Check the effectivity sheet
API publishes a publications effectivity sheet with the Body of Knowledge for each exam window. It lists the documents in scope and, critically, the edition of each one the questions are written against. Read it first.
The documents are the API 570 family and the ASME volumes it leans on: API 570, RP 571, 574, 576, 577 and 578, ASME B31.3, BPVC Sections V and IX, B16.5 and PCC-2. Take the exact list for your window from the effectivity sheet. We reproduce none of their content: these are copyrighted standards, studied from a legitimate copy.
- Published with the Body of Knowledge, one sheet per exam window.
- It names the edition examined, document by document.
- The newest edition on sale is not automatically the edition examined.
- Obtain the documents from API or an employer subscription.
Practise navigation
Searching a document you cannot annotate is a different exercise from using your own marked-up copy. No tabs, no highlighter, no margin notes: the structure has to be in your head, which document governs which subject and where the answer lives. You build that by searching, not by reading.
Follow test rules
Read the official rules
The rules for the room come from the API candidate instructions and from Prometric: they are the authority on what you can bring and how the documents are made available. Read them for your window before the day, not at the door.
Rehearse with what is provided
On the arrangement published in our exam guide, the applicable documents are provided on screen as English PDFs, and nothing personal comes into the test centre: no papers, notes, books or annotated copies. Practise in English and on screen, and confirm the current rules at the source.
Documents and annotation policy#
Two consequences follow from a no-annotation rule. Any revision method built on your own tabs and highlights will not transfer: the value of marking up a copy is in the act, not the marks. And the documents are in the language you will read under pressure, which is why our bank stays primarily in English.
Frequently asked questions
Which references can I use in the API 570 open-book section?#
The documents in scope for your exam window, as listed on the API publications effectivity sheet with the Body of Knowledge. The sheet also names the edition examined. Take the list from there, not from a summary.
Can I bring my own annotated code book?#
On the arrangement published in our exam guide, nothing personal comes into the test centre: no papers, notes, books or annotated copies, and the documents appear on screen. Confirm the rules for your window with the API candidate instructions and Prometric.
Should I study the latest edition of the codes?#
Study the edition your window examines, which the effectivity sheet names. It is not always the newest on sale, and a rule that moved between editions is exactly what a question will turn on.
How do I get faster at finding things?#
By searching a digital document under time pressure, with a map of which document governs which subject. Reading more does not make you faster; looking things up repeatedly does.