- Why There Is No Fixed Testing Calendar
- The Application-to-Award Timeline
- The Six-Month vs. 90-Day Deadline Question
- Scheduling Options: Test Center, Online Proctor, or Instructor
- What You Are Scheduling: Exam Format at a Glance
- Fees, Retakes and How They Affect Your Timing
- Planning Backward From Your Target Exam Date
- After the Exam: Review, Award and the Two-Year Clock
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CEICRA is administered by ACAC through Kryterion, with test center and secure online video proctoring options.
- The application page allows six months to finish the process; the handbook says 90 days. Confirm with ACAC.
- Initial cost is $400 total: $100 examination plus $300 certification. Retakes cost $100.
- The exam is 50 multiple-choice questions in two hours, closed book, with a 70% passing threshold.
Why There Is No Fixed Testing Calendar
Many certification exams run on published testing windows: a few weeks twice a year, with hard registration cutoffs. The Council-certified Environmental Infection Control Remediation Assistant (CEICRA) credential, offered by the American Council for Accredited Certification (ACAC), does not appear to work that way. Based on ACAC's published materials, the exam is delivered through Kryterion, either at a computer-based test center or through secure online video proctoring, and candidates move through an application-driven process rather than waiting for a seasonal window.
That distinction matters for how you plan. Instead of circling a date on a calendar, your real deadlines are the ones attached to your own application: how long you have to complete the process after applying, when your email verifications clear, and when you can realistically be ready to pass. If you are searching for a list of "2026 CEICRA exam dates," the more useful question is: when should I start my application so that my exam lands at the right moment in my preparation?
The Application-to-Award Timeline
Because the CEICRA is a vocational certification with an application-first workflow, the "dates" that matter are the milestones in sequence. Here is how the process is structured based on ACAC's handbook and application materials:
- Eligibility check. You attest to current employment in infection control. This is an attestation-based requirement, so confirm your role qualifies before you apply. Our CEICRA requirements guide walks through eligibility in more detail.
- Online application and email verifications. You complete the online application and the required email verifications. Delays here, such as an unconfirmed verification email, can quietly eat into your completion window.
- Exam scheduling and delivery. Once cleared, you arrange the exam through the delivery method you choose (test center, online proctoring, or preauthorized instructor proctoring).
- Sitting the exam. Fifty multiple-choice questions, two hours, closed book.
- Award. The credential is awarded following examination and certification-board review, so the award is not instantaneous at the moment you pass.
The current application expressly exempts CEICRA from project sheets, and there is no mandatory training course. That means there is no coursework deadline or project submission window to schedule around, which simplifies the calendar considerably compared with credentials that require documentation packages.
The Six-Month vs. 90-Day Deadline Question
This is the single most important date-related detail to get right, and it is a place where ACAC's own materials do not fully agree. The current application page allows six months to complete the process. The candidate handbook states 90 days.
| Source | Stated Completion Window | What to Do |
|---|---|---|
| Current ACAC application page | Six months | Treat as the possible outer limit, not a guarantee |
| CEICRA Candidate Handbook | 90 days | Treat as the conservative planning number |
Practically, this means you should not submit your application until you are within a realistic striking distance of being exam-ready. Applying early "to lock in a spot" is the wrong instinct for a process whose clock starts at application. If you need a structured prep path first, start with our CEICRA study guide and come back to the application when your readiness is close.
Scheduling Options: Test Center, Online Proctor, or Instructor
ACAC offers three ways to take the exam, and the one you pick affects how flexibly you can schedule:
Computer-Based Test Center (Kryterion)
A traditional testing environment with a proctor on site.
- Good if your home or workplace is noisy, unreliable on internet, or lacks a private room
- Availability depends on test center locations and slots near you, so look early
- Closed book, so there is no difference in what you can bring compared with other modes
Secure Online Video Proctoring
You take the exam remotely while being monitored by video.
- Typically the most flexible option for fitting an exam around shift work
- Requires a suitable private space and a working computer and connection
- Do a technical readiness check ahead of exam day rather than on it
Preauthorized Instructor Proctoring
Available under ACAC's vocational-program policy.
- Relevant mainly if you are taking the exam through a vocational program that has arranged this in advance
- Requires preauthorization, so it is not something you can decide the week before
Because these options are policy-governed, confirm which ones apply to your situation at ACAC's exam administration page.
What You Are Scheduling: Exam Format at a Glance
Knowing the exam's shape helps you decide how much time you need before booking. Here are the verified specifics:
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Question count | 50 multiple-choice questions |
| Answer choices | At least four per question |
| Time allowed | Two hours |
| Book policy | Closed book |
| Passing threshold | 70%, set using the Modified Angoff method |
| Provider | Kryterion |
Two hours for 50 questions is a generous pace, averaging well over two minutes per item, so time pressure is rarely the main risk. The risk is content mastery. See our breakdown of the CEICRA passing score and our difficulty guide for what the 70% threshold means in practice.
