CAT Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts

What This Cheat Sheet Covers

This is a compressed, one-page-style review of the facts that actually appear on the Certified Accessibility and Private Residence Lift Technician (CAT) credential - not a generic elevator-industry overview and not another certification that happens to share the same three letters. Everything below traces back to the NAEC Certification Board's own program structure: the courses, the proctoring rules, the fee schedule, and the renewal cycle. If you want the deep-dive version of any section, pair this page with the CAT Study Guide 2026 and the CAT Exam Domains 2026 guide, which unpack each topic in full.

Use this page the way you'd use an index card taped to your desk during final review - a fast way to confirm numbers, not a substitute for working through practice questions on the full CAT practice test platform.

The Two Qualification Pathways at a Glance

NAEC runs two distinct roads to CAT certification, and mixing up their numbers is one of the fastest ways to misjudge your own readiness. The education pathway is the active route for anyone entering the program today; the legacy experience pathway exists for technicians who had already accrued substantial field time before a cutoff date years ago and is effectively closed to new entrants.

For a full cost breakdown, including how these numbers compare across membership status and pathway, see CAT Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown. For eligibility questions specifically, CAT Requirements 2026 walks through who qualifies for which pathway.

The Five Course Domains, One Line Each

The education pathway's curriculum is organized into five sequential courses, and the final exam draws from all of them. Here's the fastest possible summary of each - full breakdowns live in CAT Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas.

Registration, Proctoring, and Fee Mechanics

CAT is not a walk-into-a-testing-center exam. It's delivered computer-based through the Exam Builder platform, closed book, English only, and administered at the candidate's own workplace - which means the logistics matter as much as the content.

• Two proctors are required. The first must be an officer of the employing company. The second must be a competent adult who is not related to the examinee, not their supervisor, and not another program examinee.
• Signed and notarized proctoring statements from both proctors must be submitted before certification can be issued - plan for this paperwork before exam day, not after.
• Application window: candidates have 90 days to complete the application and 365 days from authorization to sit the exam.
• Education pathway fees: $105 for employees of NAEC member companies, $160 for non-members.

Because the exam happens at your own job site with your own employer's officer proctoring it, employer buy-in is part of the qualification process itself - something worth discussing early with whoever hires and trains you. See CAT Training for how the five-course curriculum is typically delivered alongside on-the-job hours.

Exam Format and Scoring Rules

The education pathway's final exam is 150 questions, closed book, with a three-hour time limit, and requires 75 percent correct to pass. That's the number to memorize - not any percentage from a different "CAT" credential you might find elsewhere online.

Beyond the raw pass threshold, candidates on the education pathway must also have completed at least 4,200 documented on-the-job training hours after candidate approval, plus all required skills verifications, before certification is granted. The written exam and the hands-on OJT requirement are separate, parallel obligations - passing the exam alone is not sufficient.

For the exact mechanics of how the passing threshold is calculated and what a "close" score looks like, read CAT Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. If you're trying to gauge overall difficulty before committing to a study plan, How Hard Is the CAT Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 and CAT Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows put the exam format in broader context.

Retake and Timeline Rules

Failing on the first attempt doesn't end your path to certification, but the rules around retesting are specific and worth memorizing exactly:

• A 30-day wait is required between any two attempts.
• A $100 retest fee applies before a candidate's third attempt.
• After a third failure, candidates must wait 180 days and reapply to the Certification Board before trying again.
• All of this sits inside the broader clock: 90 days to complete the application, 365 days from authorization to actually sit the exam.

These deadlines interact with scheduling in ways that catch candidates off guard - for example, if you burn most of your 365-day authorization window before your first attempt, a 30-day retake wait can push you dangerously close to expiration. Map your own timeline against CAT Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling before you submit your application.

Renewal and Continuing Education

CAT certification is not permanent - it runs for one year and expires every December 31, regardless of when during the year you originally certified. Renewal requires:

• 10 continuing education hours, including at least 1 safety hour (safety hours are capped at 3 toward the total).
• A signed Code of Ethics form.
• A renewal fee of $115 for members or $210 for non-members.
• Up to 4 surplus CE hours can roll forward into the following year if you exceed the requirement.

Technicians who want to advance beyond the base credential can pursue the CAT-S supervisor designation, available for $100 to anyone already CAT certified. This is a natural next step once you're actively working in the field - see CAT Jobs for how the base certification and the supervisor track tend to map onto real career progression.

The Reference Library You Must Know

Every CAT exam question ultimately traces back to one of four authoritative sources. Knowing which document governs which topic saves time both in study and in the field:

• ASME A18.1-2005 - Safety Standard for Platform Lifts and Stairway Chairlifts (core reference for Courses 2, 3, and 4).
• ASME A17.1-2007 - Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators (broad code framework referenced across multiple courses).
• NEC 2008, Section 620 - electrical code provisions specific to elevators, lifts, and related equipment.
• Elevator Industry Field Employees' Safety Handbook - practical, jobsite-oriented safety procedures.

Rather than trying to memorize these documents cover to cover, learn which one to reach for given a scenario - that mapping skill is exactly what the exam is testing when it presents a code-based question.

A One-Week Review Schedule by Domain

If you're in the final stretch before test day, distribute your remaining review time across the five courses in proportion to their actual weight in the curriculum - not evenly. Course 5's size alone justifies more days than any other block.

For a longer-horizon version of this plan built around the full two-year curriculum rather than a final cram week, see the CAT Study Guide 2026.

Who Actually Hires CAT-Certified Technicians

CAT-certified technicians typically work for companies installing and servicing accessibility equipment and private residence lift systems - the kind of employers who need staff proctored on-site by their own officers, which itself signals the credential's workplace-embedded design. Because the credential is administered through employer-based proctoring rather than a public test center, it tends to be pursued by technicians already employed in the field rather than as a stand-alone entry credential pursued in isolation.

If you're weighing whether the time and OJT-hour investment is worthwhile relative to where it can take your career, Is the CAT Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and CAT Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis go into that analysis in more depth than a cheat sheet can. And if you're still confirming basic terminology before diving into fee tables and domain lists, the primer pages - What Is CAT?, CAT Meaning, and What Is CAT Certification? - are good starting points.

Whichever stage you're at, the fastest way to convert this cheat sheet into exam readiness is to test yourself against realistic questions on the CAT practice test platform rather than just re-reading facts passively.

Frequently Asked Questions