Xactimate Certification: Levels, Exam, Cost & Training

Xactimate certification is a user credential that Verisk, the company behind Xactimate and Xactware, issues at three levels: Level 1 Fundamentals, Level 2 Proficiency and Level 3 Mastery. As of November 2026, each exam costs $120 on Verisk's store. You have 12 months after you buy to take it, you need 70% to pass, and the certification stays valid for two years. It's a vendor credential, not a license, but some employers ask for it. One October 2026 Nationwide posting for a catastrophe field adjuster asked new hires to earn Level 1 within a year and Level 2 within two.

Who issues Xactimate certification

Only Verisk does. You buy the exam from the Xactware certification store and take it in your own copy of Xactimate. Training schools can prepare you, but none of them can sell you the certification.

Don’t confuse user certification with trainer certification. The Xactimate Certified Trainer, or XCT, credential requires passing Level 3, a 3-day Train-the-Trainer class, a trainer exam and an observed teaching session, according to Verisk’s trainer certification guide. The same guide warns that Level 3 “does not signify that an individual is qualified to deliver high-quality Xactimate Training.” If a course advertises a “Level 3 instructor,” check whether that person is actually an XCT.

The three certification levels

Verisk’s user certification guide lists the objectives for each level. It is dated 2023, but it is still the document Verisk links from its training page as of November 2026.

Level 1: Xactimate Fundamentals

Level 1 checks that you can go from an assignment to a printed estimate. The objectives include:

• Claim info: deductible, price list, tax jurisdiction, overhead and profit, also called O&P, and the company header.

• Basic Sketch, the floor plan tool that drives quantities: rooms, doors and windows, missing walls, and room variables such as F for floor, W for walls and C for ceiling.

• Adding line items with Quick Entry, macros and reference or keyword search. You need to know the category and selector codes, the CAT/SEL pair that identifies every line item. Our line item code cheat sheet and line item search guide cover both.

• Roof basics: gable, hip, Dutch hip and gambrel roofs, plus the SQ, P and R variables for squares, perimeter and ridge.

• Marking an estimate “Completed,” printing reports and updating price lists.

Level 2: Xactimate Proficiency

Level 2 adds the tools that save time on bigger losses. Expect depreciation options and coverages, multi-level structures, grouping members, custom calculations such as waste at F*1.15, the Global Changes wizard, macro creation, the roof variables VAL, HIP, EAVE and RAKE, elevations, data transfer and report options.

Level 3: Xactimate Mastery

Level 3 covers the full toolbox: complex roofs with dormers, decks and fences, arced walls, custom staircases, component pricing, labor minimums, and report macros. It matters most if you want to become an XCT.

How the Xactimate exam works

You take the exam online, on your own computer, not at a testing center. Watermark, a training company whose instructor is an XCT, describes it as open book, but you must complete it alone.

1. Create an Xactware ID and buy the exam under it. Watermark warns that if your employer buys it under their ID, it’s registered to them and has to be bought again.

2. Install the current version of Xactimate. Desktop and online both work. Both need Windows 10 or 11, because Verisk does not support macOS.

3. Complete the Sketch and Scope lab. You build the Sketch and estimate for a loss scenario. The lab is untimed, and you can exit and come back.

4. Answer the questions. Practical questions ask about your own estimate’s quantities, dimensions, scope and pricing, answered with numbers only, according to Watermark. Knowledge questions are multiple choice, true/false and matching. This part is timed.

5. Get scored. You need 70%. Watermark says scoring is immediate and you print your certificate when you pass. Verisk also issues a digital badge you can share.

The lab drives your practical score, because those questions come from the estimate you built. Draw the kitchen at 12’ x 14’ when the scenario says 12’ x 15’, and every square-foot answer after that is wrong.

What Verisk does and doesn’t publish

Some details differ between Verisk’s guide and what training schools report:

If one of these decides whether you buy, ask Verisk’s training team at training@xactware.com or 800-424-9228 first.

Does Xactimate certification expire?

Yes, after two years. We couldn’t find a separate renewal exam or continuing-education path in Verisk’s published materials, so plan on buying and passing the current exam again. That’s $60 a year per level you hold.

Xactimate certification cost

The exam is the cheap part. Verisk’s prices as of November 2026, from its exam store, course bundle page, virtual class catalog and in-person class schedule:

Verisk’s training page also says its self-paced library is included with an annual Xactimate subscription.

You also need Xactimate itself. If you already pay for a seat, the exam runs on it. If not, see our Xactimate pricing breakdown. Some certified trainers provide temporary access: Watermark offers 30-day access on request with its live class, and Crest LLC says Verisk no longer offers a public free demo outside training with a certified trainer.

Realistic totals: $120 if you already use Xactimate daily and self-study, or about $450 to $1,020 for a live class plus the exam.

Which level do you need?

Certification is not a license, and adjuster licensing doesn’t depend on it. Whether it matters depends on who is hiring you.

Xactimate training options compared

All three routes can prepare you for Level 1 and 2.

