Update May 12, 2020: USGBC and Prometric announced a new online format. Candidates can start scheduling their LEED Green Associate and LEED AP exams online and take their exams from home, effective immediately.

Because the government has encouraged social distancing and self-quarantining during the Coronavirus pandemic, Prometric Testing Centers have temporarily closed. This means that anyone who wants to take their LEED exam in person will have to wait a little while longer.

What is Prometric?

Prometric is a U.S.-based company that administers exams at its worldwide testing centers. Many professional credentialing exams, such as the GRE and LEED, are administered at Prometric testing centers. 

The center itself is typically just a computer lab with a highly secure proctoring and monitoring protocol to prevent cheating and other falsehoods. Each candidate in the test center may also be taking a different exam.

How to Schedule the LEED Exam

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), who created the LEED standards, partnered with Prometric long ago to do what they do best: administer exams. 

Candidates interested in earning a LEED credential should:

• Enroll in a LEED Green Associate Exam Prep course
• Study for 4-6 weeks
• Purchase their LEED Green Associate Exam from the USGBC
• Schedule the date/time of their exam appointment with Prometric

LEED Exam Schedule During COVID-19

In response to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s updated guidance on measures to be taken to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, Prometric has temporarily closed its testing centers in the United States and Canada for a period of 30 days.

According to the Prometric website, if you have an existing appointment to take an exam, you will receive email instructions on how to reschedule your appointment to a future date once it is safe to resume testing, and no rescheduling fees will be applied.

The closures began on March 18. Prometric hopes to re-open on June 1.

If you are looking to schedule a new appointment, you can search for available appointments on prometric.com. Note that appointments in the U.S. and Canada will not be available until June 1 at the earliest.

Closures at other Prometric testing centers around the world are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with a close eye on specific government actions. All test center closures will be posted on the Prometric website at www.prometric.com/closures

Don’t Let COVID-19 Stop You from Learning

Despite LEED exam scheduling being at a standstill until mid-April, that doesn’t mean that your goals of pursuing a LEED credential also need to be halted. In fact, the timing works out very well for you.

Since so many of us are working from home or taking time to re-group on priorities, it’s the perfect time to shift focus on becoming a LEED professional. 

With online LEED training, you can start getting up to speed on green building topics today. After you complete the training, which very well might take you 1-2 weeks, you’ll want to spend another 4-6 weeks studying and making sure that you understand all of the concepts. By the time that you’re ready to pay for your LEED exam, it’ll already be the end of May, and hopefully you’ll have no problem scheduling a LEED exam appointment with Prometric at your desired testing center.

Prepare yourself now, so that when life returns to normal, you’ll be ready to attack your job with even more knowledge and enthusiasm.