The Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) Initial Competency Assessment is a 19-task skills check you must pass after your 40-hour training and no more than 90 days before you submit your BACB application. A BCBA or BCaBA who has completed the 8-hour supervision training leads it, and at least 3 of the skill-acquisition and behavior-reduction tasks have to be shown with a real client rather than in role-play. It can be done in person, live over the internet, or from videos recorded for the assessment, across as many sessions as needed. The initial-assessment details below follow the BACB packet effective January 1, 2026.
- What tasks are on the RBT competency assessment?
- The 2026 form has 19 tasks in four sections. Measurement covers continuous measurement, discontinuous measurement, and data and graphs (tasks 1 to 3). Assessment covers preference assessments and ABC data (4 and 5). Skill Acquisition and Behavior Reduction includes discrete-trial teaching, naturalistic teaching, chaining, shaping, discrimination training, prompting, token systems, crisis or emergency procedures, and one of antecedent interventions, differential reinforcement or extinction (6 to 14). Professionalism and Requirements covers session notes, client dignity, professional boundaries, supervision requirements and clinical direction (15 to 19).
- Who can conduct the RBT competency assessment?
- A Responsible Assessor who holds BCaBA or BCBA certification and has completed the 8-hour supervision training. Assistant assessors may help if they hold an active RBT certification or higher and have shown proficiency through direct observation. No assessor may be related to, subordinate to, or employed by you, and everyone involved must work for, or contract with, the organization that serves the client. The person who taught your 40-hour training is allowed to be your assessor.
- Can the competency assessment be done online or by role-play?
- Yes, within limits. Besides in-person sessions, the BACB allows live sessions over the internet and observation of videos recorded specifically for the assessment. Role-play is permitted when circumstances do not allow working with a client, but three tasks in the Skill Acquisition and Behavior Reduction section must still be demonstrated with a client. Tasks 16 to 19 are assessed by interview only.
- What happens if I fail a task on the competency assessment?
- You try again. The assessor can give corrective feedback and assess that task on another day, repeating the process until you show competence, although no corrective feedback may be given during the final assessment of a task. Your application must include the completed BACB form (other forms are rejected), and the Responsible Assessor keeps the records for at least seven years.
- Is there a competency assessment for RBT renewal?
- RBTs who recertify in 2026 complete the Recertification Competency Assessment, a 20-task version that cannot be completed more than 45 days before the certification expires. Under the BACB transition rules, 2026 is the last recertification that requires it before the new 2-year recertification cycle begins.