- Who Issues the Rigging Equipment Inspector Credential
- The Eleven Curriculum Topics at a Glance
- Equipment You Must Be Able to Inspect
- Inspection Levels, Deficiencies and Hazards
- Reports, Crack Detection and Load Tests
- Prerequisites, Logistics and Fees
- Renewal: The Three-Year Card
- What Is Not Publicly Published
- Sequencing Your Review by Domain
- Frequently Asked Questions
- REI here means Rigging Equipment Inspector, issued through Crane Institute of America (CIA), not CIC, NCCCO, CICB, NACB or ITI.
- The issuer's page lists eleven unweighted topics; no official domain weights are published, so study all eleven.
- Prerequisites: Crane Institute training, physical ability to inspect, two years with rigging equipment, and a passed written exam.
- Trainee certification is available without the two-year experience requirement.
Who Issues the Rigging Equipment Inspector Credential
Every fact on this one-page review belongs to a single credential: the Rigging Equipment Inspector, offered by Crane Institute of America (CIA). "REI" is our shorthand for the full title; it is not an issuer-designated exam abbreviation. The acronym is shared by unrelated credentials and programs, so keep the identity straight when you search. Crane Institute's own renewal portal distinguishes CIA from Crane Institute Certification (CIC), and this credential is separate from CCO/NCCCO rigger certifications, CICB, NACB and ITI's rigging gear inspector courses.
If you are still orienting yourself, start with What Is REI? and What Does REI Stand For?. If you already know the basics and want a full preparation plan, the REI Study Guide goes deeper than this cheat sheet can.
The Eleven Curriculum Topics at a Glance
The issuer's Rigging Equipment Inspector page lists eleven topics. They are an unweighted preparation curriculum, not a separately published formal exam blueprint, and no weights or "highest-weighted" domain are published. Treat every item as fair game. For a longer walk-through, see REI Exam Domains: Complete Guide to All 11 Content Areas.
| # | Topic (as listed by the issuer) | What to be able to do |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Types of rigging equipment, components & terminology | Name parts and equipment types correctly |
| 2 | Inspector's role in reducing accidents & liability exposure | Explain why inspection matters beyond compliance |
| 3 | Setting up a rigging equipment inspection program | Describe the elements of a workable program |
| 4 | OSHA & ASME rigging equipment inspection requirements | Connect inspection duties to regulatory and standards expectations |
| 5 | The three levels of inspection | Distinguish the levels and when each applies |
| 6 | Rigging equipment inspection procedures and techniques | Walk through a sound inspection method |
| 7 | Deficiencies vs. safety hazards | Classify findings and decide on action |
| 8 | Writing inspection reports for proper documentation | Record findings clearly and defensibly |
| 9 | Inspecting structural components, sheaves, blocks, hooks, mechanisms, wire rope, load indicating devices, etc. | Apply inspection criteria to specific components |
| 10 | When to perform a non-destructive crack detection test | Recognize triggers for NDT |
| 11 | Performing load tests on rigging equipment, e.g. come-alongs and chain hoists | Understand when and how load testing applies |
Equipment You Must Be Able to Inspect
The issuer's page explicitly names six equipment categories. Build one mental checklist per category, because the curriculum is about recognizing what is wrong with real gear, not reciting definitions.
The Six Named Equipment Categories
These come straight from the issuer's description of the program.
- Wire rope: a core inspection subject, tied to the topic on wire rope, sheaves and blocks.
- Slings: a staple of daily inspection, where identification and condition both matter.
- Rigging hardware: hooks and other terminal and connecting hardware.
- Come-alongs: named alongside load testing in the curriculum.
- Lifting beams: structural gear where deformation and cracking matter.
- Chain hoists: mechanisms plus load-bearing components, also named in the load-testing topic.
The structural-components topic goes further, adding sheaves, blocks, hooks, mechanisms and load indicating devices. When you study, pair each item with three questions: what does it do, what does a deficiency look like, and what documentation does the finding require.
Inspection Levels, Deficiencies and Hazards
The three levels of inspection
The curriculum devotes a full topic to the three levels of inspection. Know the names the course uses, who performs each level, how often each applies, and how thorough each is expected to be. Use your Crane Institute handbook and workbook as the authority for definitions; do not substitute another provider's frequency tables.
Deficiency versus safety hazard
Topic 7 asks you to recognize and understand the differences between deficiencies and safety hazards. The practical skill is triage: some findings need documentation and monitoring, while others mean the equipment must come out of service. Be ready to reason through a described condition and decide which side it falls on, and why.
OSHA and ASME
Topic 4 covers OSHA and ASME rigging equipment inspection requirements. The exact editions of the OSHA and ASME documents are not published in the retrieved scope, so do not memorize edition-specific details from a third-party summary. Learn the requirements as presented in your course materials and confirm which versions your instructor uses.
Reports, Crack Detection and Load Tests
Writing Inspection Reports (Topic 8)
The issuer treats documentation as a core skill, not an afterthought.
- Identify the equipment unambiguously.
- Record what was found, where, and how it compares to the acceptance criteria.
- State the disposition: continue use, repair, or remove from service.
- Write so a later reader, including an investigator, can reconstruct your reasoning.
Non-Destructive Crack Detection (Topic 10)
The topic is framed around when to perform the test. Focus on triggering conditions and what a visual inspection can and cannot reveal, rather than on operating test equipment.
Load Testing (Topic 11)
The curriculum names come-alongs and chain hoists as examples. Study when a load test is called for, what it verifies, and how it differs from visual inspection.
