- The CLSD exam has 150 multiple-choice questions, 180 minutes, and a 70% passing score.
- The U.S. application, online study guide and exam package costs $530.50, including approximately 40 hours of self-paced review.
- Eligibility starts with one year as a security director or security department head.
- Two paid retakes are available within one year of application approval.
The One-Screen Snapshot
This page condenses the Certified Lodging Security Director credential into the facts you should be able to recite without notes. The credential comes from the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI), the AHLA's educational arm, and the exam is delivered through ExamFlex with a registered proctor. If you want the broader picture first, start with What Is CLSD Certification? and come back here for the quick-reference version.
Note on independence: CLSD Exam Prep is independent exam preparation. We are not AHLEI or AHLA, and the practice material on this site is original, not copied from the official exam. Always confirm current details with AHLEI before you pay or schedule.
| Item | What to Know |
|---|---|
| Credential | Certified Lodging Security Director (CLSD) |
| Issuer | American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) |
| Delivery | ExamFlex, with a registered proctor |
| Questions | 150 multiple choice |
| Time limit | 180 minutes |
| Passing score | 70% |
| U.S. package price | $530.50 (application, online study guide and exam) |
| Study guide | Approximately 40 hours, self-paced |
| Retakes | Two paid retakes within one year of application approval |
| U.S. recertification fee | $204 |
Eligibility Rules to Memorize
Eligibility is where candidates most often lose time, so it deserves its own block. The core requirement is one year of experience as a security director or security department head. A separate corporate or regional path exists for candidates whose security responsibility covers a firm operating at least three properties.
Experience Requirement Quick Reference
Know the standard path and the two adjustments that can change it.
- Standard: one year as a security director or security department head.
- Corporate or regional: security responsibility for a firm operating at least three properties.
- Possible reduction: an accredited degree or a current AHLEI management, department-head or executive certification can support a six-month experience reduction.
Note the wording: the degree or AHLEI certification can support a reduction. Treat it as something to document and confirm during your application, not an automatic credit. For the full walkthrough of prerequisites and how to present your work history, see CLSD Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify.
Exam Format, Fees and Retakes
Format in one line
150 multiple-choice questions in 180 minutes works out to roughly 72 seconds per question on average. That is a comfortable pace for straightforward recall items and a tight one for scenario items that require you to weigh several plausible responses. Plan to bank time on easy questions and spend it on the scenario-heavy ones.
Passing score
The passing score is 70%. On 150 questions, that means getting 105 correct. For more on how the threshold works and what it implies for your preparation, read CLSD Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass.
Money facts
- $530.50: U.S. application, online study guide and exam package.
- Two paid retakes: available within one year of application approval. The word "paid" matters, so budget for them rather than assuming a retake is free.
- $204: U.S. recertification fee.
The Five-Domain Review Sheet
AHLEI's assessed competencies are organized into five areas, and we use them here as study categories. Each box below lists the kind of material you should be able to explain in your own words. For a deeper treatment of each area, the companion piece CLSD Exam Domains 2026: Complete Guide to All 5 Content Areas goes domain by domain.
Domain 1: Hotel Security Planning
Planning is the foundation. Expect to reason about how a property assesses risk and builds a security program around it.
- Property-specific risk assessment and how findings shape staffing and procedures.
- Security department organization, roles, and reporting lines.
- Written policies, post orders, and incident documentation practices.
- Coordination between security and other departments such as front desk, housekeeping, and engineering.
Domain 2: Guest and Hotel Asset Protection
This domain covers protecting people and property in a setting where the public comes and goes around the clock.
- Guestroom, key control, and access management concepts.
- Protecting guest belongings, hotel inventory, cash handling areas, and back-of-house spaces.
- Surveillance, lighting, patrols, and other physical and procedural controls.
- Handling theft, disturbances, and suspicious activity consistently.
Domain 3: Emergency Management
Hotels house sleeping guests in unfamiliar buildings, which makes emergency preparedness a defining responsibility.
- Emergency planning, response roles, and communication with guests and staff.
- Fire, medical, severe weather, and security-threat scenarios.
- Coordination with public safety agencies.
- Training, drills, and post-incident review.
Domain 4: Hospitality Law
Legal concepts frame almost every security decision a director makes.
- Foundational legal principles that apply to lodging operations.
- Duty of care concepts and what they mean for a property's security posture.
- How negligence arguments arise and how documentation and reasonable precautions bear on them.
- Relevant regulatory concepts a security leader must recognize.
