Delegated Examining Certification: Eligibility, Training, and Renewal

Delegated examining certification is a credential from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that authorizes federal HR professionals to run competitive hiring for civil service jobs. Without it, only OPM can conduct competitive examinations, an authority set by 5 U.S.C. § 1104.¹ The certification lasts three years, costs roughly $1,500 in combined training and exam fees, and requires passing a proctored, in-person assessment.

Who Can Get Certified

OPM recognizes three categories of people eligible to earn the credential:²

Federal employees performing delegated examining duties as part of their agency’s competitive hiring.
Contractor employees at firms already under contract with a federal agency to provide delegated examining services. The sponsorship must be documented at registration.
Personal services contractors hired directly by a federal agency to conduct delegated examining work.

Every candidate needs management approval from their agency before registering. OPM does not accept self-nominations, and it will not take payment from a private company or an individual. Payment has to come from a government agency.

How to Register and Pay

Registration begins with an online form through OPM’s registration portal. After submission, you receive a confirmation email with payment instructions. Do not send payment before that email arrives.³

As of October 1, 2025, OPM’s fees are:⁴

DE training: $1,140, delivered virtually through Microsoft Teams.
DE certification assessment: $365, in-person only.

Agencies can pay by purchase card through pay.gov or by funding document such as an SF-182, G-INV, or MIPR. Contractor candidates must route payment through their sponsoring federal agency.³

Training Curriculum

The training is a prerequisite to the assessment; completing it on its own does not grant examining authority. The virtual course covers the same competencies tested on the exam:²

Job analysis to identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities a position requires.
Qualifications determinations under OPM standards.
Veterans’ preference adjudication, including how preference works inside category rating.
Category rating, which sorts qualified applicants into quality categories rather than ranking them by numeric score.
Certification and selection, including preparing and auditing certificates of eligibles.
Drafting job opportunity announcements that meet regulatory requirements and posting them on USAJOBS.

The Certification Assessment

The exam is a proctored, 50-question, multiple-choice test with a 90-minute time limit.⁵ As of October 2025, it is offered in person only, at independent testing facilities in the United States and abroad. Remote proctoring is no longer available.⁴ Content matches the training: job analysis, qualifications, veterans’ preference, category rating, and certificate preparation. Passing gives you a three-year certification.

If You Fail the Assessment

After a first failure, you must wait 30 days before registering again. After two or more failures, the wait grows to six months.⁶ Each retake carries a new $365 fee.

The stakes are higher for someone already certified who fails the recertification exam. Two failures on recertification cause the existing certification to expire immediately on the second failure. Until you pass, all of your delegated examining work must be fully reviewed by another actively certified person.⁷

What the Credential Authorizes

With active certification, you can independently perform the full range of competitive examining functions to fill positions from the general public, including:⁸

Recruiting and posting job opportunity announcements on USAJOBS.
Accepting applications and determining whether applicants meet OPM qualification standards.
Adjudicating veterans’ preference.
Rating and ranking candidates and placing them into quality categories.
Issuing certificates of eligibles to hiring managers.

Without active certification, none of this work can be done independently; someone who holds the credential has to review and approve it.

Renewal

Certification is valid for three years. To stay certified, you have to be actively doing delegated examining work or serving in a related policy or oversight role. Agencies track expiration dates through the Delegated Examining Certification Information System (DECIS).⁸

You can register for recertification once you are within six months of your expiration date. The recertification exam is the same proctored assessment at the same $365 fee. One caveat catches returning federal employees: if you separated from federal service and more than a year has passed, you must complete the recertification assessment before being assigned any delegated examining work, even if your original three-year window is still open.

2025–2026 Extension

On November 21, 2025, OPM extended DE certification through February 27, 2026 for anyone whose certification expired on or after February 1, 2025, provided they have not failed the assessment twice.² If your certification falls in that window, confirm your updated expiration date with your agency HR office.

Rule of Many Changes Are Not Yet on the Exam

OPM has issued a “Rule of Many” final rule that will eventually change delegated examining procedures, but it is not yet reflected in the training or the certification assessment. OPM has said it will update the Delegated Examining Operations Handbook first, then revise the training and exam content, followed by validation testing. Until then, prepare using current procedures.²

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 1104 – Delegation of Authority for Personnel Management
2
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Delegated Examining Program FAQs
3
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. How Do I Register and Pay for the DE Training and/or Assessment
4
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. How Much Does It Cost to Take the DE Training or Assessment
5
Pearson VUE. Delegated Examining (DE) Certification Assessment
6
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. What If I Failed My DE Assessment
7
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. How Do I Renew My DE Certification
8
U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Delegated Examining Operations Handbook