CAT Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt

Who Hires CAT-Certified Technicians: Employers are typically NAEC member companies that install and service vertical platform lifts, inclined platform lifts, inclined stairway chairlifts, and private residence elevators. The certification is closely tied to on-the-job training hours, so most candidates are already working in the field under a sponsoring employer before they sit for the exam.

Two Ways to Qualify: Education vs. Legacy Experience

NAEC maintains two distinct qualification routes, and understanding which one applies to you shapes your entire study plan. Full eligibility details live on our CAT requirements page, but here's the practical breakdown for exam preparation purposes.

The Education Pathway (Active Route for New Candidates)

This is the pathway nearly every new candidate will follow. It runs on a two-year, five-course curriculum and concludes with a 150-question final exam that requires 75 percent correct within a three-hour window. Application fees are $105 for employees of NAEC member companies and $160 for non-members. Beyond passing the final exam, candidates must also log at least 4,200 documented on-the-job training hours after candidate approval and complete all required skills verifications before certification is issued.

The Legacy Experience Pathway (Closed to New Entrants for Current Cycles)

The legacy pathway required 6,000 documented on-the-job hours - roughly three years - accrued by December 31, 2014. It uses a 160-question exam drawn randomly from a question bank with no unscored trial items, and candidates need a scaled score of 80 to pass. Fees for this route were $735 for members and $1,180 for non-members. Because the accrual deadline has passed, this pathway is primarily relevant to technicians who were already accumulating hours before that cutoff.

Feature	Education Pathway	Legacy Experience Pathway
Exam length	150 questions, 3 hours	160 questions
Passing standard	75% correct	Scaled score of 80
OJT requirement	4,200+ hours post-approval	6,000 hours by Dec. 31, 2014
Member fee	$105	$735
Non-member fee	$160	$1,180

For a full breakdown of every fee, including renewal and the CAT-S supervisor designation, see our CAT certification cost guide.

Exam Format, Proctoring, and What Test Day Looks Like

The CAT exam is computer-based, delivered through the Exam Builder platform, closed book, and offered in English only. Unlike many certification exams that require a testing center visit, CAT candidates typically test at their own workplace - but that convenience comes with strict oversight requirements.

Two proctors must be present. The first must be an officer of the employing company. The second must be a competent adult who is not related to the examinee, is not the examinee's supervisor, and is not themselves a program examinee. Both proctors are required to sign a notarized proctoring statement before the Certification Board will issue the credential. Build time into your test-day plan to coordinate these logistics well in advance - scrambling to find a qualified second proctor the morning of your exam is a preventable failure point.

Because the format and proctoring rules differ meaningfully from a typical proctored testing-center exam, it's worth reading our dedicated piece on how hard the CAT exam actually is and our passing score breakdown before you finalize your prep schedule.

The Five Course Domains You Must Master

The education pathway curriculum is organized into five sequential courses, and the final exam draws its 150 questions from across all five. Our complete domain guide goes deeper into each area, but here's what you need to prioritize while studying.

Reference Standards You Need on Your Bookshelf

CAT exam content is grounded in a specific set of published standards. Familiarity with these documents - not memorization of every clause, but comfort navigating them - is essential:

• ASME A18.1-2005 - Safety Standard for Platform Lifts and Stairway Chairlifts
• ASME A17.1-2007 - Safety Code for Elevators and Escalators
• NEC 2008, Section 620 - electrical requirements for elevators, dumbwaiters, escalators, and related equipment
• Elevator Industry Field Employees' Safety Handbook - field safety practices and procedures

Since the exam is closed book, you won't have these documents in front of you during the test - but studying directly from them (rather than secondhand summaries) will make the exam's scenario-based questions far more intuitive.

A Domain-by-Domain Study Timeline

If you're working full-time while completing the education pathway curriculum, spreading review across several weeks and weighting time toward Course 5 tends to work better than cramming. Here's one way to structure the final stretch before your exam date.

You can build out timed practice sessions using the tools on our practice test platform, which mirrors the multi-domain structure of the actual exam so you get comfortable moving between course topics under time pressure.

Retake Rules and Renewal Requirements

Understanding the consequences of a failed attempt should shape how conservatively you approach your first sitting. If you don't pass, you must wait 30 days before retesting, and a $100 retest fee applies before your third attempt. If you fail a third time, you face a 180-day wait plus a full reapplication to the Certification Board - a significant setback given the 90-day application window and 365-day authorization-to-sit deadline that govern the process from the start.

Once you're certified, the clock doesn't stop. Certification runs for one year and expires every December 31, regardless of when during the year you were 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, and a renewal fee of $115 for members or $210 for non-members. Up to 4 surplus CE hours can roll forward into the next cycle, which is useful if you complete extra training in a strong year.

Technicians who want to move into oversight roles can also pursue the CAT-S supervisor designation, available for $100 to those who already hold CAT certification. For career and pay context around holding the credential long-term, see our CAT salary guide and ROI analysis.

Frequently Asked Questions