- What This Cheat Sheet Covers (and What It Doesn't)
- Exam Format at a Glance
- The Nine Domains and Their Weights
- High-Value Topics Inside Each Domain
- Eligibility Routes in One Table
- Fees, Retests and Recertification
- The Reference Editions Behind the Questions
- Scheduling Your Review by Domain Weight
- Certification Lifespan and Reexamination
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The exam is closed book: 100 scored plus 10 unscored questions, 135 testing minutes, 60% to pass.
- Equipment Setup, Processes and Schedules, and Welding Procedures each carry 15% of the exam.
- The 150-minute appointment is not your timer; unscheduled breaks consume exam time.
- Certification lasts five years and requires reexamination, not continuing-education renewal.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers (and What It Doesn't)
This page condenses the facts you need for the American Welding Society's Certified Resistance Welding Technician credential, co-developed with the Resistance Welding Manufacturing Alliance (RWMA). If you are brand new to the credential, start with What Is CRWT Certification? and come back here for the one-page review.
One scoping point matters for how you prepare: the CRWT exam is a knowledge examination. It is not a practical welding performance assessment. You will not be asked to run a machine, pull a weld nugget or dress an electrode in front of an examiner. You will be asked multiple-choice questions about how resistance welding works, how to set it up, how to evaluate it and how to keep it running. Technicians who work with spot welders daily sometimes underestimate this, because knowing how to do something at the machine is different from selecting the one correct answer about terminology, symbols or calculations.
Exam Format at a Glance
The format below comes from the AWS Examination Guide for Certified Resistance Welding Technician, revised January 24, 2025. Memorize the timing rules, because the most common logistical mistake is confusing the appointment length with the testing time.
| Item | What the Guide Specifies |
|---|---|
| Delivery | Prometric test-center, computer-based |
| Questions | 100 scored plus 10 unscored pretest questions |
| Question style | Multiple choice, single correct answer |
| Testing time | 135 minutes |
| Appointment length | 150 minutes |
| Passing score | 60% |
| Book policy | Closed book |
| Calculators | Nonprogrammable scientific, construction and four-function categories permitted |
| Scratch materials | Scratch paper and pencil provided |
| Breaks | None scheduled; an unscheduled break consumes exam time |
Timing Math You Should Do Before Test Day
With 110 total questions in 135 minutes, you have roughly 1.2 minutes per question if you treat the unscored pretest items like everything else, which you must, because they are not identified. Calculation questions will take longer than terminology questions, so bank time on definitions and symbols. Since there is no scheduled break and any unscheduled break comes out of your testing clock, plan your hydration and logistics before you sit down. For more on what the 60% threshold means in practice, read CRWT Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
The Nine Domains and Their Weights
The nine official domains and percentage weights come from AWS QC20:2020, Specification for AWS Certification of Resistance Welding Technicians, clause 6.2. These are exam objectives, meaning they tell you how the test is built, not how many hours you should spend on each topic. Your own weak spots should adjust your plan.
| Domain | Name | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weld Equipment Setup including Machine/Tooling Design | 15% |
| 2 | Welding Processes and Schedules | 15% |
| 3 | Weld Quality and Testing including Destructive and Non-destructive | 12% |
| 4 | Definitions and Terminology | 10% |
| 5 | Welding Symbols | 3% |
| 6 | Materials | 13% |
| 7 | Conversion and Calculations | 5% |
| 8 | Welding Procedures | 15% |
| 9 | Maintenance | 12% |
The weights total 100%. Three domains tie for the top spot at 15% each, together accounting for 45% of the exam. Add Materials (13%), Weld Quality and Testing (12%) and Maintenance (12%) and you have covered 82% of the content in six domains. For a fuller walkthrough of each content area, see CRWT Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 9 Content Areas.
High-Value Topics Inside Each Domain
The AWS sources define the domains by name and weight. The topic lists below are the kinds of subject matter these domain titles point to in resistance welding practice. Treat them as a self-check prompt list and verify depth against the reference editions covered later in this article.
Domain 1: Weld Equipment Setup including Machine/Tooling Design (15%)
Expect questions about how a resistance welding machine is arranged and how tooling affects the weld.
