- What This Cheat Sheet Covers
- Who Issues the CET and Under What Accreditation
- Exam Format at a Glance
- The 11 Domains, Ranked by Weight
- Eligibility Pathways: Education vs. Experience
- Fees, Retakes, and Waiting Periods
- Renewal and Continuing Education
- A One-Week Domain-Focus Refresher
- Quick-Reference Comparison Table
- FAQ
- The CET exam is 160 multiple-choice questions, scored 100-500, with 300 needed to pass.
- Maintenance (24 items) and Electric Traction (23 items) carry the most weight of the 11 domains.
- Experience-pathway applicants pay $680 (member) or $1,095 (non-member); education-pathway fees are $95 or $145.
- Failing candidates wait 30 days for a second attempt, then 30 more days plus a $100 fee for a third.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers
This is a single-page reference for the Certified Elevator Technician (CET) credential issued by the National Association of Elevator Contractors (NAEC). It's built for candidates who already have a study plan underway and just need the hard numbers - question counts, domain weights, fees, deadlines - in one place before test day. If you haven't started building that plan yet, the CET Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt walks through the full preparation process, and the CET Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 11 Content Areas breaks each content area down in depth.
Everything below reflects the CET program specifically - not any other "CET" credential you may find while searching. This distinction matters because several unrelated certifications share the same three letters, and mixing up fee structures or scoring scales will cost you time and money during registration.
Who Issues the CET and Under What Accreditation
The CET is issued by NAEC, with all certification decisions made by the NAEC Certification Board. The program has held ISO/IEC 17024 personnel certification accreditation since 2011, granted through ANSI and the ANSI National Accreditation Board. That accreditation matters to employers and inspection authorities because it signals the certification process itself - item development, scoring, and appeals - meets an internationally recognized standard for personnel certification bodies.
Exam Format at a Glance
The CET exam is a 160-question, computer-based, multiple-choice test. It's delivered online under proctoring that NAEC arranges after you receive your Authorization to Test letter, and it's offered in English only. Scores are reported on a 100 to 500 scale, and you need a 300 to pass. If you don't pass, you receive a category-level diagnostic report showing how many questions you answered correctly within each topic - useful for targeting a retake study plan rather than re-reviewing everything blindly.
For a deeper look at what that score threshold actually means in practical terms, see CET Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass. And if you're still deciding how much runway to give yourself, How Hard Is the CET Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 covers the factors that make this test challenging for even experienced mechanics.
Key Takeaway
Because scoring is category-level on the diagnostic report, don't just "study everything again" after a failed attempt - target the specific domains flagged weakest, starting with whichever high-weight domain scored lowest.
The 11 Domains, Ranked by Weight
The exam draws from 11 content domains. Knowing their relative weight tells you where your study hours produce the most points per hour invested.
Domain 1: Maintenance - 15% (24 of 160 items)
The single largest category on the exam. Covers routine maintenance procedures, lubrication schedules, adjustment practices, and troubleshooting logic technicians use daily in the field.
- Highest point value of any domain - prioritize accordingly
Domain 2: Electric Traction - 14% (23 items)
Traction machine components, roping configurations, drive systems, and the mechanical/electrical interplay specific to traction elevators.
- Second-largest domain; pairs well with Controls study sessions
Domain 3: Safety - 13% (20 items)
Grounded in the Elevator Industry Field Employees' Safety Handbook. Expect questions on lockout/tagout, fall protection, and safe work practices around hoistways and machine rooms.
- Overlaps heavily with continuing education safety-hour requirements after certification
Domain 4: Hydraulic - 12% (20 items)
Hydraulic power units, valves, cylinders, and the maintenance differences between hydraulic and traction systems.
Domain 5: Controls - 12% (19 items)
Controller logic, relay and solid-state systems, and diagnostic sequencing.
Domains 6-11: Hoistway (10%), Car Enclosure (6%), Escalators (5%), Special Applications (5%), Job Site (4%), Lifts (4%)
Smaller individually, but together these six domains account for a meaningful share of the exam. Don't skip them just because each one carries fewer points than the top five.
For a full breakdown of each domain's subtopics and how they map to the reference manuals, revisit the CET Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 11 Content Areas.
| Domain | Weight | Approx. Items (of 160) |
|---|---|---|
| Maintenance | 15% | 24 |
| Electric Traction | 14% | 23 |
| Safety | 13% | 20 |
| Hydraulic | 12% | 20 |
| Controls | 12% | 19 |
| Hoistway | 10% | ~16 |
| Car Enclosure | 6% | ~10 |
| Escalators | 5% | ~8 |
| Special Applications | 5% | ~8 |
| Job Site | 4% | ~6 |
| Lifts | 4% | ~6 |
Eligibility Pathways: Education vs. Experience
Candidates qualify for the CET exam through one of two pathways:
- Education pathway: Complete the NAEC CET Education Program, NEIEP, L.I.T.S., or an equivalent program.
- Experience pathway: Document a minimum of 10,000 hours or five years of on-the-job elevator industry training as of December 31, 2007.
