(1) The date and location of written examinations must be established by the health care authority. Applicants who have been found by the health care authority to meet other requirements for obtaining a certificate must be scheduled for the next examination following the filing of the application. The health care authority shall establish by rule the examination application deadline.

(2) The health care authority shall administer written examinations to each applicant, by means determined most effective, on subjects appropriate to the scope of practice, as applicable. The examinations must be limited to the purpose of determining whether the applicant possesses the minimum skill and knowledge necessary to practice competently.

(3) The examination materials, all grading of the materials, and the grading of any practical work must be preserved for a period of not less than one year after the health care authority has made and published the decisions. All examinations must be conducted under fair and wholly impartial methods.

(4) Any applicant failing to make the required grade in the first written examination may take up to three subsequent written examinations as the applicant desires upon prepaying a fee determined by the health care authority for each subsequent written examination. Upon failing four written examinations, the health care authority may invalidate the original application and require remedial education before the person may take future written examinations.

(5) The health care authority may approve a written examination prepared or administered by a private organization that credentials and renews credentials for peer counselors, or an association of credentialing agencies, for use by an applicant in meeting the credentialing requirements.