FAQs

AAPL Membership

RL, RPL, and CPL require AAPL Active Membership. You must be an AAPL Active Member for at least one year prior to applying for RPL and CPL certification. Any AAPL Active Member may apply for RL certification without a waiting period. Once certified, members must maintain Active Membership to retain their certification.

Application* 

RL, RPL, and CPL require a $100 application fee.

Testing

Once an applicant is approved to take the RPL or CPL exam, Exam fees ($55-$170) — as well as rescheduling/cancellation fees — are collected by Meazure Learning and are nonrefundable.

Initial and retake exam fees for RPL and CPL certifications are listed on the "Testing" webpage. 

There is no fee to take the RL exam once approved.

Recertification*

To maintain the RPL and CPL designation, a $100 fee is required to recertify every 5 years.

RPL and CPL recertification applications and requirements can be found on the "Maintaining Certification" webpage.

*All Application and Recertification fees are non-refundable. Beginning July 1, 2023, all application (RL, RPL, CPL) and recertification fees (RPL, CPL) will be raised to $150. RL’s will also be required to pay a $25 recertification fee yearly to maintain their designation. 

AAPL recognizes all colleges and universities that are regionally accredited. In addition, AAPL works closely with the certain universities which have AAPL-accredited land or energy management degree programs. 

Only the CPL certification requires a four-year college degree or higher as a prerequisite. RPL certification does not require a four-year college degree; however, for applicants applying for RPL without a college degree, you must have five credit years of landwork experience as further described in the RPL application and AAPL Policy Manual. For both RPL and CPL, a master’s and/or law degree counts additionally towards your qualification. 

Completed applications (to include sponsor verification forms, university transcript(s) and application affidavit) are sent to the Certification Committee once a month.  The Committee reviews the applications over the course of 6-8 weeks. Applicants are then notified of their application status.

To prevent delays with your application: 1) Read the current AAPL Policy Manual and the summary of requirements prior to applying; 2) Answer all questions completely and accurately; 3) Clearly and thoroughly describe your work experience in detail; 4) Secure sponsors prior to submitting your application who can verify your entire work history to meet the required minimum “credit years” for your application. You may need more than the minimum required sponsors to verify your required work history credits, and; 5) Remind your sponsors that you are waiting on their forms to be submitted to have a complete application. The entire application process must be completed within 120 days from the date that the application is received by AAPL. It is the responsibility of the applicant to monitor the time process and to assure that all necessary parts of the application are accurately and timely completed, including sufficient Sponsor Verification Forms. If the application process is not complete by the expiration of the 120 days the application expires and a new application would be required to continue the certification process. 

For CPLs, and RPLs applying with a college degree, each applicant must, for at least the immediate past two years, be primarily engaged in landwork. For RPLs applying without a college degree, each applicant must be engaged in landwork for the immediate past four years.

According to AAPL Bylaws, Article II, landwork is defined as:

A. Negotiating for the acquisition or divestiture of minerals or real property associated with or connected to energy sources.

B. Negotiating business agreements that provide for the exploration for and/or development of minerals or real property associated with or connected to energy sources.

C. Determining ownership in minerals or real property associated with or connected to energy sources through the research of public and private records.

D. Reviewing the status of title, curing title defects, providing title due diligence and otherwise reducing title risk associated with ownership in minerals or energy sources or the acquisition and divestiture of minerals or real property associated with or connected to energy sources, but shall not include division order or lease analyst functions.

E. Managing rights and/or obligations derived from ownership of interests in minerals or real property associated with or connected to energy sources.

F. Unitizing or pooling of interests in minerals or real property associated with or connected to energy sources.

“Minerals” shall include without limitation oil, gas, related hydrocarbons, coal and lignite.

No. You should apply for the highest designation in which you are eligible.

Please refer to the Retired CPL Application and read the current AAPL Policy Manual Page 41.

Please refer to the certification table and read the current AAPL Policy Manual Pages 34-44.

Please refer to the certification table and read the current AAPL Policy Manual Pages 34-44. 

Please refer to the certification table and read the current AAPL Policy Manual Pages 34-44.

Yes. You must be an Active Member of AAPL for at least one year prior to applying for RPL and CPL certification. Any Active Member may apply for RL certification without a waiting period. Student and Associate Members, division order and lease analysts are not eligible to apply for certification. Learn more about the different membership types available through AAPL.

CPLs must have a minimum of three CPL sponsors. RPLs must have a minimum of 1 RPL and 1 CPL or may have 2 CPL sponsors. RLs must have one RPL or CPL sponsor. Sponsors must have known the applicant for a minimum of 6 months. The sum of all verifications must reflect in detail the type, quantity and quality of the applicant’s work history covering ALL of the applicant’s required "credit years."

