- Domain 6 (Identifying Opportunities for Improving Building Performance) alone carries 30% of the scored exam.
- Domains 6, 5, and 4 together make up 76% of scored content - study these first.
- You need 68 correct answers out of 100 scored questions to pass; 15 additional unscored items are mixed in.
- Exam fee is $495 (ASHRAE member), $745 (nonmember), or $295 (Developing Economies member).
BEAP Exam Snapshot: Format, Timing, and Fees
The Building Energy Assessment Professional credential is administered by ASHRAE and delivered as a computer-based test at Kryterion test centers, scheduled through the Webassessor portal. If you've never sat a Kryterion exam before, the logistics are worth understanding early rather than the week of your appointment - testing centers vary by location and availability can get tight near quarter-end.
The exam itself is 115 multiple-choice questions administered in 2 hours 30 minutes. Of those, 100 are scored and 15 are unscored field-test items - you won't know which is which, so every question deserves full attention. Passing requires 68 correct answers out of the 100 scored questions. That's not a percentage curve; it's a fixed number, which we break down further in our dedicated look at the BEAP passing score.
Fees depend on your ASHRAE membership status:
| Candidate Type | Exam Fee |
|---|---|
| ASHRAE Member | $495 |
| Nonmember | $745 |
| Eligible Developing Economies Member | $295 |
For a fuller accounting of what you'll spend from application through renewal, see our BEAP certification cost breakdown. If you're still deciding whether the investment makes sense for your career, our ROI analysis and salary guide cover that ground separately.
The 7 BEAP Domains, Ranked by Weight
ASHRAE's candidate guidebook defines seven domains for the BEAP exam. Their weights are not evenly distributed, and that imbalance should directly shape your study hours. Three domains - 30%, 25%, and 21% - combine for 76% of the scored exam. Everything else fights over the remaining 24%.
Domain 6: Identifying Opportunities For Improving Building Performance (30%)
The single largest domain by a wide margin. Expect scenario questions asking you to recommend retrofits, prioritize energy conservation measures, and weigh cost-effectiveness against building type and use pattern.
- Know how to rank ECMs by payback, not just by kWh saved
- Understand interactive effects between measures (e.g., lighting upgrades reducing cooling load)
Domain 5: Analyzing Building Performance Data (25%)
This tests your ability to interpret utility bills, benchmark data, and audit findings into a coherent picture of how a building actually performs versus how it was designed to perform.
- Comfort with normalizing usage data (weather, occupancy)
- Recognizing anomalies that signal equipment faults or control issues
Domain 4: Collecting Data On-Site (21%)
Field-audit knowledge: what instruments to use, what to measure, and how to document conditions accurately during a site walkthrough.
- Instrumentation basics (flow, temperature, power measurement)
- Safety-conscious data collection in mechanical rooms and confined spaces
Domain 7: Producing The Deliverable (8%)
How audit findings get packaged into a report a building owner can act on - structure, clarity, and completeness of the final energy audit deliverable.
Domain 2: Developing The Action Plan (7%)
Sequencing the audit itself: scope definition, resource planning, and setting expectations before data collection begins.
Domain 1: Communicating With Stakeholders (5%)
Covers how assessors set expectations with building owners and occupants throughout the audit process, from kickoff through delivery.
Domain 3: Conducting Pre-Site Visit Data Collection Activities (4%)
The smallest domain - gathering utility records, building drawings, and existing documentation before ever stepping on site.
For a deeper walkthrough of each domain with sample question styles, our complete domain guide is the natural next stop. If you want a condensed reference to keep open during final review, the BEAP cheat sheet summarizes all seven domains and their weights on one page.
Registration and Eligibility Mechanics
BEAP is not an open-enrollment exam - ASHRAE gates eligibility on a combination of education/licensure and hands-on energy-auditing experience. You'll need one of the following combinations:
- Licensed engineer or architect + 2 years of qualifying experience
- Engineering or architecture bachelor's degree + 3 years
- Qualifying four-year STEM (science, technology, math) or architecture degree + 4 years
- Qualifying two-year technical degree, mechanical/electrical engineering technology vocational certificate, or equivalent military training/experience + 4 years
- Four-year non-STEM degree + 5 years
- High-school diploma or equivalent + 7 years
On top of the education/experience pathway, every applicant must document 5 commercial energy audits covering at least 2 building-use types completed within the preceding 3 years, complete 2 hours of safety continuing education, and sign an ethics agreement before ASHRAE will approve you to sit for the exam. This isn't a formality - it's the mechanism that keeps BEAP tightly tied to real audit fieldwork rather than classroom theory alone. Our full BEAP requirements breakdown walks through documentation specifics for each pathway.
Key Takeaway
Start collecting your 5-audit documentation now, even if your exam date is months away. Missing audit paperwork is a common reason applications stall, not a lack of exam readiness.
