The Certified Registered Central Service Technician (CRCST) renews based on the month you earned it – not January 1st. If you passed your exam in October, your renewal is due by October 31st every year. That calendar detail seems minor until your October comes and goes while you are still scrambling to log continuing education (CE) credits in what you wrongly assumed was a December deadline. CRCST recertification is annual. No two-year cycles, no three-year windows. Every 12 months, Healthcare Sterile Processing Association (HSPA) expects 12 CE credits and $50. Missing that window does not trigger a grace period in the sense most people expect – it triggers a suspension.