What Is CAT?

Why a Separate Credential Exists: Private residence elevators, vertical platform lifts, and inclined chairlifts involve different code sections, different installation environments (often a homeowner's residence), and different safety hazards than commercial elevator work. NAEC built CAT so technicians in this niche could be certified against standards that actually match their job duties.

For a deeper dive into the full scope of the program, see our overview page on CAT Certification and the companion explainer at What Is CAT Certification?

The Two Pathways to Certification

NAEC recognizes two distinct routes into CAT, and it matters which one applies to you because the exams, fees, and hour requirements are entirely different.

Education Pathway (Active Route for New Candidates)

This is the pathway new candidates use today. It follows a structured, two-year, five-course curriculum and culminates in a 150-question final exam that requires 75 percent correct within three hours to pass. Candidates must also log at least 4,200 documented on-the-job training hours after being approved as a candidate, and complete all required skills verifications before certification is issued.

Application fees for this pathway are $105 for employees of NAEC member companies and $160 for employees of non-member companies.

Legacy Experience Pathway

The legacy pathway exists for technicians who accumulated substantial field experience before the education pathway became the standard route. It requires 6,000 documented on-the-job hours (three years) accrued by December 31, 2014. Instead of the 150-question course-based exam, legacy candidates sit a 160-question exam drawn randomly from a question bank with no unscored trial items, and must achieve a scaled score of 80 to pass. This pathway costs $735 for members or $1,180 for non-members - substantially higher than the education pathway fees, reflecting the different verification burden.

What Exam Day Looks Like

The CAT exam is computer-based, delivered through the Exam Builder platform, closed book, and offered in English only. Unlike credentials that send candidates to a testing center, CAT is taken at the candidate's own workplace - but that convenience comes with strict proctoring rules.

Two proctors are required for every sitting:

• The first proctor must be an officer of the employing company.
• The second proctor must be a competent adult who is not related to the examinee, not their supervisor, and not themselves a program examinee.

Both proctors must submit a signed and notarized proctoring statement before certification can be issued. This is a detail candidates frequently overlook until the last minute, and it's worth lining up proctors well before your scheduled test date. Candidates have 90 days to complete the application and 365 days from authorization to actually sit the exam - for a full walkthrough of these windows, see CAT Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.

For specifics on exactly what score you need and how it's calculated across both pathways, our dedicated breakdown at CAT Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass goes deeper than we can here.

The Five CAT Course Domains

The education pathway curriculum is organized into five courses, and the final exam draws its 150 questions from across all five. Understanding what each course actually covers is the single most useful thing you can do before you start studying.

Because Course 5 carries such a disproportionate hour count compared to Courses 1 through 4, it deserves proportionally more study time. Our full domain-by-domain guide at CAT Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas breaks down exactly how to allocate review time across all five courses.

Fees, Retakes, and Timelines

Fee structures differ meaningfully between the two pathways, and retake policy applies regardless of which route you're on.

Item	Education Pathway	Legacy Experience Pathway
Application Fee (Member)	$105	$735
Application Fee (Non-Member)	$160	$1,180
Exam Length	150 questions, 3 hours	160 questions
Passing Standard	75% correct	Scaled score of 80
OJT Hours Required	4,200 hours minimum	6,000 hours by Dec. 31, 2014

Retake rules are the same across both pathways: a 30-day wait between attempts, a $100 retest fee before a third attempt, and after a third failure, a 180-day wait plus reapplication to the Certification Board. Given those stakes, it's worth understanding your realistic odds going in - our data-driven look at CAT Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows and the qualitative breakdown at How Hard Is the CAT Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 both help set expectations before you spend a retest fee. For the full cost picture including renewal, see CAT Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.

Keeping CAT Current

CAT certification runs on a one-year cycle 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
• A renewal fee of $115 for members or $210 for non-members

Up to 4 surplus continuing education hours can be rolled forward into the next cycle, which gives certificate holders some flexibility if they front-load their CE in a given year. Technicians who want to move into a leadership track can also pursue the CAT-S supervisor designation, available for $100 to those already CAT certified.

Who Hires CAT-Certified Technicians

CAT-certified technicians are typically employed by elevator and lift contractors that install and service accessibility equipment - vertical platform lifts, inclined platform lifts, stairway chairlifts, and private residence elevators - for residential and light commercial customers. Because the certification is tied directly to NAEC, member companies frequently prefer or require it for technicians working on this equipment class, and the reduced application fee for member-company employees reflects that relationship.

If you're weighing whether this credential fits your career path, our guides on CAT Jobs, CAT Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis, and Is the CAT Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 go into more detail on the employment landscape and long-term value.

Mapping a Study Plan to the Curriculum

Because the exam draws from five distinct courses of uneven size, a generic study schedule wastes time. The most efficient approach weights review time to match each course's actual footprint in the curriculum - spending noticeably more time on Course 5 (Private Residence Elevators) than on the introductory Course 1, for example, since Course 5's 120 classroom hours and 1,800 field hours dwarf the other blocks.

For a structured, first-attempt-focused plan built entirely around this curriculum, see CAT Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. If you'd rather review core facts in condensed form the week before your exam, our CAT Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts collects the numbers and thresholds covered in this article in one place. And once you're ready to test your recall under timed conditions, you can start practicing directly on CAT Exam Prep's practice test platform.

Frequently Asked Questions