Frequently asked questions

  • You must meet ACAC eligibility requirements specific to your certification program, including requirements for academic and field experience.

  • Accredited ACAC certifications require from two (2) to eight (8) years of field experience, depending on the program.

    Field experience must be documented and verifiable.

    Field experience must be appropriate to the certification being offered.

    Non-accredited vocational certifications (such as CRMR, CRIE and CRSD) require current employment in the field.

  • 15 college semester hours of qualifying courses count for two (2) years of field experience.

    30 college semester hours of qualifying courses count for four (4) years of field experience.

    Qualifying courses include "hard" sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, etc.), mathematics, engineering and related discplines. Social sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, etc.) do not qualify.

  • Prep courses are not required but we highly recommend them.

  • Read all reference texts thoroughly, as all exam questions are based on those texts.

  • At your convenience at an authorized testing center, or at home or office via secure online video proctoring.

  • Simply call our office at 888-808-8381.

  • Yes, applications can be found here.

  • You must submit FOUR (4) project sheets when applying for certifications requiring field experience. Links to project sheet forms are included with each application.

    Project sheets summarize your participation in certification-related work. They should include:

    1. A brief statement of the problem or situation requiring your attention

    2. A summary of your responsibilities and activities, stated in the first person (i.e., “I set up containment,” “I calibrated sampling pumps,” “I inspected HVAC ductwork,” “I prepared a report of findings,” “I recommended cleaning procedures”)

    3. A brief statement of the outcome of the project in your own words, not including the client’s confidential report

  • The examination fee is included in your application fees.

  • Re-examination fees are $100.

  • The Candidate Authorization Code, which will be emailed to you within five minutes after registering. The email will also give you instructions for scheduling your exam and the rules applicable to the testing center.

    Test takers will be asked to turn out exterior pockets (on jackets, jeans, slacks, etc.) to verify that the pockets are either empty or that they do not contain any prohibited items. Also, test takers who enter the testing center wearing external eyewear will be asked to hand their eyewear over to the proctor for inspection to ensure the eyewear is not technology-enabled.

  • Unless the candidate gives more than 72 hours notice, the testing center has the right to consider the testing fee earned and the examination will have to be re-scheduled.

  • There are no limitations on retesting for an ACAC certification exam. Please see our policy on exam retakes for more information.

  • The testing center has the right to consider the examination fee earned if you are more than 15 minutes late - the examination will have to be re-scheduled.

  • Immediately on screen at the testing center and also via email.

  • Your examination score report includes two types of scores: the PASS/FAIL decision, which is a statistically derived score based on your performance on the test as a whole, and TOPIC LEVEL SCORES, which are simple reports of your performance on exam items by topic. It is important to note that topic level scores are provided for your information only. The pass/fail decision reported is derived from your overall score, regardless of your individual topic scores.

  • After the your field experience is verified and the certification board reviews all submittals - usually in about 4 to 8 weeks. You will be sent a certificate and listed on our website.

  • Yes. Download our policy on accommodations for exam takers with disabilities.