Provisional Certification is attained when applicants choose to take the CRCST exam before they have completed their 400 hours of hands-on experience.

It is NOT an exemption from the hands-on experience requirement.

Whenever possible, applicants should complete their hands-on requirement prior to taking their CRCST exam. Doing so eliminates the risk of having to retake the exam if the hours requirement cannot be completed on time. Additionally, experience is often very beneficial in helping applicants to better understand the key concepts and skills needed to excel in Sterile Processing and on the certification exam.

Individuals who attain provisional certification have six-months in which to complete and submit documentation of their hands-on experience. If the experience is not completed and documented within the allotted six-month period, the certification will be revoked, and the individual will need to retest in order to regain certification.

A one-time, two-month provisional extension may be available, if and only if the provisional certificant has already begun working or volunteering in a department before the provisional certification expires. The individual's Supervisor, Manager, or Educator in the department would need to contact HSPA to request an extension on the applicant’s behalf, prior to the provisional certification expiring.