ACR Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass

The Actual Passing Score: 70% on 120 Items

The Texas Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (ACR) Contractor License Exam, administered by PSI under the authority of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), requires a raw score of 70% to pass. The exam contains 125 total multiple-choice questions, but only 120 of them are scored. The remaining five are unscored pretest items that PSI is evaluating for future versions of the exam. You will not be told which five are unscored, so every question deserves your full attention as if it counts.

Doing the math: 70% of 120 scored items works out to 84 correct answers. That number is the real target you should carry into the testing center, not an abstract percentage. If you're building a study plan, treat 84 correct as your line in the sand and build in a buffer, since guessing wrong on borderline questions in weaker domains can quickly erode a narrow margin.

Exam Format, Timing, and What "Open-Book" Really Means

The exam is delivered as an in-person, computer-based test at a PSI testing center, available in both English and Spanish. You are given 4 hours to complete all 125 questions, which is a generous window if you manage your pace, but candidates who get stuck on individual calculation-heavy items can burn time quickly.

This is an open-book exam, but "open-book" comes with specific rules that candidates often misunderstand. Approved reference materials may already contain preexisting notes, highlighting, underlining, and permanent tabs - meaning you can bring a well-organized, pre-marked code book or reference set into the exam room. A compliant, nonprogrammable calculator is also permitted. This changes your entire preparation strategy: instead of memorizing every code table cold, your job is to know exactly where information lives in your references and how fast you can retrieve it under time pressure.

Because the exam references the 2024 IMC, IFGC, and UMC editions effective September 1, 2026, and the PSI bulletin was updated July 9, 2026, double-check that your study materials and code references reflect the current cycle before you schedule. Details on scheduling windows and how updates affect eligibility are covered in ACR Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.

How the 14 Domains Determine Your Score

The 120 scored questions are distributed across 14 content domains, and the weighting is not even. Understanding which domains carry the most questions is the single biggest lever you have for hitting 84 correct answers, because a few points gained in a heavily weighted domain matter more than the same effort spent on a domain worth only 4.17%.

Air Distribution alone accounts for roughly 18 of the 120 scored questions, making it the single most important domain to master. Equipment Requirements and Design, HVAC Systems, Service, and Testing together account for another sizable chunk of the exam. If you're short on time, these five domains deserve priority over the smaller 4-5% domains.

For a full breakdown of every domain, including the smaller but still-scored areas like Combustion Air, Venting, and Texas Laws and Rules, see ACR Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 14 Content Areas.

What the 36.62% Pass Rate Tells You

In fiscal year 2026 through May 31, 2026, the first-time pass rate for this exam was 36.62%. That means fewer than four out of ten first-time candidates cleared the 70% threshold on their initial attempt. This is not a number to be discouraged by - it's a number that should reshape how seriously you treat preparation.

A sub-40% first-time pass rate typically signals one of a few things: candidates underestimating the breadth of the 14 domains, insufficient hands-on familiarity with reference materials under timed conditions, or gaps in the practical experience that the exam assumes you already have. Since TDLR generally requires 48 months of supervised practical experience in the preceding 72 months (or 12 months as a certified technician plus 36 months of qualifying experience in the preceding 48 months), the exam is written for someone with real field time - not someone who crammed from a textbook alone.

For a deeper statistical breakdown of what this pass rate means across different experience levels, read ACR Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows. If you're still deciding how much difficulty to expect relative to your background, How Hard Is the ACR Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 walks through that in detail.

Fees and Registration Mechanics That Affect Your Attempt

Passing the exam is only part of the licensing process, and the fee structure is worth understanding before you schedule, since retakes cost real money. The TDLR application fee is $115, and the separate PSI examination fee is $74. These are paid through different entities and at different points in the process, so budget for both rather than assuming a single combined fee.

Because retesting means paying the PSI fee again, treating your first attempt as the only attempt you plan to pay for is the right mindset. A full cost breakdown, including how these fees interact with renewal costs, is available in ACR Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.

Eligibility also matters before you register. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and meet the supervised experience thresholds described above, subject to approved substitutions. If you're unsure whether your current experience qualifies, review ACR Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify before submitting an application, since a rejected application wastes both time and the $115 fee.

Where to Spend Your Study Hours

With 14 domains and uneven weighting, the smartest approach is to allocate study time roughly in proportion to domain weight, with extra buffer time for domains you personally find weakest based on field experience. A technician who has spent years on service calls but less time on new-construction duct design, for example, should weight Air Distribution and Equipment Requirements and Design more heavily than their job history would suggest.

This kind of proportional scheduling - spending more weeks on Air Distribution than on Venting, for instance - is the core idea behind a domain-weighted study plan. For a complete week-by-week study system built specifically around this exam's structure, see ACR Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. You can also run full practice sessions modeled on the real question style at our practice test platform to see how close you are to the 84-correct target before test day.

Passing Isn't the Finish Line: Licensing and Renewal

Once you clear the 70% threshold and complete licensure, the Class A ACR license is issued for one year and renews for $65. Renewal requires 8 hours of continuing education, including at least one hour specifically on Texas law and rules - a direct extension of the Texas Laws and Rules domain tested on the exam itself.

Licensed Class A contractors must also maintain commercial general liability coverage of $300,000 per occurrence, $600,000 aggregate, and $300,000 for products and completed operations. This insurance requirement isn't tested directly in exam questions the way domain content is, but it's a practical reality every passing candidate needs to plan for immediately after licensure, since you cannot legally operate as a Class A contractor without it.

If you're weighing whether the time, fees, and ongoing renewal obligations are worth it relative to career outcomes, Is the ACR Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and ACR Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis address that question directly. And if you want a compact, single-page reference of the key numbers covered here - the 70% score, 120 scored items, 4-hour limit, and domain weights - bookmark ACR Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts for a quick review the night before your exam.

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