- What the Council-certified Environmental Infection Control Remediation Assistant Credential Is
- The Numbers on One Page
- Eligibility and Application Mechanics
- Exam Format and Question Style
- Domain 1 Must-Know Facts
- Domain 2 Must-Know Facts
- Domain 3 Must-Know Facts
- What to Read: The Official Study References
- A Domain-Ordered Study Sequence
- Staying Certified: Validity and Renewal
- Who Uses This Credential
- Common Mix-Ups to Avoid
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The exam is 50 multiple-choice questions in two hours, closed book, with a 70% passing threshold.
- Initial cost is $400: a $100 examination fee plus a $300 certification fee; retakes cost $100.
- Three domains cover disease transmission, construction/demolition/renovation controls, and effective infection control practices.
- Certification lasts two years; renewal costs $300 and requires 40 RCs, with records subject to audit.
What the Council-certified Environmental Infection Control Remediation Assistant Credential Is
This page is a compressed review sheet for the Council-certified Environmental Infection Control Remediation Assistant credential, abbreviated CEICRA. It is awarded by the American Council for Accredited Certification (ACAC), and the exam is delivered through the testing provider Kryterion. ACAC classifies it as a vocational certification, which matters for how proctoring and eligibility are handled (more on that below).
The credential is aimed at people who work in or alongside infection control, particularly where building work, remediation, and healthcare environments intersect. If you are new to the name itself, our explainers on what CEICRA is and what CEICRA stands for cover the basics. This cheat sheet assumes you already know you want the credential and need the facts in one place.
The Numbers on One Page
These are the figures to memorize. They come from ACAC's candidate handbook, fee schedule, exam administration page, and recertification procedures, as checked on October 5, 2026.
| Item | Fact |
|---|---|
| Certifying body | American Council for Accredited Certification (ACAC) |
| Testing provider | Kryterion |
| Credential type | Vocational certification |
| Examination fee | $100 |
| Certification fee | $300 |
| Initial total | $400 |
| Retake fee | $100 |
| Renewal fee | $300 |
| Questions | 50 multiple choice, at least four answer choices each |
| Time limit | Two hours |
| Reference materials | Closed book |
| Passing threshold | 70%, set using the Modified Angoff method |
| Validity | Two years |
| Renewal requirement | 40 RCs; records subject to audit |
For a full breakdown of what each fee covers and how the total adds up over a renewal cycle, see our CEICRA certification cost guide.
Eligibility and Application Mechanics
Who can apply
The eligibility bar is straightforward: you attest to current employment in infection control, then complete the online application and the required email verifications. There is no mandatory training course. The current application also expressly exempts CEICRA from project sheets, which some other ACAC-style credentials require. Do not spend time preparing project documentation for this one.
For the full eligibility picture, including how to document your employment attestation, read CEICRA requirements: eligibility, prerequisites and how to qualify.
The completion window: confirm it
There is a genuine inconsistency in ACAC's published materials. The current application page allows six months to complete the process, while the handbook states 90 days. Do not assume which is correct. Confirm the applicable deadline directly with ACAC before you pay, and plan your study timeline around the shorter figure until you have written confirmation.
After you pass
The award follows the examination and a certification-board review. Passing the exam is therefore necessary but not the final step; the board review is what completes the credential.
Exam Format and Question Style
The exam is 50 multiple-choice questions with at least four answer choices each, to be completed in two hours. That works out to roughly two and a half minutes per question on average, which is generous for single-best-answer items. Time pressure is rarely the main challenge; recall under closed-book conditions is.
Delivery options include:
- Computer-based test center through Kryterion.
- Secure online video proctoring from your own location.
- Preauthorized instructor proctoring, available under ACAC's vocational-program policy.