Which Content You Will Be Tested On
The handbook organizes the required skills into three competencies. They are unweighted, and they do not establish exhaustive exam coverage, so treat them as the core of your prep rather than the entire boundary:
- Domain 1: Infectious Diseases and Their Modes of Transmission in the Healthcare Setting
- Domain 2: Principles of Infection Control During Construction, Demolition and Renovation
- Domain 3: Effective Infection Control Practices
For a deeper walk-through, read the complete guide to the three CEICRA content areas.
Fees, Retakes and How They Affect Your Timing
Your scheduling decisions have direct cost consequences, so it helps to see the fee structure alongside the calendar:
| Fee | Amount (USD) |
|---|---|
| Examination fee | $100 |
| Certification fee | $300 |
| Initial total | $400 |
| Retake | $100 |
| Renewal | $300 |
The retake fee is the number to keep in mind when deciding how early to sit the exam. A $100 retake is modest, but it also usually means more time and another scheduling round, and if your completion window is tight (90 days versus six months), a failed first attempt can push you against the deadline. The cleaner strategy is to sit the exam once, ready. For the full pricing picture, see our CEICRA certification cost breakdown, and confirm current figures at ACAC's fees page.
Key Takeaway
Budget for the $400 initial total, and treat the $100 retake as insurance rather than a plan. Because the completion window is uncertain, a failed attempt costs you both money and calendar room.
Planning Backward From Your Target Exam Date
Since the clock is tied to your application rather than a public testing season, the smartest scheduling method is to plan backward. Pick the month you want to be certified, subtract a conservative window for application processing and board review, and subtract your preparation time. The study sequencing below is built around the three CEICRA competencies and the references ACAC highlights in its study guide, namely the ACAC Code of Conduct and the CDC Guidelines for Environmental Infection Control in Health-Care Facilities (2003, updated 2019), with the guide pointing to selected pages and Tables 1, 3, 6, 8, 9 and 10.
Transmission foundations (Domain 1)
- Work through infectious diseases and modes of transmission in healthcare settings
- Start with this domain because the other two build on it
- Review the CDC guideline tables the ACAC study guide highlights
Construction, demolition and renovation (Domain 2)
- Study the principles of infection control during construction, demolition and renovation
- Connect each control measure back to the transmission routes from Week 1
- Revisit the highlighted CDC tables for this area
Practices and ethics (Domain 3)
- Cover effective infection control practices
- Read the ACAC Code of Conduct, which is part of the study guide
- Tie practices to the scenarios from Domains 1 and 2
Timed practice and gap repair
- Take full 50-question timed sets using the two-hour limit
- Aim consistently above the 70% threshold before you book
- Only now should you submit your application, if you have not already
If you want to pressure-test your readiness before applying, take a timed set on our CEICRA practice test site. For a compact last-pass review, the CEICRA cheat sheet is useful in the final days.
After the Exam: Review, Award and the Two-Year Clock
Passing the exam is not the final calendar event. The award follows examination and certification-board review, so build a little slack between your exam date and the date you need to put the credential on a résumé, job application or employer file. If you are timing certification to a hiring cycle or promotion review, you can learn more about the career side in our CEICRA jobs overview and the ROI analysis.
Validity and Recertification Dates
Once awarded, the certification is valid for two years. The handbook requires 40 recertification credits (RCs). Under current central procedures, those are allocated as 10 RCs for continued field activity plus 30 hours of professional development. Records are subject to audit, so keep documentation as you go rather than reconstructing it near the deadline. Renewal costs $300.
Frequently Asked Questions
ACAC's published materials describe an application-driven process delivered through Kryterion rather than a fixed seasonal calendar. Your effective deadline is the completion window attached to your application, so confirm current scheduling availability with ACAC at acac.org/exams.
ACAC's materials conflict: the current application page allows six months, while the handbook says 90 days. Confirm the applicable deadline with ACAC, and plan to the shorter 90-day figure until you have confirmation.
Yes, secure online video proctoring is one of the delivery options, alongside computer-based test centers and preauthorized instructor proctoring under ACAC's vocational-program policy. You will need a suitable private space and a working setup for remote monitoring.
The initial total is $400: a $100 examination fee plus a $300 certification fee. A retake costs $100. Renewal is $300. Verify current figures at ACAC's fees page before budgeting.
The certification is valid for two years. Renewal requires 40 recertification credits, which current central procedures allocate as 10 for continued field activity and 30 hours of professional development, with records subject to audit.