- What "36 Content Areas" Actually Means
- Who Issues FEAD and How the Exam Is Delivered
- DC Component: Domains 1-18
- AC Component: Domains 19-36
- Where the Two Lists Overlap
- The Skills Behind the Topic Names
- Mapping Domains to Practice Questions
- Sequencing the Domains Over Several Weeks
- Passing Requirements and Policy Details
- FAQ
- FEAD is Fundamentals of Electricity - AC/DC, issued by Festo Didactic through the Festo Industry Certification Program with NC3.
- The 36 domains combine 18 DC topics and 18 AC topics from Festo's September 2025 component documents.
- These are unweighted preparation topics, not an official 36-section exam blueprint.
- Students need at least 70% on each certification examination plus completed hands-on labs.
What "36 Content Areas" Actually Means
The number 36 is a count of published preparation topics, and it helps to read it carefully before building a study plan. Festo publishes two component documents for the electricity credential: one for Fundamentals of Electricity - Direct Current (DC) and one for Fundamentals of Electricity - Alternating Current (AC). Each lists the Industry Recognized Certification Topics it prepares students for. This guide reproduces every item from both lists, 18 from the DC document and 18 from the AC document, and numbers them 1 through 36.
That distinction matters for how you study. Because no weights are published, you cannot safely skip a domain on the theory that it is "worth less." You also cannot assume that a domain with a long name carries more questions than one with a short name. The reliable approach is to cover all of it, then spend extra time where your hands-on skills are weakest.
Who Issues FEAD and How the Exam Is Delivered
FEAD is shorthand on this site for Fundamentals of Electricity - AC/DC, a Level 1 credential from Festo Didactic. It runs through the Festo Industry Certification Program (FICP) in partnership with the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3). Examinations are delivered through NC3Certs by participating institutions, so you do not simply book a seat at an open testing center. Your school or training provider is part of the process. If you are new to the name and the acronym, What Does FEAD Stand For? covers the terminology.
Several facts about delivery are worth stating plainly, because they shape how you prepare:
- Students must receive training from an actively certified NC3 instructor at a properly equipped institution.
- Required hands-on labs must be completed. Knowledge assessment and practical lab completion are separate requirements.
- Exams follow the issuing school's proctoring rules.
- NC3Certs access requires an active email account for two-factor authentication.
- The combined portfolio label does not tell us whether a single combined exam or separate DC and AC exams are currently delivered, so this guide does not quote question counts or timers.
Eligibility details are covered in FEAD Requirements 2026: Eligibility, Prerequisites & How to Qualify, and fee questions in FEAD Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown.
DC Component: Domains 1-18
The DC list is built around the Fundamentals of Electricity - Direct Current course, which the sheet describes as 10 units with 10 labs. Those are curriculum quantities, not exam question counts or course-hour totals. The 18 DC topics fall naturally into four clusters.
Foundations and safety (Domains 1-4)
Domain 1: Safety
The first topic on the list and a recurring one. Expect to apply safe working practice to labs and circuits, not just recite rules.
- Hazard awareness when working with energized circuits
- Safe use of instruments and test leads
- De-energizing and verifying before touching a circuit
Domains 2-4: History, Electricity Basics, Basic Electrical Wiring
Electrical Engineering History is the lightest topic conceptually, but it is a published item, so do not leave it unread. Electricity Basics covers charge, current, voltage, and the vocabulary everything else depends on. Basic Electrical Wiring is where schematic symbols meet physical connections.
- Core terms: voltage, current, resistance, power
- Reading a simple schematic and wiring it correctly
- Recognizing open, closed, and shorted conditions
Circuit laws and measurement (Domains 5-8)
Domains 5-6: Ohm's Law and Kirchhoff's Voltage and Current Laws
These are the calculation backbone of the DC half. Candidates should move fluently between V, I, and R, and apply KVL and KCL to circuits with more than one source or branch.
- Rearranging Ohm's law without hesitation
- Summing voltage drops around a loop
- Balancing currents at a node
Domains 7-8: Using Measuring Instruments and Solving Series and Parallel Circuits
The instrument topic names voltmeters, ammeters, and ohmmeters. Knowing which meter goes in series, which goes in parallel, and which requires the circuit to be unpowered is classic fundamentals material. Series and parallel solving then asks you to reduce networks to equivalent values.
