed to "it can be explained structurally."

For private-sector engineers who are wondering whether to take the exam, I recommend one concrete action. Ask your HR or management department how Professional Engineers are treated in your company's management review Z-score. Once you know what "point-value talent" you are to the company, you will see the level of allowances and room for negotiation.

doboku-note provides 17 years of past Comprehensive Technical Management multiple-choice questions and the 2026 keyword collection for free. If you want to judge whether to take the exam after getting a feel for the content, please first take a look at one year's worth of past questions. Comprehensive Technical Management Department Success Strategy summarizes the overall picture of the exam and how to proceed with learning.

Also, if you know the concept of trade-offs in the 5 management areas in advance, your perspective on multiple-choice questions will change significantly.

I am releasing 17 years of past questions and all items of the 2026 keyword collection for free. Please get a feel for the scope of the exam.

Once you enter the stage of grasping the 5 management areas systematically in a short time, I have also prepared a note reading guide (a 5-set collection organized by priority from the perspective of exam questions).

Summary: Do not judge the Comprehensive Technical Management qualification solely by 'personal allowances'

I will reorganize the content of this article into three layers.

Layer 1 (Personal Allowance): A one-time payment of 200,000 to 300,000 yen + a monthly allowance of 10,000 to 75,000 yen (depending on the company and its size). Looking only at the face value, it may sometimes seem 'underwhelming'.

Layer 2 (Company Value): Points added to the Construction Business Evaluation (Keishin) Z-score → Higher bidding rank → Expansion of order scale → Source of funding for allowances is created. It also adds scarcity value as a person who meets the technical manager requirements for construction consultant registration. The correct evaluation axis for the Comprehensive Technical Management qualification for private-sector engineers is 'becoming a person who expands the company's bidding opportunities'.

Layer 3 (Market Value): The average annual income for Professional Engineers is 6.15 to 7.52 million yen (by company size), and the volume zone for construction consultant job changes is 6 to 8.5 million yen. It also functions as a top-tier qualification that opens the door to independence and side businesses.

The seniors who told me 'The Comprehensive Technical Management qualification is great' probably knew all three of these things from experience. Now that I have pursued this with numbers rather than just the anecdotal sense that experience provides, the meaning of those words has become concrete. I hope this article serves as a decision-making tool for private-sector engineers who are hesitant about taking the exam.

Related Resources

doboku-note — 17 years of past exam questions + 650 keyword explanations (Free)

• 17 years of multiple-choice past questions (with answers and explanations for all questions)

• All items of the 2026 Keyword Collection can be searched on the web

• Over 650 keyword explanation pages (smartphone compatible)

In-depth site explanations (Free, doboku-note)

Benefits of private construction engineers obtaining the Comprehensive Technical Management qualification (Keishin, orders, career)

Recommended note articles

• [Successful candidates in general departments fail] 3 reasons why you won't pass the Comprehensive Technical Management exam | 4 measures to overcome the 10% pass rate barrier

• 5 benefits of local government technical staff obtaining the Professional Engineer (Comprehensive Technical Management) qualification | From the perspective of the ordering party

Other free articles and paid magazines about the Comprehensive Technical Management qualification can be viewed from the 'Comprehensive Technical Management Table of Contents'.