- What This Cheat Sheet Covers (and What It Cannot)
- Format, Fees, and Logistics at a Glance
- The Four Competency Areas in One Pass
- Domain 1 Facts: Advanced Mechanical and Electrified Hardware Product
- Domain 2 Facts: Code Application and Electronic Access Control
- Domain 3 Facts: Fire, Life Safety, Accessibility, and Building Code
- Domain 4 Facts: Architectural Door Openings and Security Needs
- Proctoring and Delivery Caveats to Confirm
- Preparation Courses Worth Knowing
- Sequencing Your Review by Domain
- After You Pass: Renewal Numbers
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The Electrified Hardware Consultant (EHC) is issued by the Door and Hardware Institute (DHI) and tested across four published competency areas.
- The full exam is eight hours, paper and pencil, mixing short-answer, long-answer, and multiple-choice sections.
- Exam fee is USD 550 for DHI members, USD 850 for nonmembers, with a USD 300 retake fee.
- No prerequisites apply, though DHI recommends courses EHC403, EHC413, and EHC423 before you sit.
What This Cheat Sheet Covers (and What It Cannot)
This page is a compressed review of the Electrified Hardware Consultant credential from the Door and Hardware Institute. It collects the facts a candidate should be able to recite without notes: the exam format, the money, the four competency areas, the proctoring rules, and the renewal cycle. If you are brand new to the credential, start with What Is EHC Certification? and come back here once the basics make sense.
A cheat sheet is only useful if it is honest about its limits. DHI publishes four competency statements for the exam but does not publish percentage weights, a question count, a passing score, or a pass-rate statistic. You will not find invented numbers here. Where the issuer has not published a figure, this article says so rather than guessing. For the reasoning behind that gap, see our breakdown of the EHC passing score and the data discussion in EHC Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows.
Format, Fees, and Logistics at a Glance
The table below is the logistics core of the cheat sheet. Memorize the fee structure and the format, because both come up constantly when candidates plan their budget and calendar. For a deeper pricing walkthrough, see EHC Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
| Item | What DHI Publishes |
|---|---|
| Issuing body | Door and Hardware Institute (DHI) |
| Full exam length | Eight hours |
| Delivery of full exam | Paper and pencil |
| Question styles | Short-answer, long-answer, and multiple-choice sections |
| Exam fee (member) | USD 550 |
| Exam fee (nonmember) | USD 850 |
| Retake fee | USD 300 |
| Prerequisites | None required to apply |
| Recommended courses | EHC403, EHC413, EHC423 |
| Renewal | 30 CEP points every three years, at least 24 technical |
| Renewal fee (one credential) | USD 175 member, USD 210 nonmember |
The member versus nonmember gap is USD 300 on the exam fee alone, which is worth weighing against the cost of DHI membership if you plan to take courses and pursue continuing education anyway. The eligibility picture is covered in EHC Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
The question-style mix matters more than it looks
Because the exam combines short-answer, long-answer, and multiple-choice sections, you cannot prepare by drilling recognition questions alone. Short and long answers reward candidates who can explain a door opening's sequence of operation, describe how components interact, or lay out a code-compliant solution in their own words. Practice writing those explanations by hand, since the full exam is paper and pencil. Our difficulty guide explains why written-response sections tend to feel harder than the multiple-choice portion.
The Four Competency Areas in One Pass
DHI organizes the exam around four competency statements. These are the exact headings, and no percentage weights are published, so treat all four as fair game.
- Domain 1: Advanced mechanical and electrified hardware product.
- Domain 2: Code application knowledge with an understanding of electronic access control systems.
- Domain 3: Understanding fire, life safety, accessibility, and building code requirements.
- Domain 4: Understanding of architectural door openings and security needs.
The sections below give a one-paragraph reminder of what each area asks of you, anchored to the preparation topics DHI lists in its course catalog: electrified hardware drawings, access-control integration, low-voltage circuitry, troubleshooting, shop-drawing exercises, and specification writing. These are unweighted preparation topics, not an exhaustive blueprint, so use them as a starting point. For the full treatment, read EHC Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 4 Content Areas.
Domain 1 Facts: Advanced Mechanical and Electrified Hardware Product
Advanced mechanical and electrified hardware product
This area tests whether you know the products themselves: what they do, how they are powered, and how they fail.
- Know the electrified hardware families you will encounter on a door opening and the role each plays.
- Be able to read and interpret electrified hardware drawings, since drawing literacy appears in the published course topics.
- Understand low-voltage circuitry well enough to trace how power reaches a lock or other powered component.
- Practice troubleshooting logic: given a symptom, narrow down the likely cause in a defensible order.
The common thread is that you must connect a mechanical component to its electrical behavior. A candidate who can describe a product but cannot explain how it is wired, powered, and diagnosed will struggle with the longer written sections. Expect to be asked to reason, not just recall.
Domain 2 Facts: Code Application and Electronic Access Control
Code application with electronic access control systems
This area joins the code layer to the access-control layer, which is where electrified openings get complicated.
- Understand how electronic access control components integrate with door hardware at an opening.
- Know how code requirements constrain the way an access-controlled opening can be locked and released.
- Be ready to apply code reasoning to a described scenario rather than recite a rule in isolation.
- Recognize that historical code editions cited in course materials do not identify the edition on a current exam; confirm the applicable edition with DHI.
Domain 3 Facts: Fire, Life Safety, Accessibility, and Building Code
Fire, life safety, accessibility, and building code requirements
This is the safety backbone of the credential. Electrified hardware has to keep people safe in an emergency and remain usable by everyone.
- Connect fire and life safety goals to how an opening must behave during an emergency.
- Understand accessibility requirements as they apply to door openings and the hardware on them.
- Know how building code requirements shape what a specifier may and may not choose.
