Certification Overview
Welcome to the CCO Lift Director certification program. The NCCCO Lift Director Task Force that developed this certification program was made up of experts from all aspects of the crane industry—management, crane users, trainers, and safety supervisors—who together represent many thousands of hours of crane-related experience. These volunteers gave freely of their time and expertise with the primary goal of improving the quality of lift direction and promote additional training among lift directors.
CCO Lift Director certification is available for the following designations:
- Lift Director—Mobile Cranes (MLD)
- Lift Director—Tower Cranes (TLD)
HOW TO BECOME CCO-CERTIFIED
Visit How to Test for instructions on applying for and taking CCO Written Exams.
Complete instructions and exam applications are also contained in the Candidate Handbook for each program.
ELIGIBILITY
Requirements for certification include the following:
CCO WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS
The Lift Director Written Examination consists of a Core Examination and Specialty Examinations for the Lift Director—Mobile Cranes and Lift Director—Tower Cranes certifications. Each candidate must also successfully pass the respective operator exam and/or the Rigger Level II exam; however, currently CCO-certified operators are not required to take the corresponding operator exam, as long as they maintain their certification status in good standing. Similarly, those who are certified as Rigger Level II do not need to take the Rigger Level II written exam.
The Core Lift Director Exam contains 40 questions that must be completed in 60 minutes. The Lift Director—Mobile Cranes Specialty Exam contains 15 questions that must be completed in 120 minutes. The Lift Director—Tower Cranes Specialty Exam contains 15 questions that must be completed in 60 minutes. To provide each candidate with a fair and standardized administration of the written examination(s), and to ensure the reliability and validity of the written examinations is maintained, it is not recommended that a candidate schedule written exams totaling more than six hours of testing time on the same day.
The table below details the exams necessary for each Lift Director certification.
Written exams may be taken as either paper/pencil tests (PPT) or computer-based tests (CBT), as described under How to Test.
CCO PRACTICAL EXAMINATIONS
The practical exam component of the lift director certification is incorporated in the written specialty exams through the use of scenario-based questions using custom-designed lift plans and crane load charts. These real-world scenarios test crane lift directors’ abilities to read, understand, and interpret documents commonly seen in the field.
CCO CERTIFICATION TIME FRAMES
Certification is valid for five years. Candidates must pass Written Exam(s) in the category(s) for which they seek certification. Candidates may take their exams in any order. Candidates have 24 months after they pass their first exam to pass the corresponding exam(s). For example, a candidate passing the Lift Director Core Exam in January 2016 has until the end of January 2018 to pass the Lift Director—Mobile Cranes Specialty Exam.
If a certified Lift Director—Mobile Cranes subsequently becomes certified as a Lift Director—Tower Cranes by taking the appropriate written exam(s), the five-year certification period for Lift Director—Tower Cranes begins at the same time as he/she was originally certified (i.e., certifications for all Lift Director 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 lift director 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 lift directors 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
CCO certification is valid for five years. Recertification candidates must complete all recertification requirements during the 12 months prior to their expiration date.
Review recertification requirements for CCO-certified Lift Directors.
Get complete instructions on How to Recertify.