CFCC Certification

Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for the CFCC examination, you must prove that you possess:

  • A minimum of 12 years of industry-related work experience.
  • 4-year college degree
  • Current certification after education must be one of the certifications or licenses listed below (applicant may substitute an additional four years of verifiable claims relevant experience in place of an approved certification after education).

If a candidate has a certification or license not on the list, they may submit a request for the CFCC Committee's consideration to include. Click here for more details and the required form to submit your request. 

  • Four letters of recommendation from industry professionals that verify years of experience. The letters must be from industry professionals, such as attorneys, in-house legal counsel, and/or clients, past or present, familiar with your claims-related experience and who can attest to your years of claims-relevant experience.

The letters must demonstrate a minimum of 12 years of claims-relevant experience in preparing and submitting claims and dispute resolution. The experience cited must be centered on and deal directly with the prosecution, defense, and resolution of claims and disputes.

  • An electronic submission of an expert report submitted as evidence, a formal claim submittal, or a professional paper accepted for publication, for which authorship by the prospective candidate is verifiable, any of which must have been written within the 24 months before applying to sit for the examination.

One or more of AACE’s CFCC SMEs will review the written report or professional paper for acceptance. If the formal claim submittal, expert report, or professional paper submission does not represent the rigorous, detailed analysis customarily prepared by an experienced claims analyst or testifying expert and that has been accepted for publication or submitted to a court, board, arbitration, or other trier of fact in support of planned testimony, the prospective candidate will not be cleared to sit for the CFCC examination.

  • Adherence to AACE’s Canons of Ethics.

You may proceed with this application once you’ve determined that you can meet the eligibility requirements. 

Note: There are no exceptions to the eligibility criteria. One must satisfy all of the eligibility criteria in order to sit for the CFCC examination. Having some, or most, or all but one does not meet the full complement of eligibility requirements. The established certification examination eligibility requirements reflect the expectations of the claims and dispute resolution profession and fairly measure the individual’s knowledge, experience and best management practices in the development, submission, presentation/testimony and resolution or litigation of construction claims. 

NOTE: Click here to review the Application Policy & Procedure before submission

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CFCC Examination Investment

While AACE membership is not required for certification, members receive the benefit of reduced examination fees.

  • US$250 application fee for members, followed by US$400 examination fee
    Total investment of US$650 for members
  • US$300 application fee for non-members, followed by US$465 examination fee
    Total investment of US$765 for non-members
  • US$260 resit fee (member and non-members)

All fees are due upon submission of an application and are non-refundable. The fee includes our eligibility documentation review and computer based testing (CBT) fee.

Helpful Pre-Check Information

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The only prerequisite for an AACE International examination is meeting the above eligibility requirements. Candidates are never required to purchase or participate in training offered by AACE International, AACE International Certification Institute, or any AACE-affiliated companies as a prerequisite for certification. Candidates are also not required to purchase study materials offered by AACE International. However, many candidates find the study guides and other recommended resources helpful in their certification preparation. The following recommended resources are available for you to purchase and use at your discretion.

Recommended Study Materials

There are no recommended study materials for this examination, since it is built around your claims job-experience and related experience requirements, based on common law or mixed law, where common law is part of mixed law). 

However, it may be beneficial to review the AACE's Certified Forensic Claims Consultant Application and Examination Guide to learn about topics covered in the exam.

Earning the Certification

  • An overall average score of 70% or higher is needed to pass the exam
  • The final exam result is arrived by averaging the score of all five domains:
    Example: 100 MCQs: 69% (fail domain) +
    Essay 1: 70% (pass domain) + Essay 2: 65% (fail domain) + Essay 3: 76% (pass domain), and Essay 5: 70% (pass domain)
    Sum of domains divided by = average score of 70% (pass the exam)
Please note that it is the policy of the Certification Board, in accordance with our accreditation authority, to release results on a Pass or Fail basis only; therefore, no individual scores will be given.

Recertification & Maintenance

CFCC certification is valid for 3 years and must be recertified through the accumulation of 12 CEUs in at least two categories or reexamination. Click here to learn more about recertification. 

Exam Structure

  • 5 hour maximum
  • 100 simple, multiple choice questions
    • 5 Domains: Legal (35%)Damages (20%)Scheduling (15%)Project Management (15%), and Ethics (15%)
  • 1 Domain: Communication comprising of 4 written essays; candidates may select from a list of real dispute scenarios requiring the response to be written in an onscreen text box
  • Open Book – candidate’s choice of 2 reference books maximum
    (downloaded reference books should be printed and bound in a notebook; no loose paper, iPads, Kindles, etc. will be permitted for resource materials)
  • Any style, battery operated calculator permitted (not provided by the testing center)


Resit policy as of January 29, 2022:
 CFCC Candidates who pass the multiple-choice portion of the CFCC exam but fail the essay portion will qualify to resit for the essays only. The modified resit exam is 4 hours in total and will consist of 4 essays that you may choose. The standard resit fee of $250.00 applies. This opportunity is valid for resits within the 6-month registration period. Once the 6-month registration period has lapsed, candidates who wish to retake the exam must sit for the entire CFCC exam again.


To remain strong and responsive to the needs of certified members and other cost professionals, the public, and AACE International Certification Institute, our certification programs solicit input from all interested individuals and organizations as to the policies and procedures used in administering the Association’s certification programs. Please address any comments you may have regarding the administration of certification programs to the Certification Board via e-mail to certification@aacei.org or via U.S. mail at Certification Board, AACE International, 726 East Park Avenue #180, Fairmont, WV 26554 USA

Certification