Certification Overview 
Welcome to the CCO Dedicated Pile Driver Operator certification program. The NCCCO Dedicated Pile Driver Task Force that developed this certification program was made up of experts from all aspects of the industry—operators, users, trainers, safety supervisors, manufacturers—who together represent many thousands of hours of pile driver–related experience. These volunteers gave freely of their time and expertise with the primary goal of improving the safety of all whose work brings them into contact with pile drivers and other lifting equipment.
HOW TO BECOME CCO-CERTIFIED
Visit How to Test for instructions on applying for and taking CCO Written and Practical Exams; visit How to Recertify for instructions on recertification.
Complete instructions and exam applications are also contained in the Candidate Handbook for each program.
ELIGIBILITY
To be eligible for certification, you must:
CCO WRITTEN EXAMINATION
The Dedicated Pile Driver Operator Written Examination has 70 multiple-choice questions. Candidates are allowed 90 minutes to complete the written examination.
You must pass both the written exam and the practical exam to be certified for a five-year period. Candidates meeting the eligibility requirements may take either the Written Examination or the Practical Examination first.
CCO has three options for taking written exams: Online Proctored Testing (OPT), Test Center Testing (TCT), and Event Online Testing (EOT). Decide which option is best for you.
CCO PRACTICAL EXAMINATION
The Dedicated Pile Driver Operator Practical Examination demonstrates pile driver operation proficiency.
CCO CERTIFICATION TIMEFRAMES
Candidates must pass both Written and Practical Examinations to be certified for a five-year period. The Written and Practical Exams may be taken in either order. Candidates have 12 months from the time they pass their first Written or Practical Exam for each equipment type in which to pass the corresponding (Written or Practical) Exam.
Any tests passed within a 12-month period count towards certification. For example, a candidate who fails the Dedicated Pile Driver Operator Written Exam in January 2017 but passes the Dedicated Pile Operator Practical Exam in June 2017 has until May 2018 to retake and pass the Dedicated Pile Driver Operator Written Exam.
If a certified operator subsequently becomes certified in an additional operator designation by taking the appropriate written and practical exams, the certification period for the additional designation expires at the same time his/her original certification (i.e., all operator designations expire on the same date, regardless of when in the five-year certification period the candidate passed them). If the new designation is added within the final 24 months of his/her certification period, the certificant is exempt from recertifying for the new designation after five years; after that, however, certificants must recertify for all designations during the 12 months prior to their certifications’ expiration date. This ensures that all of the certificant’s operator designations maintain the same expiration date.
Candidates for certification or recertification may petition for an extension of NCCCO’s standard timeline(s). NCCCO staff shall have the discretion to make the initial determination of whether a requested extension should be granted. Petitions for an extension of time are generally denied absent a showing of extraordinary circumstances. Denials of such petitions may be appealed to the Appeals Committee.
CERTIFICATION POLICIES
The following policies apply to all CCO certification programs:
These policies are also covered in the Candidate Handbooks for each program.
CERTIFICATION CARDS
Certified operators receive a laminated photo ID card at no cost when they certify, add a designation, or recertify.
Replacement cards may be obtained from NCCCO at a cost of $25 and ordered online.
Certification cards remain the property of NCCCO, are not transferable, and must be returned to NCCCO upon demand.
RECERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
NCCCO certification is valid for five years. Recertification candidates must complete all recertification requirements during the 12 months prior to their certification’s expiration date. This includes:
Candidates who can attest to at least 500 hours of actual operating experience on dedicated pile drivers during their period of certification do not need to take a Practical Exam to recertify.
Get complete instructions on How to Recertify.