Regardless of pathway, applicants must demonstrate knowledge of four reference sources: the Elevator Industry Field Employees' Safety Handbook, the Elevator Maintenance Manual, the NEMI Installation Manual, and ASME A17.1 and A17.3. These documents underpin most of the exam's Safety, Maintenance, and Hoistway content.
The full eligibility rules, including how equivalent programs get evaluated, are covered in CET Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify. If you're still working through a formal training track, CET Training outlines what those programs typically involve, including the NAEC CET Education Program's four-year, 12-course structure - roughly 611 classroom hours and 8,000 field hours, with unit and level exams requiring 75% to pass and the Associate Elevator Technician (AET) designation awarded after the Level 1 exam.
Fees, Retakes, and Waiting Periods
Application fees are non-refundable and vary by pathway and membership status:
| Pathway | NAEC Member Fee | Non-Member Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Experience pathway | $680 | $1,095 |
| Education pathway | $95 | $145 |
If you don't pass on the first attempt, the retesting rules are strict about timing:
- Second attempt: 30-day wait required
- Third attempt: an additional 30-day wait plus a $100 retest fee
- After a third failure: 180 days before you may reapply
These waiting periods make it costly to treat the first attempt casually. A full cost breakdown, including how retest fees and renewal costs stack up over time, is available in CET Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
Key Takeaway
Budget for one serious attempt rather than planning around retakes - the 30-day and 180-day waiting windows can stall a job assignment or promotion timeline significantly.
Renewal and Continuing Education
CET certification runs for one year and expires December 31. To renew, technicians need 10 contact hours of NAEC-approved continuing education annually, of which 1 to 3 hours must be safety-focused, plus a renewal fee of $105 for NAEC members or $195 for non-members. Credentials issued after October 1 get a grace period - they renew by December 31 of the following year rather than the same year they were issued.
Because Safety is also a heavily-weighted exam domain, technicians who stay engaged with safety-focused continuing education tend to have an easier time if they ever need to recertify or support a colleague's exam prep.
A One-Week Domain-Focus Refresher
If you're in the final stretch before your test date, allocate review days by domain weight rather than by how comfortable each topic feels. Here's a compressed, weighted approach for the last week before your Authorization to Test appointment:
Maintenance & Electric Traction
- These two domains alone account for 47 of 160 questions - review lubrication schedules, roping, and drive-machine adjustment procedures first
Safety
- Re-read key sections of the Elevator Industry Field Employees' Safety Handbook; this domain also feeds directly into your annual CE requirement
Hydraulic & Controls
- Compare hydraulic power-unit troubleshooting against controller logic - these two domains are often tested with overlapping scenario questions
Hoistway, Car Enclosure, Escalators
- Mid-weight domains that are easy to under-review; run timed practice sets on ../ to check recall speed
Special Applications, Job Site, Lifts
- Lower-weight but still scoreable; a quick pass through terminology and code references is usually enough
Full-length review
- Take a full simulated exam on ../ under timed, proctor-style conditions and review missed items by domain
This isn't a generic study calendar - it's ordered specifically by the CET's published domain weights, so the highest-value content gets first crack at your best focus hours.
Quick-Reference Comparison Table
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Question count | 160 multiple-choice, computer-based |
| Language | English only |
| Scoring scale | 100-500; 300 required to pass |
| Top domain | Maintenance, 24 of 160 items |
| Experience-pathway hours | 10,000 hours / 5 years (as of Dec. 31, 2007) |
| Certification term | 1 year, expires Dec. 31 |
| Annual CE requirement | 10 hours (1-3 safety hours) |
| Second-attempt wait | 30 days |
| Third-attempt wait/fee | 30 more days + $100 |
| Post-third-failure wait | 180 days |
For a data-driven view of how difficult the exam actually is once you factor in domain distribution and scoring, read CET Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows. And if you're weighing whether the time and fees are worth it long-term, Is the CET Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and the CET Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis both cover the career-side considerations this cheat sheet doesn't.
FAQ
The CET exam has 160 multiple-choice questions delivered by computer under proctored conditions. Scores are reported on a 100 to 500 scale, and you need a 300 to pass.
You receive a category-level diagnostic report showing your performance by topic. You must wait 30 days before a second attempt, then another 30 days plus a $100 fee before a third attempt, and 180 days before reapplying after a third failure.
Under the experience pathway, it's $680 for employees of NAEC member companies or $1,095 for non-members. Under the education pathway, it's $95 for members or $145 for non-members. All fees are non-refundable.
Maintenance is the largest domain at 24 of 160 questions, followed by Electric Traction at 23, then Safety and Hydraulic at 20 each, and Controls at 19. Those five domains together make up more than half the exam.
Certification expires every December 31. Renewal requires 10 contact hours of NAEC-approved continuing education annually (1 to 3 of which must be safety-related) plus a $105 fee for members or $195 for non-members. Credentials issued after October 1 renew by December 31 of the following year instead.