Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) FAQ
What is a Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE)?
A Certified Reliability Engineer is a person who knows how to evaluate and anticipate performance in order to improve the safety, reliability, and maintainability of products and systems.
This Body of Knowledge (BOK) and the technologies used include, but are not limited to, design review and control; Forecasting, estimation, and apportionment methodology; Effects and analysis of possible errors; the planning, execution, and analysis of reliability tests and field failures, including mathematical modeling; Understand the human factors related to reliability; and the ability to develop and manage reliability information systems for failure analysis, performance design and improvement, and reliability program management throughout the product life cycle.
How to register for Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE)?
Follow these steps to successfully register yourself for the examination:
- Go to the official ASQ website, or click on the Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) guide.
- On the left-hand side of the page, you may see a box, click on apply now. Also, below apply now, the dates for the next testing window is mentioned. The candidate can choose a date between any of the dates mentioned.
- Login in to your ASQ account or create a new account on ASQ and follow the prompt.
- Post submitting the application, it takes 1-2 business days to review the online applications and 3-5 for hardcopy applications.
- After ASQ completes the review process you will receive an approval notification via email or a “hold” message explaining that more information is needed for your application to be approved. If it is determined that you do not meet exam requirements, you will receive a refund minus a $70 processing fee.
- Computer-Based Testing, CBT:
1-2 business days after you receive your approval notification, you will receive an eligibility email containing instructions on how to schedule your exam with our testing provider Prometric. - Paper-Based Testing, PBT:
If you have registered for a Paper-based or translated exam you will not receive an eligibility email. Instead, you will receive a seating letter with your exam date, time, and location approximately 2 weeks before your exam date. - Schedule your exam appointment in the testing window you chose at the time of application.
How many questions are there in the examination?
There are in total 165 questions for the paper-based examination and 150 on the computer-based examination.
What is the key educational requirement for the examination?
Part of the eight-year experience requirement will be waived for candidates who have obtained a degree from a college, university, or technical school, as follows (only one of these waivers may be claimed):
- Diploma from a technical or trade school — one year waived
- Associate degree — two year waived
- Bachelor’s degree — four years waived
- Master’s or doctorate — five years waived
What is the time duration of the examination?
You are given 4 hours and 18 minutes to complete the examination.
What is the key work experience requirement for the examination?
Candidates must have had a full-time, salaried position. Paid internships, co-ops, and other coursework do not count toward the required job experience. Candidates with prior ASQ certifications as a quality engineer, quality auditor, software quality engineer, or quality manager will find that their expertise qualifies them for certification as a reliability engineer.
What are the topics covered in the examination?
The first step is to obtain a copy of the Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) exam guide. This exam guide contains accurate information on the exam course. Remember to consult the exam guide to gain a thorough understanding of your course. Make sure you’re familiar with the course concepts as well. Before beginning your exam preparations, you need to have a comprehensive understanding of the exam specifics, hence the official guide is a requirement.
- Reliability Fundamentals
- Risk Management
- Probability and Statistics for Reliability
- Reliability Planning, Testing, and Modeling
- Life-Cycle Reliability
What are the methods to give the Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) examination?
1-2 business days after you receive your approval notification, you will receive an eligibility email containing instructions on how to schedule your exam with our testing provider Prometric.
If you have registered for a Paper-based or translated exam you will not receive an eligibility email. Instead, you will receive a seating letter with your exam date, time, and location approximately 2 weeks before your exam date.
Who should take this Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE) examination?
- Professionals who wants to get certified as CRE
- Reliability Engineers/Maintenance Engineers/System Engineers
How do I become a certified reliability engineer?
Professionals must be employed full-time and have a minimum of eight years of experience in a comparable field. Three years must be spent in a position that requires associated business decision-making.
