- Air Diver is ADCI's Surface-Supplied Air Diver classification - a proficiency card, not a standalone written exam.
- Qualification needs 100+ field days, 30 working surface-supplied dives, and 625+ documented training hours.
- Qualifying dives must fall within the 24 months before designation; recreational scuba certification does not count.
- The card fee is $175, the credential is valid five years, and renewals run through Skill N Depth.
Why "Cheat Sheet" Looks Different for Air Diver
Most "cheat sheet" articles assume a multiple-choice test with a scaled score. Air Diver, issued by the Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI), doesn't work that way. It is the Surface-Supplied Air Diver classification inside ADCI's International Consensus Standards - a training- and experience-based proficiency credential, not a proctored ADCI Air Diver written examination with its own pass/fail cut score.
That distinction changes what a "must-know facts" page should even contain. Instead of memorizing an answer key, you're compiling proof: documented training hours, logged field days, verified working dives, current medical and first aid status, and the occupational knowledge a working surface-supplied diver is expected to carry into the field. This page consolidates those facts in one place so you can check your file against the real requirements before you submit anything.
For a deeper walk-through of how the whole qualification process fits together, pair this cheat sheet with our ADC-AIR-DIVER study guide and the detailed requirements breakdown.
Core Facts at a Glance
Bookmark this table. It's the fastest way to confirm you're working from accurate, Air-Diver-specific numbers rather than figures that belong to a different credential sharing a similar name.
| Item | Requirement / Fact |
|---|---|
| Certifying body | Association of Diving Contractors International (ADCI) |
| Classification | Surface-Supplied Air Diver, per International Consensus Standards |
| Format | Training- and experience-based proficiency credential (no standalone written exam) |
| Card fee | $175 |
| Minimum training hours | 625 documented hours meeting ANSI/ACDE-01-2015 or recognized equivalent |
| Minimum field days | 100 field days |
| Minimum working dives | 30 working dives as an Air Diver, surface-supplied only |
| Dive recency window | Qualifying dives must fall within 24 months preceding designation |
| Validity period | 5 years |
| Renewal / new applications | Processed through Skill N Depth |
| Knowledge reference | International Consensus Standards, edition 6.5, 2025-1, section 3.3 |
If you want a full cost picture that includes surrounding training expenses, not just the card fee, see the certification cost breakdown.
Field Days, Dives, and the 24-Month Window
This is the section candidates get wrong most often, so it's worth isolating from the rest of the table above.
Field Day Threshold
ADCI requires at least 100 field days as part of Air Diver qualification. Field days document your presence and work on a commercial diving project - not just time in the water.
- Keep signed daily logs, not just a summary sheet
- Employer or supervisor verification strengthens the record
- Field days and working dives are tracked separately - one does not substitute for the other
Working Dive Threshold
At least 30 working dives as an Air Diver are required, and only surface-supplied dives count toward this total.
- Recreational scuba dives, even in large numbers, do not qualify
- Each dive should be logged with date, depth, task, and surface-supplied gear configuration
- Dives must occur within the 24 months immediately preceding designation
Key Takeaway
Start your qualifying-dive clock deliberately. If your 30 surface-supplied working dives are spread across three years, some may fall outside the 24-month recency window and won't count - plan your field assignments so the required dives cluster inside the two years before you apply.
Section 3.3 Knowledge Review Essentials
Because Air Diver is proficiency-based rather than a scored written exam, "content areas" aren't published as weighted exam domains the way a traditional certification test would list them. Instead, the occupational knowledge expected of a Surface-Supplied Air Diver is described in the International Consensus Standards, edition 6.5, 2025-1, section 3.3. Use that section as your knowledge-review anchor rather than searching for a domain blueprint that doesn't exist for this credential.
Practically, this means your review time should focus on:
- Surface-supplied air diving procedures and the equipment configurations tied to that mode
- Safe practices expected on a commercial dive site where field days and working dives are logged
- The distinction between surface-supplied work and recreational or other diving modes, since only surface-supplied dives count toward your 30-dive minimum
- Baseline safety concepts that overlap with first aid/CPR currency and medical fitness expectations
For a structured walkthrough of how this knowledge review connects to the rest of your preparation - including how to sequence it against your logged field time - see the exam domains guide and the companion piece on how demanding the preparation actually is.