The passing threshold is 70%, set with the Modified Angoff method. In plain terms, a panel of subject-matter experts judged how a minimally competent candidate would perform on each item, and those judgments determined the cut score. It is a criterion-based standard rather than a curve, so your result does not depend on how other candidates perform. We unpack the arithmetic in our CEICRA passing score guide, and if you are wondering about difficulty, see how hard the CEICRA exam really is.
Key Takeaway
Closed book means you cannot look up CDC table values on exam day. Know the logic of the key tables well enough to reason through scenario questions, rather than hoping to remember a number you only skimmed.
Domain 1 Must-Know Facts
Domain 1: Infectious Diseases and Their Modes of Transmission in the Healthcare Setting
This domain is the foundation. Everything about containment during construction and remediation only makes sense if you understand how pathogens move and who is most at risk.
- The routes of transmission: contact, droplet, and airborne, and how each one shapes the controls you choose.
- Why airborne transmission is the central concern for environmental work: dust, aerosolized spores, and building air handling can carry pathogens to vulnerable patients.
- Waterborne and water-system-related risks in healthcare facilities, including why moisture and stagnant water matter.
- High-risk patient populations, such as immunocompromised patients, and why they change the level of precaution required.
- Fungal organisms such as Aspergillus as a classic example of an environmentally sourced healthcare infection tied to construction dust.
The scope note is important: the handbook lists three Required Skills competencies, and these map to the three domain headings used here. They are unweighted, and they do not establish exhaustive exam coverage. So treat the bullets above as high-yield themes rather than a guaranteed list of tested items. For a fuller walkthrough of how the three areas relate, see the CEICRA exam domains guide.
Domain 2 Must-Know Facts
Domain 2: Principles of Infection Control During Construction, Demolition and Renovation
This is the most distinctive part of the credential and where the "remediation" in the title earns its place. Questions here tend to be scenario-driven: a project type, a patient population, and a control decision.
- Why construction, demolition, and renovation create infection risk: disturbed dust, moisture intrusion, and disrupted air pressure relationships.
- The idea of matching precautions to the type of work and to the risk level of the patients in the affected area.
- Physical containment concepts: barriers, sealed openings, controlled access, and managing traffic paths for workers, debris, and patients.
- Air-pressure and ventilation principles, including the use of negative pressure in work zones and protection of adjacent patient care areas.
- Dust control and cleaning practices during and after the work, and the importance of verifying that an area is safe before it returns to patient use.
- Communication and coordination between infection control staff, facilities, contractors, and clinical leadership.
The CDC environmental infection control guidelines referenced in the study guide are where this domain's detail lives. Candidates who read only summaries tend to struggle here, because the questions test whether you can apply a risk-based framework, not recite definitions.
Domain 3 Must-Know Facts
Domain 3: Effective Infection Control Practices
This domain covers the everyday practices that sit underneath the project-level work, plus the professional conduct expectations tied to the ACAC Code of Conduct.
- Standard precautions and hand hygiene as the baseline for all healthcare settings.
- Environmental cleaning and disinfection principles, including appropriate use of disinfectants and surface management.
- Air and water system maintenance as routine infection prevention, not just a response to problems.
- Appropriate use of personal protective equipment for workers entering affected areas.
- Documentation, monitoring, and communication habits that make controls auditable.
- Professional and ethical conduct expectations drawn from the ACAC Code of Conduct.
What to Read: The Official Study References
ACAC's embedded study guide points to two core references: the ACAC Code of Conduct and the CDC Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control in Health-Care Facilities (2003, updated 2019). The guide highlights selected pages and specific tables: Tables 1, 3, 6, 8, 9 and 10.
A practical way to use that guidance:
- Read the highlighted pages first, since ACAC has told you where its attention lies.
- Work through Tables 1, 3, 6, 8, 9 and 10 until you can explain the reasoning behind each, not just reproduce entries.
- Then read the surrounding sections for context so the tables are not isolated facts.
- Finish with the Code of Conduct.