Domain 5: Hotel's Legal Rights and Responsibilities
This domain turns the law toward the property itself: what the hotel may do, and what it must do.
- The property's rights regarding guests, visitors, and refusal of service.
- Responsibilities toward guests, employees, and third parties.
- Rules around searches, detention, and use of force as they relate to hotel security practice.
- Record-keeping and reporting obligations after incidents.
Key Takeaway
Two of the five domains are legal in character. Candidates from operations-heavy backgrounds often find Domains 4 and 5 less intuitive than planning or emergency work, so give them dedicated study time rather than leaving them for the end.
How the Questions Tend to Read
The exam is all multiple choice, but multiple choice does not mean simple recall. Expect a mix of two broad types.
- Definition and principle items: test whether you know the correct term, the correct sequence, or the correct responsibility.
- Scenario items: describe a situation at a property and ask for the best or most appropriate action. The distractors are usually reasonable-sounding actions, so the skill is ranking them by priority, legality, and documentation.
Here is an original illustration of the scenario style (not an official exam item):
Notice the pattern: the best option tends to be the one that is procedural, documented, and legally cautious. When two answers both seem defensible, prefer the one that protects people first and creates a clear record. To judge how demanding this style feels in practice, How Hard Is the CLSD Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 breaks down what candidates tend to find challenging.
Where the Credential Gets Used
The CLSD is aimed at people who lead security in lodging. The most natural fits are:
- Security directors and department heads at individual hotels and resorts.
- Corporate or regional security leaders overseeing multiple properties, which aligns with the three-property eligibility path.
- Management companies and hotel groups that want consistent security leadership across their portfolio.
The credential signals that you can plan a security program, protect guests and assets, manage emergencies, and navigate the legal environment of hospitality. For a look at how roles and openings are typically structured, see CLSD Jobs, and for pay context use CLSD Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis. If you are weighing whether the investment pays off, Is the CLSD Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 lays out the reasoning.
Mapping the 40 Hours to the Domains
The study guide offers approximately 40 hours of self-paced review. That is not a lot of time for five domains, so how you sequence it matters more than how you pace it. A reasonable order is to put the unfamiliar material early and the familiar material late, and to finish with mixed practice.
Hospitality Law and Legal Rights (Domains 4 and 5)
- Start here because legal reasoning is the hardest to absorb quickly.
- Make a one-page list of what a hotel may and must do in common incident types.
Planning and Asset Protection (Domains 1 and 2)
- Connect risk assessment to the controls it justifies.
- Review key control, surveillance, and documentation practices.
Emergency Management (Domain 3)
- Walk through fire, medical, weather, and threat scenarios step by step.
- Practice ordering response actions by priority.
Mixed Practice and Weak-Spot Repair
- Take full-length timed sets of 150 questions to rehearse the 180-minute pace.
- Return to whichever domain produced the most misses.
You can use our CLSD practice tests for the timed sets in the final week. For a fuller preparation plan, including resource choices, read the CLSD Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt.
Last-Week Checklist
- Confirm logistics: your application is approved, your ExamFlex appointment is set, and you understand the proctoring requirements. Timing and windows are covered in CLSD Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling.
- Recite the numbers: 150 questions, 180 minutes, 70% to pass, 105 correct answers needed.
- Review the five domain names in order and say one high-value point for each from memory.
- Rehearse the decision rule for scenario items: protect people, follow policy, document, and stay legally cautious.
- Run one more timed set from the practice question bank and review every miss, not just the ones you were unsure about.
- Know your fallback: two paid retakes exist within one year of application approval, so a bad day is recoverable, but plan to pass the first time.
If you are still working out what the credential means before committing, the explainers What Does CLSD Stand For? and CLSD Training fill in background, and the full CLSD Pass Rate 2026: What the Data Shows article discusses what is and is not publicly known about outcomes.
FAQ
The exam has 150 multiple-choice questions and a 180-minute time limit, according to AHLEI's regional exam listing. That averages a little over a minute per question.
The passing score is 70%. On a 150-question exam, that corresponds to 105 correct answers.
The U.S. application, online study guide and exam package is $530.50. Retakes are paid, and the U.S. recertification fee is $204.
The standard requirement is one year as a security director or security department head. Corporate or regional candidates may qualify with security responsibility for a firm operating at least three properties, and an accredited degree or current AHLEI management, department-head or executive certification can support a six-month experience reduction.
Two paid retakes are available within one year of application approval. Use your score feedback and your practice-test results to target the domains where you were weakest before you retake.