- The exam is 100 multiple-choice questions in 3 hours, closed-book, with a 75% passing score.
- First two-year term costs $500 in the US/Canada: $100 exam plus $400 certification; a retake is $100.
- Renewal requires $400 and 40 credits: 10 for attesting to field activity, 30 hours of professional development.
- The handbook publishes three competency headings, not percentage weights; do not trust any blueprint percentages you see elsewhere.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers (and Which CIAQM It Is)
This page condenses the facts you most need to recall about the Council-certified Indoor Air Quality Manager (CIAQM), issued by the American Council for Accredited Certification (ACAC). The acronym is shared with at least one other indoor air quality credential, notably a similarly abbreviated certification from NREP, which is a separate program with its own rules. Everything below refers only to the ACAC credential. If you want the background first, our explainer on what CIAQM is and the piece on what CIAQM stands for cover the naming in more depth.
Use this sheet as a final-week review, a checklist before you apply, or a quick way to decide whether the credential fits your career. For a full preparation plan, pair it with the CIAQM study guide, and when you are ready to test your recall under realistic conditions, run a set of questions on the CIAQM practice test site.
The Exam at a Glance
| Item | What to Know |
|---|---|
| Format | Closed-book written examination, multiple choice |
| Number of questions | 100 |
| Answer choices | At least four per item |
| Time allowed | 3 hours |
| Passing score | 75%, set using the modified Angoff method |
| Delivery | Kryterion: testing center or online video proctoring |
| Score reporting | Electronic scores available immediately |
A few implications are worth internalizing. First, 75% of 100 questions means you can miss a limited number of items, so you need broad competence rather than mastery of a single topic. Second, the modified Angoff method means the cut score reflects expert judgment about what a minimally qualified manager should know, not a curve against other candidates. Third, three hours for 100 items gives you roughly 108 seconds per question on average, which is generous for recall questions but tight if you stall on scenario items. Our passing score breakdown explains the cut score in more detail, and the difficulty guide helps you calibrate your expectations.
The Three Competency Groups
The CIAQM Candidate Handbook organizes the examination's required body of knowledge under three core-skill headings. These are the three domains you should map your review to. One caution: the handbook references a board-prescribed blueprint but does not publish percentage weights, so any claim that a domain is "30% of the exam" is unsupported. Treat all three as fair game and study them in proportion to your own weak spots. For a deeper walk-through, see the complete guide to all three CIAQM content areas.
Domain 1: Understand the factors affecting Indoor Air Quality and the relationships between them
This is the "why" domain. Expect questions that ask you to connect cause and effect rather than recite definitions.
- How building occupants, building systems, contaminant sources and the outdoor environment interact to shape indoor conditions
- How a change in one factor (for example, ventilation rates or moisture) ripples through the others
- Recognizing that IAQ problems usually have multiple contributing factors rather than a single culprit
- Connecting symptoms and complaints to plausible source and pathway combinations
Domain 2: Develop and Administer an IAQ Management Program
This is the "management" domain, and it is what separates the credential from a purely technical certificate. The title says Manager for a reason.
- Establishing policies, responsibilities and documentation for an ongoing IAQ program
- Planning proactive prevention and maintenance rather than reacting only to complaints
- Communicating with occupants, owners, contractors and other stakeholders
- Keeping records, evaluating program effectiveness and revising the program over time
Domain 3: Address IAQ problems effectively
This is the "response" domain: given a problem, what do you do, in what order, and how do you confirm it is fixed?
- Investigating complaints systematically and gathering the right information before acting
- Selecting appropriate corrective actions and controls for the identified source or pathway
- Protecting occupants and workers during remediation, including respiratory protection logic
- Verifying results and following up so the problem does not quietly return
Fees, Terms and Deadlines
| Cost Item | Amount (USD) |
|---|---|
| Examination fee | $100 |
| Certification fee | $400 |
| Total, first two-year term (US/Canada) | $500 |
| Total, first two-year term (outside US/Canada) | $525 |
| Retake | $100 |
| Renewal | $400 plus 40 recertification credits |
The practical takeaway is that the exam itself is the smaller part of the bill; the certification fee carries most of the cost. If you fail, a retake is $100 rather than a full restart. The certification cost breakdown walks through the full pricing picture, and the ROI analysis helps you weigh the spend against your career goals. The fee schedule itself lives at acac.org/fees, and it is worth checking before you pay in case anything has changed.
Eligibility Snapshot
You qualify through one of two paths:
- Degree route: a qualifying science-related two-year degree (or its 15-credit equivalent) plus one year of documented experience in property, asset or risk management, or corporate policy-making.
- Diploma route: a high-school diploma or GED plus two years of that same kind of experience.