The handbook is available at acac.org/icrhandbook, and our CEICRA study guide builds a full preparation plan around these references. If you want a quick sense of whether the investment makes sense, see whether the CEICRA certification is worth it.
A Domain-Ordered Study Sequence
Because the exam is closed book and the domains build on each other, the order matters more than the total hours. The sequence below follows the logic of the content: transmission first, then the project-level controls that respond to it, then the daily practices and conduct standards that tie it together.
Transmission foundations (Domain 1)
- Read the CDC sections on how pathogens spread in healthcare environments.
- Build a one-page map linking each pathogen type to its route and its risk to vulnerable patients.
Construction, demolition and renovation (Domain 2)
- Spend the most time here, working through highlighted pages and Tables 1, 3, 6, 8, 9 and 10.
- Practice scenarios: given a project and a patient area, state the controls and explain why.
Practices, conduct and review (Domain 3)
- Cover cleaning, PPE, system maintenance, documentation, and the ACAC Code of Conduct.
- Take full-length timed practice sets and review every miss against the source text.
Domain 2 gets the longest block because it is the most application-heavy and the most specific to this credential. If you have limited time, protect that block first. You can sharpen your recall with questions on the CEICRA practice test site, which is designed around the same three domains.
Staying Certified: Validity and Renewal
The credential is valid for two years. The handbook requires 40 RCs (recertification credits) per cycle. Under current central procedures, those are allocated as:
- 10 RCs for continued field activity.
- 30 hours of professional development.
Renewal costs $300, and your records are subject to audit, so keep documentation of both your field work and your professional development as you go rather than reconstructing it at the end. Procedures are published at acac.org/procedures; verify the current allocation there before each cycle, since procedures can change.
Who Uses This Credential
Because the exam centers on environmental infection control in healthcare facilities, the credential is most relevant where facilities management, construction, and infection prevention overlap. Typical settings include hospitals and other healthcare facilities, along with the contractors, remediation firms, and environmental service teams that work inside them. Eligibility itself rests on current employment in infection control, which tells you the target audience: people already working in the field who want a recognized vocational credential.
We deliberately avoid quoting pay figures here, since this page sticks to verified facts. For a qualitative look at roles and earning potential, see the CEICRA salary guide and the overview of CEICRA jobs.
Common Mix-Ups to Avoid
- Confusing credentials. Other certifications share the acronym. Only ACAC figures apply here.
- Assuming a required course. There is no mandatory training course for this credential. Optional preparation is your choice.
- Preparing project sheets. The current application expressly exempts CEICRA from them.
- Trusting a single deadline. The application page says six months; the handbook says 90 days. Confirm with ACAC.
- Memorizing domain weights. The competencies are unweighted, so do not budget study time by an assumed percentage.
- Skipping the board review step. Passing the exam is followed by certification-board review before the award.
- Treating the pass rate as a known number. No verified figure is being quoted here; see our pass rate discussion for what can and cannot be said.
For related background on terminology, you can also browse what CEICRA certification is and the broader CEICRA certification overview, or review the structured CEICRA training options.
Frequently Asked Questions
The exam has 50 multiple-choice questions, each with at least four answer choices, and a two-hour time limit. It is closed book.
The passing threshold is 70%, established using the Modified Angoff method. That means a panel of experts set the standard based on minimally competent performance rather than grading on a curve.
The initial total is $400, made up of a $100 examination fee and a $300 certification fee. A retake costs $100, and renewal costs $300.
No. There is no mandatory training course, and the current application expressly exempts CEICRA from project sheets. Eligibility requires attesting to current employment in infection control and completing the online application and email verifications.
It is valid for two years. The handbook requires 40 RCs, which current central procedures allocate as 10 RCs for continued field activity plus 30 hours of professional development. Renewal costs $300, and your records may be audited.
Yes. Delivery is available at a computer-based test center or through secure online video proctoring, and preauthorized instructor proctoring is also available under ACAC's vocational-program policy.