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API 510 Exam Guide 2026: Current Editions, Fees, and Worked Calculations

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Key Facts

  • API 510 contains 170 multiple-choice questions, but only 140 are scored; the other 30 are unscored pretest items (api.org).
  • API splits API 510 into 110 closed-book questions in 2.75 hours and 60 open-book questions in 3.75 hours.
  • API's April 2026 ICP statistics report shows a 61.6% API 510 pass rate for January 2026: 424 of 688 candidates passed.
  • API charges $875 for members and $1,125 for nonmembers to certify in API 510, per its ICP Schedules and Fees page.
  • API ICP exams are reported on a 200-to-500 scaled score, and the passing scaled score for every ICP exam is 400.
  • API's January 2-22, 2027 API 510 exam window closes applications on October 29, 2026, per the ICP schedule.
  • The September 2026 effectivity sheet tests the 2025 Edition of ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Sections V, VIII Division 1 and IX.
  • API 510 questions come from the 11th Edition (October 2022) of API 510, including Errata 1 (2023) and Errata 2 (2025).
  • Only Section 2 and 15 numbered paragraphs of API RP 571 are testable on the September 2026 through May 2027 API 510 exams.
  • API 510 recertification requires 24 CPD hours in every three-year certification cycle (API document ICP-PD-102).

What Changed for the 2026-2027 API 510 Cycle

API has replaced the API 510 Publications Effectivity Sheet and Body of Knowledge. The set now in force covers the September 2026, January 2027, and May 2027 exam windows and replaces the September 2025 documents. If your tabs, notes, or course binder came from the previous cycle, several of your reference editions are now the wrong ones.

The headline change is the code year: API 510 questions are now written against the 2025 Edition of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. API 510 itself picked up Errata 2 (2025) , and API RP 577 picked up Errata 1 (September 2025) . The short list of testable API RP 571 paragraphs carried over unchanged from the September 2025 sheet.