API 570 practice test: free questions and exam setup

Take the free API 570 practice exam first

The free 10-question check gives you ten original piping-inspection questions, with calculations explained as you answer. There is no signup. You finish with a score by Body of Knowledge section and a clear first topic to study.

Everything on this page is original. None of it is a real or recalled API 570 exam question, and code sections are cited by number only. You work from your own copies of the publications.

How the API 570 exam is set up

These are the facts from API's API 570 certification page and its ICP exam tutorial, so you can practice under the same conditions.

• Questions: 170 in total. 140 are scored and 30 are pretest questions that you can't pick out.
• Parts: 110 closed-book questions, then 60 open-book questions. Testing time is 390 minutes.
• Closed book: no code books. You get a calculator, scratch paper and a pencil. The tutorial says an on-screen calculator is available, and at an in-person center you can ask the proctor for a handheld one.
• Open book: PDFs of the publications on the Publications Effectivity Sheet appear on screen, and only the sections listed there can be used.
• Where: in person at designated test centers. API 570 is not offered remotely. Eligibility, fees and deadlines are in our API 570 requirements, cost and schedule guide.
• Next window: 29 January to 19 February 2027, with applications due 26 November 2026 on API's schedule page.
• Formats: the tutorial shows multiple choice, multiple response, drag and drop and extended matching. Drag and drop and extended matching get no partial credit.

The Body of Knowledge for February and June 2027 has five sections: calculations on in-service piping, welding procedure and qualification review, nondestructive examination, general practical knowledge and specific practical knowledge by publication. API publishes topics, not percentage weights, so prepare all five. Our Body of Knowledge article explains each one.

Two scope notes shape a practice test. The BOK says API 570 and RP 574 are subject to testing in their entirety, so practice questions should reach all of them. It also says the formulas and interval rules for corrosion rate, remaining life and inspection interval may be closed-book, so run those without a book.

3 sample API 570 exam questions

Original items with invented numbers. Open your own copies of the sections named, and confirm each method against the governing code and the editions on your effectivity sheet.

1. Remaining life. A line was 0.375 in. thick when installed. A reading taken 9 years later is 0.321 in. The required thickness is 0.250 in. What is the remaining life, using the long-term corrosion rate?

• A. 11.8 years
• B. 53.5 years
• C. 41.7 years
• D. 5.9 years

Answer: A. Long-term corrosion rate is the loss from the first reading divided by the time: (0.375 minus 0.321) / 9 = 0.006 in. per year (API 570 7.1.2). Remaining life is the thickness above required divided by that rate: (0.321 minus 0.250) / 0.006 = 11.8 years (API 570 7.2). B divides the whole measured thickness by the rate. C divides the required thickness by the rate. D halves the right answer, which mixes remaining life up with an inspection interval.

2. Required thickness. A straight run of NPS 6 pipe has an outside diameter of 6.625 in. and a design pressure of 1,200 psi. For this practice problem, the allowable stress is 17,100 psi, the quality factor E is 0.85, the weld joint strength reduction factor W is 1.0 and the coefficient Y is 0.4. What is the pressure design thickness for internal pressure, before any allowances?

• A. 0.265 in.
• B. 0.273 in.
• C. 0.226 in.
• D. 0.529 in.

Answer: A. ASME B31.3 304.1.2 gives the pressure design thickness as P × D divided by 2 × (S × E × W + P × Y). Here that is 1,200 × 6.625 / (2 × (17,100 × 0.85 × 1.0 + 1,200 × 0.4)) = 7,950 / 30,030 = 0.265 in. Corrosion and mechanical allowances are added afterward under 304.1.1. B leaves out the P × Y term. C drops the quality factor. D forgets the 2 in the denominator.

3. Inspection interval. A circuit has a measured thickness of 0.410 in., a required thickness of 0.300 in. and a corrosion rate of 0.011 in. per year. For this practice problem, the Table 1 maximum interval for the inspection type is 10 years. What interval do you set for the next thickness measurement?

• A. 5.0 years
• B. 10.0 years
• C. 2.5 years
• D. 20.0 years

Answer: A. Remaining life is (0.410 minus 0.300) / 0.011 = 10.0 years (API 570 7.2). The interval is the shorter of half the remaining life and the Table 1 maximum (API 570 6.3.3 and Table 1). Half of 10.0 is 5.0 years, which is below the 10-year maximum, so 5.0 years governs. B sets the interval equal to the full remaining life, C halves twice and D doubles the life.

Check items 1 and 3 with the remaining life calculator and the corrosion rate calculator, and item 2 with the pipe minimum thickness calculator.

Make your practice test match the exam

A set of questions only helps if it behaves like the exam.

1. Run closed-book items with a clock. Give each calculation about a minute and a half and keep your books shut.
2. Run open-book items by lookup. Name the document and section before you open anything, then confirm it. The open versus closed book article shows how the two parts differ.
3. Explain every miss. Write one line on why the right answer is right, with the section number, and note whether the miss was a concept gap, an arithmetic slip or a slow lookup.
4. Work from the right editions. The exam follows the effectivity sheet, which for February and June 2027 lists API 570 5th edition (February 2024), RP 574 5th edition (February 2024) and ASME B31.3 2024, among others. Material written to an older edition can send you to a paragraph that has changed.
5. Retake a check every couple of weeks and compare your score by section, not just the overall number. No practice score predicts your result on the day, but it tells you where to spend the next week.

For more practice ideas see what to drill for API 570, and for what API publishes free and which prep to avoid, the free practice guide. Our API 510 vs 570 vs 653 comparison shows how the piping exam differs from the vessel exam.

Start now

Take the free 10-question check for API 570. It takes a few minutes and needs no signup. You get a score by Body of Knowledge section and an explanation for every answer. The Long Seam course picks up where it leaves off, with a lesson for each section, timed practice exams and a study plan built from your exam date.

Wondering what the certification is worth on the job? See API 570 piping inspector salary and jobs.

Sources

Show the list

• API 570 Piping Inspector: exam information, American Petroleum Institute
• ICP Tutorial: API 510, API 570, API 653 (ICP-PD-201a, revised 28 Dec 2023), American Petroleum Institute
• API 570 Body of Knowledge, February and June 2027, American Petroleum Institute
• API 570 Publications Effectivity Sheet, February and June 2027, American Petroleum Institute