- Practice explaining a compliance decision in writing, the way a long-answer question would require.
Candidates often underestimate this area because it feels like common sense. The exam, however, expects precise reasoning about what a compliant opening looks like and why. Pair your reading with the code-application material from Domain 2, since the two areas reinforce each other on any realistic opening.
Domain 4 Facts: Architectural Door Openings and Security Needs
Architectural door openings and security needs
This area zooms out from individual products to the opening as a complete system serving a security purpose.
- Understand how the door, frame, hardware, and electrified components work together as one opening.
- Match security needs to appropriate hardware and access-control strategies.
- Be comfortable with shop-drawing exercises and specification writing, both named in DHI's preparation topics.
- Practice describing an opening's intended operation from a security perspective in plain, precise language.
Specification writing deserves special attention. It is a skill that is easy to neglect because it feels clerical, yet it is one of the clearest ways the exam can test whether you truly understand how requirements translate into a deliverable. Write practice specifications by hand and compare them against published guidance.
Proctoring and Delivery Caveats to Confirm
This is the area where the published materials do not fully line up, so it earns its own section. Treat the following as a checklist of things to confirm directly with DHI when you schedule.
- Paper proctoring: Candidates arrange an EHC-certified proctor for the paper examination. DHI's Certification Policies require the proctor to hold the same certification and prohibit proctoring a family member or someone employed by the same company, division, or branch. Staff proctoring at National and Micro Schools is the stated exception.
- Online multiple-choice component: DHI's AHC Exam Information page expressly offers the EHC multiple-choice component through Prolydian with MonitorEDU live remote proctoring.
- Policy inconsistencies: The generic certification policy still names Kryterion and restricts remote proctoring, while the EHC page describes paper delivery and directs retakes into Prolydian.
- Retake limits: The generic two-retake limit conflicts with the EHC page's reference to a third-retake application. Confirm how many attempts you are permitted.
- Timing: Eight hours describes the full paper examination, not the online multiple-choice component alone.
Finding a qualified proctor is a real logistical task. Because the proctor must hold the same certification and cannot work in your company, division, or branch, start looking early. Do not leave this until the weeks before your target date.
Preparation Courses Worth Knowing
DHI's course catalog lists EHC403, EHC413, EHC423, and EHC490. DHI recommends the first three before sitting for the exam, although none are required. These courses cover electrified hardware drawings, access-control integration, low-voltage circuitry, troubleshooting, shop-drawing exercises, and specification writing.
A few caveats keep your expectations realistic. Course hours, tuition, software exercises, and required class materials do not establish anything about the certification exam itself, including its timing, fees, or permitted resources. The courses are preparation, not a statement of what you may bring to the exam. For a fuller look at structured preparation, see EHC Training and the EHC Study Guide 2026.
Sequencing Your Review by Domain
You do not need a generic study system, just a sensible order. Because the domains build on each other, the sequence below puts foundational product and circuit knowledge first, then layers code and safety on top, then finishes with whole-opening integration and writing practice.
Domain 1 foundations
- Review electrified hardware drawings and low-voltage circuitry.
- Practice troubleshooting symptoms in a fixed diagnostic order.
Domain 2 access control and code
- Study how access-control components integrate with door hardware.
- Write short explanations applying code to described openings.
Domain 3 safety and accessibility
- Connect fire, life safety, and accessibility requirements to opening behavior.
- Draft long-answer responses by hand to match the paper format.
Domain 4 integration and specification
- Work shop-drawing exercises and write practice specifications.
- Take a timed mixed-format practice session and review weak spots.
This order is deliberate: troubleshooting and circuitry from Week 1 feed directly into the access-control reasoning in Week 2, and the safety logic in Week 3 is needed to defend the integration decisions in Week 4. Adjust the pacing to your experience, and use the EHC practice tests to find which domain needs extra time.
Key Takeaway
Because the full exam is eight hours with written sections, build stamina as well as knowledge. Do at least one long, handwritten, timed practice session so the real exam is not your first experience of sustained paper-and-pencil work.
After You Pass: Renewal Numbers
Earning the credential is not the end of the cost or effort. DHI's Continuing Education Program requires 30 CEP points every three years, including at least 24 technical points. Renewal for a single credential costs USD 175 for members or USD 210 for nonmembers.
Keep a simple log of continuing education as you go rather than reconstructing it at renewal time. If you are weighing whether the credential pays off, the related analyses on whether the certification is worth it, the salary picture, and EHC jobs can help you place these recurring costs in context.
Frequently Asked Questions
It stands for Electrified Hardware Consultant, a credential issued by the Door and Hardware Institute (DHI). It is unrelated to other credentials that happen to share the same acronym. For more, see What Does EHC Stand For?
DHI describes the full examination as eight hours, paper and pencil, with short-answer, long-answer, and multiple-choice sections. The eight hours refers to the full paper exam, not the online multiple-choice component alone.
The exam fee is USD 550 for DHI members and USD 850 for nonmembers, with a USD 300 retake fee. Renewal for one credential is USD 175 for members or USD 210 for nonmembers.
No prerequisites are required to apply. DHI recommends courses EHC403, EHC413, and EHC423 as preparation, but they are not mandatory.
DHI has not published a passing score or pass-rate statistic that we could verify, and no percentage weights are published for the four domains. Be cautious of any site quoting precise figures without citing DHI.
You arrange an EHC-certified proctor. DHI policy requires the proctor to hold the same certification and prohibits proctoring a family member or someone employed by the same company, division, or branch. Staff proctoring at National and Micro Schools is the stated exception. Confirm delivery and attempt rules with DHI when scheduling.
Use this sheet as a final-week checklist, then test yourself with the EHC practice exam questions to confirm you can apply, not just recite, each of the four domains.