- Meter placement and range selection
- Equivalent resistance for series, parallel, and combination circuits
- Predicting what a meter should read before you measure
Components and electromagnetic devices (Domains 9-14)
This cluster moves from passive circuits to devices that store or convert energy. Domain 9 covers DC capacitors and Domain 10 DC relays. Domains 11 and 12 split electromagnetism from magnetism, so study the field produced by current separately from permanent-magnet behavior. Domain 13 is the DC motor and Domain 14 the solenoid. Together they test whether you understand how a coil, a magnetic field, and motion relate.
Components, resistance, and fault-finding (Domains 15-18)
Domain 15 is a survey of electrical components: power sources, resistors, inductors, capacitors, transformers, switches, relays, and motors. Domain 16 covers electrical measurement equipment, Domain 17 electrical resistance, and Domain 18 troubleshooting electrical circuits. Domain 18 is where everything above becomes diagnostic: given a symptom, which measurement narrows the fault fastest?
AC Component: Domains 19-36
The AC list comes from the Fundamentals of Electricity - Alternating Current course, which the sheet describes as 6 units with 6 labs. Again, these are curriculum quantities and not exam lengths. The AC topics shift emphasis from isolated circuits toward distribution, protection, and equipment you would find in a building or plant.
Laws, instruments, and circuits (Domains 19-23)
Domain 19 repeats Safety, Domain 20 is Basic concepts of electrical circuits, Domain 21 combines Ohm's and Kirchhoff's laws into a single topic, Domain 22 repeats measuring instruments, and Domain 23 repeats solving series and parallel circuits. The repetition is deliberate: the AC course expects the DC skills to carry over, and it adds alternating-current behavior on top.
Electromagnetism, distribution, and troubleshooting (Domains 24-28)
Domains 24-26: Electromagnetism, Electrical Distribution, Troubleshooting
Electromagnetism returns here because induction and transformer action depend on it. Electrical distribution introduces how power is routed from source to load. Troubleshooting appears again, now in an AC context.
- How a changing magnetic field relates to induced voltage
- The path power takes through a distribution arrangement
- Isolating a fault in an AC circuit methodically
Domain 27 is the AC component survey, covering power sources, resistors, inductors, capacitors, transformers, switches, relays, and motors. Domain 28 is Electricity Basics again, which is a useful signal: the AC course does not assume you retained the DC vocabulary, so expect the basics to be restated.
AC components and protection (Domains 29-34)
| Domain | Topic | What to be ready for |
|---|---|---|
| 29 | Basics of AC Capacitors | How a capacitor behaves when the voltage keeps reversing |
| 30 | Electrical Measurement Equipment | Selecting and reading instruments for AC quantities |
| 31 | Basic Electrical Wiring | Wiring from schematics in AC arrangements |
| 32 | Inductor, Transformers, Relays, Contactors, Circuit Breakers | Function and symbol of each device, and how they differ |
| 33 | Basics of Electrical Panels | What a panel contains and how circuits are organized in it |
| 34 | Basics of Fuses | How a fuse protects a circuit and how it differs from a breaker |
Distribution network and troubleshooting (Domains 35-36)
The list closes with Basics of Distribution Network (Domain 35) and Basics of Troubleshooting (Domain 36). By this point the AC course has moved from a single circuit to the system that feeds it, and the final topic ties it together with a diagnostic mindset.
Where the Two Lists Overlap
Because the 36 count includes intentional overlaps, several themes appear twice. Recognizing them saves study time, since one solid understanding serves two domain numbers.
| Theme | DC domain | AC domain |
|---|---|---|
| Safety | 1 | 19 |
| Electricity basics | 3 | 20, 28 |
| Wiring | 4 | 31 |
| Ohm's and Kirchhoff's laws | 5, 6 | 21 |
| Measuring instruments and equipment | 7, 16 | 22, 30 |
| Series and parallel circuits | 8 | 23 |
| Electromagnetism | 11 | 24 |
| Component survey | 15 | 27 |
| Troubleshooting | 18 | 26, 36 |
The Skills Behind the Topic Names
The older combined program guide, a March 2023 file for Level 1: Fundamentals - Electricity, lists nine Industry Recognized Certification Topics. That guide is a historical, unweighted combined curriculum and not a current exam-section count, so the September 2025 component lists control this mapping. Still, its competencies are useful for understanding what the topic names are really asking you to do:
- Read schematics and translate them into physical wiring.