- Machine components: transformer, controls, force-application system, electrodes and holders
- How electrode geometry and alignment influence current density and force delivery
- Tooling and fixture considerations, including how parts are located and supported
- Cooling and secondary circuit basics, since the secondary path affects how much current reaches the work
Domain 2: Welding Processes and Schedules (15%)
This domain is about knowing the process variants and the parameters that make up a weld schedule.
- The core schedule variables: current, force, and time, and how they interact
- Differences between resistance process variants such as spot, seam, projection and flash/upset style processes
- Weld schedule structure, including squeeze, weld and hold intervals
- How changing one variable forces compensation in another
Domain 3: Weld Quality and Testing including Destructive and Non-destructive (12%)
Know how a weld is judged and which test answers which question.
- Destructive methods such as peel or chisel testing and metallographic examination
- Non-destructive approaches and their limits
- Recognizing weld nugget characteristics and common discontinuities
- Matching a symptom (expulsion, sticking, undersized nugget) to a probable cause
Domain 4: Definitions and Terminology (10%)
These are the most memorization-friendly points on the exam. The terms must be exact, because answer choices often differ by a single word.
- Standard AWS welding terminology as defined in the AWS A3.0 family of definitions and the exam reference list
- Resistance-welding-specific vocabulary for process, equipment and joint elements
- Distinguishing near-synonyms that are not interchangeable in the standard
Domain 5: Welding Symbols (3%)
The smallest domain, but it is also among the most mechanical to learn.
- Reading the resistance spot and seam weld symbol elements
- Interpreting arrow-side and other-side conventions
- Understanding what dimensions and spacing callouts mean
Domain 6: Materials (13%)
Material behavior drives schedule selection, so this domain connects to Domains 2 and 8.
- How electrical and thermal conductivity affect weldability
- Coated and plated steels, aluminum, stainless and other common sheet materials in resistance welding
- Surface condition, cleanliness and how they change contact resistance
- Thickness and stack-up considerations
Domain 7: Conversion and Calculations (5%)
A small share of the exam, but easy points if you practice, and a calculator is allowed.
- Unit conversions between customary and metric measures
- Basic electrical relationships relevant to welding current and power
- Force, pressure and area relationships
- Show your work on scratch paper to catch arithmetic slips
Domain 8: Welding Procedures (15%)
This domain tests how procedures are developed, applied and controlled in production.
- Establishing and documenting a procedure for a given joint and material
- Adjusting a schedule when a weld fails to meet requirements
- Process control concepts and production consistency
- Safety practices specific to resistance welding equipment and operations
Domain 9: Maintenance (12%)
Maintenance questions reward shop-floor experience, which is why it can be a strength for working technicians.
- Electrode dressing, replacement and tip wear patterns
- Cooling system upkeep and its effect on weld consistency
- Inspection of cables, shunts, connections and force components
- Preventive versus corrective maintenance logic
Key Takeaway
The three 15% domains (Equipment Setup, Processes and Schedules, Procedures) are deeply interconnected. A strong mental model of how current, force, time, material and tooling interact lets you answer questions across all three. Study them as one system rather than three separate lists.
Eligibility Routes in One Table
Eligibility follows AWS C1.5:2019, Specification for the Qualification of Resistance Welding Technicians, clause 5.1. There are three paths, and verifiable education and experience documentation is required for any of them.
| Route | Education | Relevant Resistance-Welding Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | High-school diploma, GED or equivalent | One year of relevant resistance-welding machinery experience |
| Post-secondary | Post-high-school or post-GED graduate | Six months |
| Experience-only | None required in place of education | Three years of relevant experience |
Documenting Experience When You Work for Yourself
Self-employed and contract applicants can satisfy the experience evidence requirement with two separate client reference letters or with the specified affidavit alternative. Gather these early, since getting letters from clients can take longer than the application itself. The full rules are covered in CRWT Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Preparatory training is optional. You do not need to take a seminar to sit for the exam, though some candidates choose one. For a look at training options, see CRWT Training.