Once approved, you schedule through Webassessor at a Kryterion test center near you. If your test date planning depends on ASHRAE's release calendar or blackout periods, check our BEAP exam dates guide before locking in a study end date.
A Domain-Weighted Study Timeline
Generic study advice - spaced repetition, active recall, timed practice blocks - works for any credential. What makes a BEAP study plan different is which domains get the hours. Since Domains 6, 5, and 4 cover 76% of the scored exam, a plan that spends equal time on all seven domains is mathematically inefficient.
Domain 6 - Identifying Opportunities For Improving Building Performance
- Build a personal reference list of common ECMs by building system
- Practice payback and lifecycle-cost comparisons across measures
Domain 5 - Analyzing Building Performance Data
- Work through utility bill and benchmarking data sets
- Practice identifying performance anomalies from sample datasets
Domain 4 - Collecting Data On-Site
- Review instrumentation types and correct field-measurement technique
- Study safety protocols for mechanical room and site access
Domains 1, 2, 3, 7 - Process Domains
- Cover stakeholder communication, action-plan development, pre-visit data gathering, and deliverable structure together
- These four domains total 24% combined, so batch them into one focused week
Full-Length Practice and Review
- Take the official 30-question practice exam ($49) to calibrate against real question style
- Re-drill weak domains identified from practice results
This structure isn't a rigid template - adjust the pacing to your own background. Someone coming from years of hands-on commercial auditing may need less time on Domain 4 and more on report-writing conventions in Domain 7. For a broader look at how to sequence review around your existing experience, see our full BEAP study guide.
Test-Day Rules You Can't Improvise Around
The BEAP exam is closed book and closed notes. You're allowed a basic non-scientific, non-graphing calculator - nothing programmable, nothing with formula storage. Don't assume your everyday work calculator qualifies; check it against Kryterion's permitted-device rules before test day so you're not turned away at check-in.
If English is not your native language, ASHRAE offers an approved accommodation of 30 additional minutes beyond the standard 2 hours 30 minutes. This needs to be arranged in advance through your application, not requested at the test center.
Mistakes That Sink First-Time Candidates
- Treating all domains equally. Spending the same number of hours on Domain 3 (4%) as Domain 6 (30%) is the single most common planning error.
- Skipping the official practice exam. The $49 ASHRAE practice exam is the only source that mirrors actual BEAP question phrasing - generic energy-audit quizzes elsewhere won't match the style.
- Underestimating documentation timelines. The 5-audit, 2-use-type experience requirement takes real calendar time to assemble if you haven't been tracking it - don't leave it until application week.
- Ignoring the deliverable domain. Domain 7 is only 8%, but candidates who've never formally written up an audit report often lose easy points here simply from unfamiliarity with expected report structure.
- Assuming difficulty is uniform across domains. Some candidates find the technical data-collection content in Domain 4 harder than the analysis-heavy Domain 5, or vice versa - know your own weak spots rather than assuming. Our BEAP difficulty guide breaks down where candidates commonly struggle.
After You Pass: Renewal and Staying Certified
BEAP certification runs on a 3-year renewal cycle. To renew, you need 50 professional development hours, 5 additional commercial audits, 2 hours of safety continuing education, and continued ethics compliance. Renewal fees are $245 for members, $375 for nonmembers, or $145 for eligible Developing Economies members.
Because renewal requires ongoing audit activity - not just CE credits - BEAP stays tied to actively working assessors rather than people who certify once and stop practicing. If you're weighing whether that ongoing commitment fits your career path, our BEAP jobs overview and BEAP training resources pages cover what employers look for and how to keep building relevant experience.
Once you're certified, keeping your practice-question skills sharp with a resource like our practice test platform can help you stay comfortable with the question format even outside of active exam prep - useful if you're mentoring colleagues toward their own BEAP attempt.
Frequently Asked Questions
115 multiple-choice questions total - 100 scored and 15 unscored - administered in 2 hours 30 minutes, with an additional 30 minutes available for approved non-native-English accommodations.
You need 68 correct answers out of the 100 scored questions. See our passing score breakdown for more detail on how this is calculated.
Start with Domain 6 (Identifying Opportunities For Improving Building Performance), which carries 30% of the scored exam - the largest single weight of any domain.
No, but membership affects your fee: $495 for members versus $745 for nonmembers, with a reduced $295 rate for eligible Developing Economies members.
Yes, ASHRAE offers a separate official 30-question practice exam for $49, which reflects the actual question style used on the certification exam.
Passing BEAP on your first attempt comes down to matching your study hours to the exam's actual weighting, not generic exam prep habits. Start with the domains worth the most points, document your audit experience early, and use the official practice materials to calibrate before test day.