Prerequisites, Logistics and Fees
Eligibility
According to the issuer's page, you need to complete Crane Institute's Rigging Equipment Inspector training, have the physical ability to inspect rigging equipment, have at least two years working with rigging equipment, and pass the written examination. Trainee certification is available without the required experience. No degree, reference count, fixed training-hour total or separately stated minimum age was verified. Details are in REI Requirements: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Exam format: what is and is not known
An initial written examination is required. Its question count, scored/unscored split, item types, time limit, calculator policy, open-book status and remote-proctoring availability were not publicly verified. Do not assume numbers from other rigger exams. Classroom and hands-on training are part of the course, but they are not evidence of a separately scored practical exam. For the difficulty picture, see How Hard Is the REI Exam?.
Fees and schedules
A standalone exam fee has not been publicly verified, and member versus non-member rates are not published. What the issuer's pages do show are course advertisements:
| Item | What was observed | Caution |
|---|---|---|
| Four-night offering | USD 1,295 on an indexed course card | Course package, not an exam tariff |
| Certain three-day offerings | From USD 895 on indexed course cards | Varies by offering |
| Exact REI event, December 29-31, 2026 | USD 895 in the search index | Dynamic page body did not display the price |
| Evening course schedule | Four evenings, 5-10 p.m. | A scheduling pattern, not an exam duration |
Confirm all prices at checkout. A full breakdown of what to budget lives in REI Certification Cost: Complete Pricing Breakdown, and scheduling context is in REI Exam Dates.
Renewal: The Three-Year Card
Current issuer policy provides a refreshed card valid for three years after either a successful online exercise or an instructor-led recertification. The exact course page does not separately state the initial certificate's term. O*NET's entry for the credential claims renewal every five years; that conflicts with the issuer's current policy, so for recertification planning follow the issuer.
- Online route: uses myTestcom.net. The online exercise has a ten-day completion window and typically takes four to five hours. These figures describe renewal only, not the initial exam.
- Instructor-led route: offered via Zoom or in Sanford, Florida, with two four-hour instructional blocks and a one-hour lunch. That is a class schedule, not an exam timer.
- Cost: the general recertification policy lists USD 495, while the instructor-led page says pricing varies by discipline, so do not assume an exact REI invoice.
- CEUs: no numeric ongoing continuing-education requirement is published.
- Grace period: the general renewal page mentions an extended grace period with no fixed end date. Treat it as temporary, not a permanent waiver.
What Is Not Publicly Published
Honest preparation means knowing the gaps. The following were not publicly verified, so no figure on this page should be read as one:
- Number of exam questions and time allowed
- Numeric passing score and any issuer pass rate
- Domain weights or a highest-weighted topic
- Exact OSHA/ASME editions used
- Whether the initial exam is open-book, allows calculators, or can be proctored remotely
That is why pass-rate and passing-score searches mostly return other credentials' data. Our own pages, REI Passing Score and REI Pass Rate, explain what can and cannot be said. For earning potential, no certification-specific salary uplift has been verified; occupation-level pay data exists for rigging inspectors generally, but it is not a measure of this credential's premium. See the REI Salary Guide and Is the REI Certification Worth It? for a careful reading.
Sequencing Your Review by Domain
You do not need a generic study system here; you need an order that matches how the topics build on each other. The curriculum has a natural dependency chain, and one short plan follows it.
Vocabulary and equipment (Topics 1, 2, 3)
- Learn component names and the six equipment categories first; every later topic uses this vocabulary.
- Read the inspector's role and program-setup material while the terms are fresh.
Rules and structure (Topics 4, 5, 6)
- Cover OSHA and ASME requirements, then the three inspection levels.
- Walk through procedures and techniques on each equipment type.
Judgment and records (Topics 7, 8, 9)
- Practice classifying deficiencies versus hazards on described conditions.
- Draft sample inspection reports, then study wire rope, sheaves, blocks, hooks and load indicating devices in detail.
Special tests and full review (Topics 10, 11)
- Study crack-detection triggers and load-testing scenarios for come-alongs and chain hoists.
- Finish with mixed practice on all eleven topics from the REI practice test site.
Key Takeaway
Since no weights are published, avoid betting on a "heavy" topic. Spread effort across all eleven, then spend extra time on the ones where your practice results show hesitation, usually classification judgment and component-specific criteria.
For hands-on repetition, run timed sets in the REI Exam Prep practice tests, and revisit missed items against your course handbook. If you are coming from the training side of the process, REI Training explains how the course and certification fit together, and REI Jobs covers where the credential tends to be used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crane Institute of America (CIA) administers the training and certification. It is distinct from Crane Institute Certification (CIC) and from NCCCO, CICB, NACB and ITI programs.
Not publicly verified. An initial written exam is required, but the question count, item types and time limit are not published in the retrieved scope. Course scheduling, such as four evenings from 5-10 p.m., should not be mistaken for exam length.
You can pursue trainee certification without the required experience. Full certification requires at least two years working with rigging equipment, the training, physical ability to inspect, and a passed written exam.
The issuer's current policy gives a refreshed card valid for three years after a successful online exercise via myTestcom.net or an instructor-led recertification. O*NET lists five years, but the issuer's policy is the better guide for renewal.
No numeric cut score or issuer pass rate was publicly verified. Thresholds quoted for other rigger exams are not evidence for this credential, so plan to master all eleven topics rather than aim for a number.