Fees, Retests and Recertification
The figures below come from the AWS Certification & Education Programs Price List, effective January 1, 2026. Prices can change, so check the AWS price page before you pay.
| Item | Member | Nonmember |
|---|---|---|
| Examination fee | $445 | $590 |
| Seminar-and-exam package | $1,035 | $1,355 |
| Retest | $235 | $235 |
| Recertification by examination | $445 | $590 |
Two fine points trip people up. First, Student and Early-Career memberships do not qualify for the member pricing shown above. Second, the nonmember prices do not include membership, so if you plan to join AWS, factor that cost in separately. The full cost picture, including whether membership pays for itself on a single exam, is in CRWT Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
The retest fee is the same $235 for both categories, which makes a failed first attempt cheaper than a second full exam fee. QC20:2020 permits up to three reexaminations within one year of the original test.
The Reference Editions Behind the Questions
Because the exam is closed book, you will not have these documents in front of you. But the Examination Guide lists them as the exam-reference editions, which tells you what the question writers draw from:
- AWS C1.1M/C1.1:2019, the recommended practices for resistance welding
- RWMA Resistance Welding Manual, revised fourth edition, 2013
- AWS Resistance Welding Pocket Handbook, 2011
- AWS A2.4:2020, the standard for symbols for welding, brazing and nondestructive examination
Using the listed edition matters. A newer or older printing may phrase or organize material differently, and the exam is written against the editions above. The A2.4 reference lines up with the Welding Symbols domain, while the RWMA manual and C1.1 anchor most process, equipment and procedure questions. Pair this list with the plan in CRWT Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.
Scheduling Your Review by Domain Weight
This is the one planning section, and it is tied directly to the domain table above. The logic: start with the interconnected 15% domains while your energy is highest, fold in the knowledge-heavy domains next, and save the quick-win domains (symbols, calculations, terminology) for steady reinforcement and final review. Adjust the weeks to your own timeline and weak spots.
Equipment Setup and Processes
- Domain 1 and Domain 2: machine components, tooling, current/force/time interaction
- Sketch a weld schedule from memory and label each interval
Procedures and Materials
- Domain 8 and Domain 6: procedure development and how material properties shift the schedule
- Link each material to the adjustments it typically requires
Quality, Testing and Maintenance
- Domain 3 and Domain 9: test methods, defect-to-cause mapping, electrode and system upkeep
- Practice working backward from a symptom to a corrective action
Terminology, Symbols and Calculations
- Domain 4, Domain 5 and Domain 7: flash-card the definitions, drill symbol reading, work conversions with your permitted calculator
- Finish with timed mixed practice to rehearse the 135-minute pace
If you are unsure how much preparation you need, How Hard Is the CRWT Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 helps you gauge your starting point. For realistic timed practice across all nine domains, use the question sets on the CRWT practice test site.
Certification Lifespan and Reexamination
Certification lasts five years, and maintaining it requires reexamination under QC20:2020 and the current AWS program page. It is not a continuing-education-only renewal. Older language in C1.5 about qualification maintenance should not be used in place of this AWS certification rule. The recertification-by-examination fee is $445 for members and $590 for nonmembers, per the January 2026 price list.
Practically, this means you should keep your reference materials and notes organized so a future retake does not start from scratch. For scheduling information and testing windows, see CRWT Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
Key Takeaway
Plan for the five-year cycle from day one. The credential is time-limited and examination-based, so the knowledge you build now is the foundation for your next recertification attempt.
If you are weighing the credential against your career goals, Is the CRWT Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and CRWT Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis cover that decision, and CRWT Jobs looks at who employs certified technicians. When you are ready to test yourself, start a timed session on the main practice test site.
Frequently Asked Questions
The exam has 100 scored questions plus 10 unscored pretest questions, delivered as single-correct-answer multiple choice. You get 135 minutes of testing time within a 150-minute appointment. The appointment length is not your timer.
The passing score is 60%. That is the passing requirement, not a pass-rate statistic; a current cohort pass rate has not been verified.
Weld Equipment Setup including Machine/Tooling Design, Welding Processes and Schedules, and Welding Procedures tie at 15% each. Materials follows at 13%, then Weld Quality and Testing and Maintenance at 12% each.
The exam is closed book, so reference materials are not allowed. Nonprogrammable scientific, construction and four-function calculators are permitted, and scratch paper and pencil are provided.
Yes. Certification lasts five years and requires reexamination rather than continuing-education-only renewal. Recertification by examination is priced at $445 for members and $590 for nonmembers on the price list effective January 1, 2026.