No. Sponsor Verification Forms are a firm requirement that cannot be waived. Part of the process of becoming certified through AAPL is getting to know your peers and becoming involved in the industry. Your sponsors do not have to be previous coworkers or employers, but they must be acquainted enough with your work experience and practices to verify your work history and ethical behavior on your application.  A sponsor may verify additional work history by contacting your former supervisor(s) to discuss your duties and attesting to such in questions 5 and 6 on the Sponsor Verification Form. Each Sponsor must have known the applicant for longer than six months prior to sponsoring, with the exception of AAPL Board of Directors Members who may sponsor applicants without having personally known the applicant. Applicants may only be sponsored by one Board of Directors Member per application. 

The sponsor needs to include the name of the supervisor they spoke with, when they spoke to them, describe the type and quality of work, and what time frame they are verifying.

Contact your sponsors. It is your responsibility to make sure your sponsors complete their part of the application process within 120 days from the time your application is received by AAPL. All sponsors are sent an automated sponsor verification notification the same day you submit your application. The notification is sent from certification@landman.org.

AAPL offers a number of live reviews throughout the year for RPL and CPL exams. Please refer to the Education Calendar for upcoming dates and locations. 

We also offer an online review that you can purchase and access for up to one year. RPL/CPL Review Videos.

The RPL and CPL exams are now offered electronically through Meazure Learning (formerly Scantron). You may choose to either take your exam at your local Meazure Learning testing site or via a live remote proctor using your own computer or laptop. Specific information regarding the online testing process will be emailed once the application has been approved.

CPL: Applicants have a total of 8 hours to complete the exam. The exam is divided into 2 bundles.
RPL:  Applicants have two hours to complete the exam.
RL: The exam is a take-home, self-study exam. Upon application approval, the exam will be sent to the applicant to complete and return within 45 days. It is meant to be an entry level learning exam. 

No. However, it is strongly encouraged that each applicant attends an AAPL review, either in person or purchase the live review. The review covers all topics on the exams and is designed to assist the applicant in successfully passing all parts of the exam. 

No. Your application must be approved by the Certification Committee chairman prior to registering for the exam. See AAPL Policy Manual Article IV-C. 

Upon approval of RPL or CPL applications, the applicant has one year to sit for the exam. AAPL sends the applicant an approval notification via e-mail with the date by which the applicant must sit for the exam. At that time, the applicant will also receive a Notice to Schedule email from Meazure Learning (formerly Scantron) that will allow them to schedule the exam by the one-year date.

Immediately after completing each section of the exam, you will receive a PASS or FAIL notification on the screen.

AAPL will also email a letter to each applicant indicating whether you passed or which part(s) of the exam you need to retake and the date by which you have to retake those portions. Exact test scores are not released.

You will not need to apply to retake any portion of the exam you do not pass. The AAPL Certification Team will send you written notification regarding your next steps, including the date by which you must retake any portions not passed. You will also receive a new Notice to Schedule email from Meazure Learning (formerly Scantron) so that you may reschedule any retake required.

Any applicant who has failed any portion(s) of the CPL examination shall have the opportunity to retake and pass a re-examination of the part(s) so failed only within the two year period as described in Section IV of the AAPL Policy Manual found online and in your Membership Directory. Any applicant who has failed any portion(s) of the RPL examination shall have the opportunity to retake and pass a re-examination of the part(s) so failed only within the one year period described in Section IV of the AAPL Policy Manual found online and in your Membership Directory. All retakes will be provided the same amount of time to complete the retake section as was allotted in the initial test for that particular section. A candidate may request no more than two retakes of any part. Failure to pass any section in those two retakes will require the candidate to reapply for approval, pay the required fees and take the entire CPL or RPL examination again.  

Yes. You must maintain your AAPL membership and stay actively involved in landwork to maintain your professional designation. If your AAPL membership lapses in accordance with the AAPL Bylaws, you will be required to reapply according to your most current qualifications for the desired certification and retake that exam.

Log into your AAPL account and click on My Account.  Under Certifications, click on My Certifications. The Certification Date and Certification Expiration Dates are listed under the Current information. Disregard any information listed under In Process and History.

RPLs and CPLs: AAPL sends an automated recertification reminder to you 90 days prior to expiration. A link to the Recertification Application is included. Recertification Applications can also be found on our website. Complete the Recertification Application and scan and return it to certification@landman.org. A confirmation e-mail will be sent to you upon processing.

RLs: Your certification designation will be recertified before your expiration date if you have recorded the required continuing education credits to your AAPL account.

Submit a completed Individual Application for Recertification Credits along with required program outline/schedule/proof of attendance to affidavit@landman.org.