The handbook's full eligibility list includes risk management, which the shorter application summary does not repeat, so read the handbook version rather than relying on a summary. The application package requires four project sheets, applicable education transcripts and required email verifications. Certification requires unanimous board approval, which means the paperwork quality matters; sloppy project sheets are a real risk. No training course is mandatory, so you can prepare however suits you. The requirements guide goes deeper on qualifying, and the current forms are available at acac.org/iaqmapplication. If you are weighing formal coursework, see our notes on CIAQM training.
The Official Reading List
The handbook prescribes three references, which you should treat as the backbone of your preparation:
- Managing Indoor Air Quality, fifth edition (2011)
- EPA Building Air Quality: A Guide for Building Owners and Facility Managers (1991)
- NIOSH Respirator Selection Logic (2004)
The NIOSH item is easy to overlook, and it maps neatly onto the protection-of-occupants-and-workers theme in Domain 3. The EPA guide is a facility-manager's document, which fits the management orientation of Domain 2. ACAC also publishes a supporting Exam Study/Review Guide (copyright 2015) with four substantive chapters. Use it to organize your reading, but remember it does not replace the three handbook competency groups, and its copyright year does not identify an exam revision. The handbook is the authority on scope.
Key Takeaway
Read the three prescribed references against the three competency headings. For each chapter you finish, write one sentence naming which domain it serves. If you cannot, you are probably reading passively rather than preparing for scenario questions.
Test-Day Logistics
Kryterion delivers the exam either at a testing center or through online video proctoring. At a testing center, bring two government-issued IDs, including one photo ID. Because the exam is closed-book, plan on working without notes or references, so your recall has to be genuinely internalized. Electronic scores are available immediately, which spares you a long wait but also means you will know the result on the spot, so schedule the exam on a day when you can handle either outcome calmly. Delivery policies are posted at acac.org/exams; skim them before test day, especially if you choose online proctoring, since remote sessions carry their own environment rules.
Renewal Math
The credential is valid for two years. To renew you pay $400 and earn 40 recertification credits, made up of:
- 10 credits for attesting to continued field activity
- 30 hours of professional development
Keep documentation of everything, because ACAC can audit your records. The most common avoidable mistake is treating recertification as an afterthought; start logging professional development the day you pass. Procedures are published at acac.org/procedures. If you are weighing long-term value, the salary guide and the overview of CIAQM jobs show where the credential tends to be useful, typically in facility, property and risk-management settings where someone must own an IAQ program.
How to Read the Pass Ratio
ACAC's 2025 Exam Pass Ratio report shows 100%, with two passing out of two examinations. That sounds impressive but should not shape your expectations. Two candidates is far too small a sample to predict anything, and the report includes retakes and state-licensing-only examinations, so it is not a first-attempt pass rate for this certification. The honest conclusion is that public data tells you very little about your odds; your preparation does. Our pass rate analysis discusses how to interpret figures like this responsibly.
Sequencing Your Review by Domain
Rather than a generic schedule, order your review so each stage builds on the last. This sample assumes about four weeks and is a suggestion, not an official timeline.
Domain 1 foundations
- Read the core chapters of Managing Indoor Air Quality on contaminants, sources and building systems
- Draw a map showing how occupants, systems, sources and outdoor conditions influence one another
Domain 2 program building
- Work through the EPA Building Air Quality guide with a program-manager mindset
- Outline a sample IAQ management program: policy, roles, records, communication
Domain 3 response and protection
- Study the NIOSH Respirator Selection Logic alongside investigation and corrective-action material
- Practice ordering the steps of a complaint investigation from first report to verification
Mixed scenarios
- Take timed sets of questions on the practice test site to rehearse the 100-question, 3-hour pace
- Review misses by domain and reread the matching source chapter
Frequently Asked Questions
The exam has 100 multiple-choice questions, each with at least four answer choices, and you have 3 hours. It is a closed-book written examination delivered through Kryterion.
The passing score is 75%, set using the modified Angoff method. See the passing score guide for more on how that cut score works.
No. The handbook lists three core-skill headings tied to examination questions and mentions a board-prescribed blueprint, but it does not publish percentage weights. Study all three areas rather than guessing at proportions.
No training course is mandatory. You must meet the eligibility requirements, submit four project sheets, transcripts and email verifications, and receive unanimous board approval, but how you prepare is up to you.
The first two-year term is $500 in the US and Canada ($100 exam plus $400 certification) or $525 elsewhere. A retake is $100. Renewal is $400 plus 40 recertification credits.
No. This sheet covers only the Council-certified Indoor Air Quality Manager credential from ACAC. NREP's similarly abbreviated certification is a separate credential with its own requirements, so do not mix their details with the facts here.