California ABC RBS Certification Training FAQ

Print or download your RBS Certificate by logging back into the CA RBS Portal to print your state certification. Click here to go to the RBS Portal

Responsible Beverage Servers certificates expire every three years from the day you complete the RBS final exam.

You must pass the RBS final exam is 50 question, and you must receive a score of 70% or better. The final exam is hosted on the RBS Portal website.

We have meet or exceeded the requirements to be an approved California RBS Training Provider. Our provider number is #312-654-990.

The server must have the certificate along with valid ID for liquor service on the premises when they are working and available for inspection.

Click here to watch the ABC RBS Video on how to register for your Server ID number.

Servers often misspell their names or use incomplete names which creates difficulties in confirming training. The California ABC RBS team now has the ability to correct errors or update name changes.

Servers can contact the California RBS at onlineservices@abc.ca.gov to request changes. The changes may require proof of legal identity.

An alcohol server, as defined under California AB 1221 includes anyone who does any of the following:

• Checks customer identification for purposes of alcoholic beverage service or entry to an ABC on-premises licensed establishment,
• Takes customer alcoholic beverage orders,
• Pours alcoholic beverages for customers, or
• Delivers alcoholic beverages to customers

A manager means any person who trains, hires, or oversees alcohol servers at an ABC on-premises licensed establishment, or any person who makes policy or operational decisions about how alcohol service is performed at an ABC on-premises licensed establishment, including but not limited to; when to check identification and when to refuse service to a customer.

California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
3927 Lennane Drive
Sacramento, California 95834
Phone 916-419-2500
California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control

Beginning in July 2022, any ABC licensee who has an “ABC On-Premises License” will need to have their staff (alcohol servers and managers of alcohol servers) trained and certified in RBS within sixty (60) days of the date of initial employment. This includes but is not limited to restaurants, bars, fast casual dining, tasting rooms (including off-sale locations), hotels, and stadiums.

RBS certification means that the alcohol server has successfully completed training by an ABC approved training provider and passed the alcohol server certification exam (hosted by ABC). Once the server has successfully completed the training and exam, their certification is valid for 3 years.

The alcohol server certification must be renewed prior to its expiration to remain valid. “ABC On-Premises License” means an ABC license that grants the privilege to serve alcoholic beverages to customers who then consume them on the licensed premises.

The following license types have On-Premises privileges: Type 1, 2, 3, 4, 23, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 83, 86, 87, 88, 99.

Once you have purchased our online training course you will have 30 days to complete the training before your course access expires.

Servers who became certified after the Spring 2021 are now eligible to renew their RBS Certifications. For a server to renew their RBS Certification they must be in their eligibility window (90 days before current certification expiration). Here are the steps for recertification:

1. Servers and License Admins/License Admin Designees (with the server on their RBS Roster) will receive notifications to their emails registered in the RBS Portal when the server is eligible to renew.
2. Servers will log into their existing Server Account on ABC Online Services (featuring the RBS Portal). If the email address they used at the initial time of registration is no longer valid, they can email onlineservces@abc.ca.gov to have their email address updated.
3. Servers will pay $3.00 to ABC
4. Servers will take an RBS training course with A+ Sever Education. Training providers have 24 hours to confirm server training in the RBS Portal.
5. Servers return to the RBS Portal once training has been confirmed (they should do a check within 24-48 hours after completing training) and have 3 attempts and 30 days to pass their alcohol server certification exam with a 70% or better.