- Construct circuits on a trainer or board from a diagram.
- Calculate impedance and reactance in AC circuits, which is the AC counterpart to the resistance work in the DC half.
- Take practical measurements with the right instrument in the right configuration.
- Find faults by reasoning from symptoms to causes.
This is why the credential rewards lab time. A candidate who has only read about a voltmeter will hesitate when asked how to connect one. The labs are not decoration; they are the other half of the requirement. If you are weighing whether that hands-on emphasis translates into work, FEAD Jobs looks at the roles where these skills get used.
Mapping Domains to Practice Questions
Because exact question counts, durations, and formats have not been verified, build practice around skills rather than around a guessed exam shape. Write or seek out original questions in four styles that match the topic names:
- Calculation: given a circuit, find an unknown current, voltage, resistance, impedance, or reactance (Domains 5, 6, 8, 17, 21, 23).
- Identification: name a component from its symbol or describe what it does (Domains 15, 27, 32, 33, 34).
- Procedure: choose the correct way to connect or read an instrument (Domains 7, 16, 22, 30).
- Diagnosis: given a symptom and a set of readings, identify the likely fault (Domains 18, 26, 36).
Key Takeaway
Write your own practice questions from the domain names rather than hunting for leaked material. NC3's agreement does not authorize copying or commercial redistribution of its exam bank, lab files, or protected instructional materials, and original questions force you to understand each topic well enough to test it. You can drill on original material at our main practice test site.
Sequencing the Domains Over Several Weeks
Order matters more than volume here, because the later domains assume the earlier ones. This is the one place a schedule is useful, and it is tied directly to the domain numbers above.
Safety, basics, and Ohm's law
- Domains 1-3 and 5, then 17
- Drill V, I, R, and power until rearranging is automatic
Kirchhoff, series/parallel, and instruments
- Domains 4, 6, 7, 8, and 16
- Predict every meter reading before measuring it
Capacitors, magnetism, and electromechanical devices
- Domains 9-14, plus the component survey in Domain 15
- Keep electromagnetism and magnetism as separate notes
Troubleshooting and the AC transition
- Domains 18 and 20-24
- Practice fault-finding on DC circuits before adding AC
Distribution, protection, and AC troubleshooting
- Domains 25-36, especially panels, fuses, breakers, and the distribution network
- Finish with mixed diagnosis questions across both halves
For a fuller approach to pacing and review, see the FEAD Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt, and keep the FEAD Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts nearby for last-minute review.
Passing Requirements and Policy Details
The pass standard comes from the NC3Certs End User License Agreement: students must score at least 70% on each certification examination. Passing the knowledge assessment does not replace the lab requirement, and completing labs does not replace the exam. Both are required. The same agreement states that student recertification is not required. Instructor requirements are separate, with an 80% threshold and recertification every three years, so do not confuse the two.
On cost, the only fee figure in the verified material is the NC3 agreement's USD $500 annual institutional LMS fee, which is waived for active member institutions. That is an institutional charge, not a student exam price, and no student exam fee has been verified. Because your school sits between you and the exam, ask your instructor or program office what, if anything, you will be charged, and check FEAD Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling for how scheduling typically works.
If you are weighing the credential itself, Is the FEAD Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026 and How Hard Is the FEAD Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 take the decision from two angles. When you are ready to test yourself against the domains above, start with the practice questions at the main practice test site.
FAQ
No. The 36 is a count of topics across Festo's DC and AC component lists, including intentional overlaps. The issuer publishes them as unweighted preparation topics, not as a formal combined-exam blueprint of 36 sections.
Safety, electricity basics, wiring, Ohm's and Kirchhoff's laws, measuring instruments and equipment, series and parallel circuits, electromagnetism, the component survey, and troubleshooting all appear in both lists, sometimes under slightly different wording.
Yes. NC3's student terms treat the knowledge assessment and the required hands-on labs as separate requirements. You also need training from an actively certified NC3 instructor at a properly equipped institution.
Students must score at least 70% on each certification examination under the NC3Certs agreement. The 80% figure and three-year recertification apply to instructors, not students.
Exact question counts and sitting durations have not been verified, and the combined portfolio label does not confirm whether one combined exam or separate component exams are delivered. Ask your instructor or school, and avoid relying on unsourced figures.