Verisk’s own classes. Live virtual or in person, booked through Verisk’s training registration site.

Verisk self-paced. The cheapest route, but easy to stall on without a deadline.

Third-party schools taught by XCTs. Examples as of November 2026, with instructors listed in Verisk’s Certified Trainer Directory:

• Watermark, also sold through Zack Academy: 3 days of live online Level 1 and 2 training, $649.

• AdjusterPro Tactical Xactimate: three 4-hour evening sessions for new adjusters, $349, with adjuster CE credit in a list of states.

• American Insurance College: Level 1 and 2 training pitched to contractors and remediators. No price or upcoming dates are listed on that page.

Watermark and AdjusterPro both publish discount codes for the Verisk exam without stating the amount.

What is the best Xactimate training?

The one where someone watches you sketch. The exam rides on the lab, and the lab rides on Sketch habits that are hard to fix from video alone. If you’re new, take a live class with an XCT. If you already write estimates, the $136 prep session or the self-paced bundle may be enough. Contractors should look for an instructor with restoration experience, and adjusters for one who still works claims.

Plan on a Windows computer, an external mouse and a second monitor. Crawford’s 2022 virtual Level I class, for example, asked for dual monitors (or two computers) and an external mouse.

How long does it take to learn Xactimate?

Verisk doesn’t publish an estimate in its certification guide, so here are two rules of thumb:

• To pass Level 1: about 24 hours of class time, the length of a 3-day course, plus one to three weeks of practice. Sketch five to ten rooms in your own house and scope them as a water loss before you buy the exam.

• To be fast on real files: two to three months of daily use. In our experience, that’s roughly how long it takes to stop hunting for CAT/SEL codes. Complex roofs and multi-level commercial sketches take longer.

What certification doesn’t teach

Every exam scenario starts from a blank project that you sketch and scope yourself. Real claim work rarely does.

1. Working from someone else’s estimate. On a 200-line carrier estimate, your job is to find the handful of lines that don’t match the loss, not rebuild the other 190. Our guide to analyzing a contractor’s estimate in Xactimate walks through the review order.

2. Reading a carrier’s PDF. In Xactimate, you see the project tree, the room-by-room structure of the estimate, and F9 notes, the line-item notes named after the key that opens them. On the PDF, you get flat pages: the Sketch is a picture, not an editable drawing, and there’s no project tree or editable quantities. Here is what else a PDF strips out. Without the ESX file, Xactimate’s project format, you re-key lines by hand before you can compare anything.

3. Supplementing. A supplement asks the carrier to add or correct scope, which changes RCV, the replacement cost value. Defending a missed line item isn’t among Verisk’s exam objectives. See how to write supplements faster.

This is where ClaimsFlow fits. It converts a PDF estimate into an ESX that opens in Xactimate with the project tree, line items, quantities, prices, O&P, depreciation, F9 notes and interior Sketch. Across all projects, 97.6% of line items convert, the Conversion Report flags the rest, and median conversion time is 99 seconds. You still need Xactimate and the skills certification proves. You skip the re-keying. With two versions of the same loss, Estimate Reconciliation proposes room matches and lines up the differences for you to review.

FAQ

How much does Xactimate certification cost?

As of November 2026, Verisk charges $120 per exam for Level 1, 2 or 3. Training is extra, from $135 for Verisk’s self-paced bundle to $899 for most of its in-person 3-day classes. You also need a working copy of Xactimate.

What is on the Xactimate Level 1 certification exam?

You build an estimate in the Sketch and Scope lab, then answer questions about its quantities, dimensions and pricing, plus knowledge questions on the basics. Topics include claim info, room and roof Sketch, Quick Entry and CAT/SEL codes. You need 70% to pass.

What is the difference between Level 1 and Level 2 certification?

Level 1 proves you can produce a complete estimate. Level 2 proves you can do it efficiently on bigger losses, with multi-level sketches, depreciation, macros, Global Changes and advanced roof variables. Both cost $120 and last two years.

Can I do Xactimate training online?

Yes. Verisk runs live virtual classes and sells a self-paced bundle, and schools such as Watermark and AdjusterPro teach live online. The exam is online too, on your own Windows computer.

Do contractors need Xactimate certification?

It isn’t part of contractor licensing. It helps if you write your own estimates or supplements, because it shows you know the tool the adjuster uses. If you mostly review estimates other people wrote, review skills and the ESX matter more than the certificate.

Try ClaimsFlow on your next estimate

Certification proves you can build an estimate. ClaimsFlow handles the ones you didn’t build. Upload the carrier’s or contractor’s PDF and open it in Xactimate as an ESX, ready to review or supplement. New accounts get 150 line items free. After that, rack rate is $0.35 per successfully converted line item, with automatic volume discounts and no monthly commitment. Start at claimsflow.io.

Xactimate and Xactware are trademarks of Verisk Analytics, Inc. Other product names are trademarks of their owners. ClaimsFlow is not affiliated with or endorsed by Verisk or the training providers mentioned.