API 510 recertification quiz guide: format and what to review
If you hold API 510, the six-year recertification quiz is a short open-book check that keeps your certification current. It is not the full exam. It is 25 questions you take online, so the prep that pays is a quick refresher on the calculations and the paragraphs that the quiz sheet lists, and practice finding things fast in your own editions. This page covers the format and a four-area review plan.
- Questions
- 25
- Time
- 240 minutes
- Where
- Online web quiz taken through the ICP Portal, with the same username and password as the portal account. Proctoring and ID rules are not stated on the pages we saved (unconfirmed)
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The quiz at a glance
- Questions: 25.
- Time: four hours in total. You may pause or be interrupted up to three times.
- Open book: the editions are on the recertification publications sheet effective 20 October 2025.
- Where: online through the ICP Portal, with the same username and password as your portal account.
- Retake: one retake. A second failure means a new application and the full exam.
- Not stated by API: the pass mark, proctoring and ID rules, and the quiz fee are not on the pages we reviewed. Check API's 510 certification page before you start.
Check where you stand on API 510 recert
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Start the free 10-question checkWhere the quiz fits in your cycle
API 510 recertification runs on two clocks. Every 3 years you show at least 20% of your time on pressure vessel inspection in the last 3 years, along with 24 hours of professional development per cycle. Every 6 years you also pass the 25-question open-book web quiz. Put your expiration date into the API recertification window calculator to see when the quiz opens and when the grace period ends.
The API 510 recert course
Available now · instant accessRefresh the rules and the RP 571 sections the six-year web quiz draws on, with two timed 25-question practice forms.
- 2full-length timed exams25 questions in 240 minutes each
- 60practice questionsEach one explained
Turn a practice answer into a study step. In untimed practice, ask Patch AI about any question you answer, follow up, then see your weakest topics and what to drill next.
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Every answer comes with a full explanation.
Four areas to review
API publishes no outline or weights for the quiz. This is our own grouping of the topics on the sheet, so use it to organize your review, not as a blueprint.
- I. Inspection intervals, corrosion rates and remaining life: the calculations, with fresh numbers.
- II. Repairs, alterations, rerating and pressure testing: what each one requires and who authorizes it.
- III. Inspection organization, records and open-book navigation: finding the right paragraph in API 510 quickly.
- IV. Selected RP 571 damage mechanisms: Section 2 and the paragraphs listed on the quiz sheet.
The sheet lists API 510 (11th edition, October 2022, with its errata) and RP 571 (3rd edition, March 2020), with RP 572, RP 576, RP 577 and RP 578. Compare your own copies against the sheet, because an old printing is the easiest way to lose points on an open-book quiz.
How to prepare
- Take the free refresher check and see which of the four areas costs you the most.
- Rework one interval and remaining-life problem by hand. The MAWP and thickness calculator lets you check your working.
- Tab your API 510 so that a repair, alteration or rerating question takes seconds, not minutes.
- If you also need the full exam, the API 510 Body of Knowledge guide maps the five sections.
Run a refresher before you open the quiz
The free refresher check is spread across the four areas, needs no signup and explains every answer as you go.
Ready to see where you stand on API 510 recert?
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Start the free 10-question checkExam facts
| Questions | 25 (open-book web quiz, every 6 years) |
| Time | 240 minutes |
| Book | Open book. The editions are on the recertification publications sheet effective 20 Oct 2025 (saved). Which reference formats are on screen is not stated (unconfirmed) |
| Passing | Not stated in the saved sources (unconfirmed) |
| Where you test | Online web quiz taken through the ICP Portal, with the same username and password as the portal account. Proctoring and ID rules are not stated on the pages we saved (unconfirmed) |
| Code edition | API 510 11th ed. Oct 2022 (Errata 1 Mar 2023, Errata 2 June 2025); RP 571 3rd ed. Mar 2020 (Section 2 and 15 listed paragraphs: 3.3, 3.8, 3.9, 3.11, 3.14, 3.15, 3.17, 3.22, 3.27, 3.35, 3.36, 3.37, 3.46, 3.61, 3.67); RP 572 5th ed. Nov 2023; RP 576 5th ed. Sept 2024; RP 577 3rd ed. Oct 2020; RP 578 4th ed. Feb 2023 |
| Retakes | One retake. A second failure means a new application and the full exam |
| Renewal | Every 3 years: at least 20% of time on pressure vessel inspection in the last 3 years, 24 h CPD per cycle; 25-question open-book web quiz every 6 years |
What the exam covers
| I. Inspection intervals, corrosion rates and remaining life | not published by American Petroleum Institute |
| II. Repairs, alterations, rerating and pressure testing | not published by American Petroleum Institute |
| III. Inspection organization, records and open-book navigation | not published by American Petroleum Institute |
| IV. Selected RP 571 damage mechanisms (RP 571 Section 2 and the paragraphs on the quiz sheet) | not published by American Petroleum Institute |
American Petroleum Institute lists these sections but publishes no weights, so treat them as equally important until you know otherwise.
Sources
Show the 2 sources
Facts checked 24 October 2026 against American Petroleum Institute's own documents (sources above). If something has changed, tell us and we will correct it within 2 business days.
Your next step
- 01Free API 510 recert check10 questions, untimed, about 30 minutes. Answers explained as you go.Start free
- 02API 510 recert practice pack$59. Lessons, timed practice exams and a plan around your exam date.See the plans