API 570 certification: requirements, total cost and exam windows

API 570 eligibility: education and experience

API's API 570 page lists four routes. Each pairs your education with minimum years of experience:

• Bachelor's degree or higher in engineering or technology, or at least three years of technical military service: one year supervising or performing inspection activities as API 570 describes them.
• Two-year degree or certificate in engineering or technology, or two years of technical military service: two years of experience.
• High-school diploma or equivalent: three years of experience.
• No formal education: five or more years of experience.

On the last three routes, the experience is design, construction, repair, operation or inspection of in-service piping systems, and one year of it must be supervising or performing inspection. The experience must fall within the last 10 years and be gained while employed by or under contract with an authorized inspection agency as API 570 defines it. A dishonorable discharge voids military-service credit. API verifies what you document on the application.

Sort your work history by period before you apply. For each one, write the employer, dates, what piping you worked on and whether you supervised or performed inspection. Time on pressure vessels or tanks is a different program, and our API 510 vs 570 vs 653 comparison shows how the three line up.

How to apply

You apply through API's Individual Certification Programs portal. The steps that matter:

1. Pick your window from the schedule below and note its application deadline. The deadline is months before the testing window opens.
2. Document your experience on the application. API checks it after you submit.
3. Pay the initial fee for your membership category.
4. Book your seat at a Prometric center once API authorizes you. You book inside the window you applied for.

API's policies page says an application stays valid for six months from the first exam date you request, however many attempts you schedule. Certification also waits until any application deficiencies are cleared, even after a passing result, so finish your experience record before you test.

API 570 exam windows and deadlines

From API's schedule and fees page:

• 9 to 30 October 2026: applications closed 7 August 2026.
• 29 January to 19 February 2027: apply by 26 November 2026.
• 4 to 25 June 2027: apply by 1 April 2027.
• 8 to 29 October 2027: apply by 5 August 2027.

Miss a deadline and API lists a $200 late-application fee. Missing it entirely means waiting for the next window.

API 570 exam cost: fees

API lists 510, 570 and 653 in one fee row, so 570 costs the same as the other two. The page shows two fee tables, 2026 then 2027:

• Initial certification, 2026 table: $875 API member, $1,125 non-member.
• Initial certification, 2027 table: $890 API member, $1,140 non-member.
• Reschedule application: $350, either category, both tables.
• Late application: $200, either category, both tables.

All amounts are U.S. dollars. Prometric charges separate appointment-change fees, covered in our exam schedule and fees guide, which applies to 570 too.

Total cost: a worked budget

The API fee is only part of it. Build your own with these lines:

• API initial fee: $1,140 non-member in the 2027 table, or $890 as a member.
• Publications: the codes and recommended practices on the effectivity sheet, unless your employer supplies them.
• Preparation: a course or practice product, if you use one.
• Attendance: travel, lodging, meals and any unpaid day off. The exam day is 7.5 hours.
• Buffer: a reschedule ($350) or late fee ($200) you hope not to need.

Example: a non-member applying for 2027 pays $1,140 to API. Add your own figures for books, preparation and travel, then subtract what your employer reimburses. Keep the full cost and your personal share on separate lines so you can see both.

Remote or test center?

At a test center. API's page says the exam is administered in person at designated test centers only, and papers, notes and books are not allowed. PDFs of the referenced publications appear on screen for the open-book part. The format is 170 questions, 140 scored, with 110 closed-book and 60 open-book.

How API 570 differs from API 510

The eligibility routes, format and fees match. What changes is the equipment. API 570 experience must be on in-service piping, and the exam works from B31.3 and its piping references where 510 works from Section VIII vessels. Not sure which to take first? Read API 570 vs API 510: which first. Once certified, API 570 recertification is due every three years through the ICP portal.

Common questions

Does my pipefitting or refinery operations time count? The experience types include design, construction, repair, operation and inspection of in-service piping, but one year must be supervising or performing inspection. Document exactly what you did.

Can I get certified with no degree? Yes, on the no-formal-education route. It needs five or more years of piping experience, one of them in inspection.

What happens if I miss the deadline? You can pay the $200 late fee API lists, or apply for the next window.

Take the free 10-question check

You know the requirements and the dates. Now find out where your piping knowledge stands. The free 10-question check takes a few minutes, needs no signup and shows which Body of Knowledge areas to study first, with every answer explained. The Long Seam course turns that result into a study plan built backward from your exam date, with a lesson for each area and timed practice exams.

Sources

Show the list

• API 570 Piping Inspector, American Petroleum Institute
• ICP Schedules & Fees, American Petroleum Institute
• ICP Policies, American Petroleum Institute