How the checker works
Each education choice maps to one minimum amount of experience. The checker subtracts your months from it. It also checks the inspection requirement: at every education level, 1 year of the experience must be supervising or performing inspection activities as described in API 510. Your wait is the longer of the two shortfalls. If you are still working in a role that adds both kinds of experience, the date is the day you counted to plus that wait in calendar months.
Minimum experience by education
| Education | Experience required |
|---|---|
| Bachelor's or higher in engineering or technology, or 3+ years of military service in a technical role | 1 year |
| 2-year associate's degree or certificate in engineering or technology, or 2 years of military service in a technical role | 2 years |
| High school diploma or equivalent | 3 years |
| No formal education | 5 years |
The experience must be from the last 10 years, gained while employed by or under contract with an authorized inspection agency as API 510 defines it. Everything you claim must be documented on your application, and API verifies it after you submit.
Worked examples
- High school diploma, 30 months of vessel experience of which 12 are inspection, counted to 24 October 2026, still working. The minimum is 36 months, so 6 more are needed: appears eligible from 24 April 2027. That is after the 4 March 2027 deadline for the May window, so the September 2027 window (apply by 2 July 2027) is the first one that fits.
- Engineering bachelor's degree, 12 months of vessel experience of which 12 are inspection: appears eligible now.
- Associate's degree, 30 months of experience but only 4 in inspection, still working: the total is met, but 8 more months of inspection work are needed, so the wait is 8 months.
These are original examples, not exam questions or API rulings.
Next steps: read the API 510 Body of Knowledge guide to see what the exam covers, and the effectivity sheet guide for the editions that apply to your window.