Records You Need Ready
Before you approach the application step, assemble a single file - physical or digital - containing:
- Training records: documentation of at least 625 hours of commercial-diver instruction meeting ANSI/ACDE-01-2015 or a recognized equivalent
- Field day logs: at least 100 days, dated and ideally supervisor-verified
- Working dive logs: at least 30 surface-supplied Air Diver dives, each dated within the 24 months before designation
- First aid/CPR card: current, not expired
- Medical fitness documentation: whatever applies to your route and employer requirements
A recreational scuba certification, no matter how advanced, does not substitute for any of the items above. If your background is scuba-heavy and you're not sure how your existing hours translate, the requirements page breaks down eligibility paths in more depth.
Training File
- Confirm total hours against the 625-hour minimum
- Verify your program cites ANSI/ACDE-01-2015 or an equivalent standard
Field & Dive Logs
- Count field days toward the 100-day minimum
- Confirm 30 surface-supplied dives fall inside the 24-month window
Currency Items
- Check first aid/CPR expiration date
- Confirm medical fitness paperwork is current and applicable
Renewal, Skill N Depth, and the Five-Year Clock
Air Diver certification is valid for five years. Both new applications and renewals are processed through Skill N Depth, so it's worth creating an account and familiarizing yourself with that system well before your card is due to expire rather than scrambling at year five.
Set a calendar reminder at the four-and-a-half-year mark so you have runway to gather any updated documentation - current first aid/CPR, medical fitness, and any additional field days or dives your employer wants on file - before the renewal window closes.
Key Takeaway
Because renewal runs through Skill N Depth, keep your login credentials and document uploads current year over year - it's easier to update one record at a time than to reconstruct five years of history right before expiration.
Who Hires Surface-Supplied Air Divers
Air Diver sits at the entry point of ADCI's surface-supplied diver progression, which makes it relevant to commercial diving contractors working in inland, harbor, and inshore construction, inspection, and light salvage work where surface-supplied air diving is the standard mode. Employers in this space typically want to see the same documentation this cheat sheet covers: verified training hours, field days, and working dives, plus current first aid/CPR and medical fitness - because they need to confirm a diver meets ADCI's consensus standard before assigning them to a job site.
If you're weighing whether to pursue this classification at all, the ROI analysis and jobs overview go into more detail on how the credential is used in hiring conversations, and our earnings guide discusses how experience level factors into compensation.
A One-Week Focused Review Plan
Generic study techniques only earn a place here if they map directly onto Air Diver's specifics, so here's one week built around your actual bottleneck - not around a written test.
Audit Your Hours
- Total your documented training hours against the 625-hour minimum
- Flag any gaps against ANSI/ACDE-01-2015 equivalency
Reconcile Field Days and Dives
- Cross-check field day logs against the 100-day minimum
- Isolate the 30 surface-supplied working dives that fall inside your 24-month window
Section 3.3 Knowledge Review
- Read through the occupational knowledge content in the International Consensus Standards
- Run a set of standards-based knowledge-check questions to spot weak areas
Currency and Submission Prep
- Confirm first aid/CPR and medical fitness documentation is current
- Prepare your Skill N Depth submission package
For a longer-horizon version of this plan with more built-in review cycles, see the full study guide, and if you want a deeper look at how the review questions themselves are structured, check the passing score explainer and the pass rate discussion. You can also run through original knowledge-check questions directly on our practice test platform whenever you want a quick self-assessment against section 3.3 concepts.
FAQ
No. Air Diver is a training- and experience-based proficiency credential from ADCI, not a standalone scored written examination. Qualification is based on documented hours, field days, and working dives rather than a proctored test.
The published card fee is $175. See the certification cost breakdown for a fuller picture of associated training expenses.
No. Only surface-supplied dives count toward the 30 working dive minimum, and recreational scuba certification alone does not qualify an applicant for Air Diver.
The credential is valid for five years. Both new applications and renewals are processed through Skill N Depth.
Use section 3.3 of the International Consensus Standards, edition 6.5, 2025-1, as the reference for the occupational knowledge review tied to this classification.
Keep this page as your quick-reference checklist, then work through the linked guides - starting with what Air Diver actually is and the scheduling and deadlines guide - to turn each line item here into a completed part of your application file.