United States
Hong KongIs the NASCLA exam hard?
It is hard navigationally rather than intellectually. The material is trade knowledge most contractors have, and the difficulty is locating the right provision across two dozen references in about 158 seconds a question.
Hard in a way that surprises people, because it is not the kind of hard the words open book suggest.
Not intellectually difficult
The content is trade material: OSHA construction standards, building code provisions, contract and business practice. A working commercial contractor has met nearly all of it.
There is no advanced mathematics, no theory and nothing requiring a qualification you do not have.
Difficult navigationally
Twelve categories, around 24 approved references, 125 questions, 330 minutes.
About 158 seconds a question. A lookup in a properly tabbed book takes thirty seconds. The same lookup in an untabbed one takes four minutes, and there is your exam. That is the gap. Tab the books.
Candidates do not fail because they did not know the answer. They fail because they could not find it in time, and that is a preparation problem rather than a knowledge one.
What makes it easier than it looks
- 34 wrong answers allowed out of 115 scored
- Open book, so nothing has to be memorized exactly
- A published pass mark stated as a count, so you know the target
- Twelve categories with published question counts, so you know where the weight sits
Where the weight actually sits
Procurement and Contracting Requirements is 31 questions and General Requirements is 25. Between them that is 56 of 115, nearly half the scored paper.
Both are business and safety rather than trade craft, which is not where most contractors expect the weight to be.
The honest summary
Manageable for a prepared candidate and brutal for an unprepared one, with a wider gap between those two states than most exams have.
Common questions
How hard is the NASCLA exam?
Navigationally hard rather than intellectually. The material is familiar trade content; finding it across 24 books under a clock is the challenge.
Does open book make it easy?
No. A lookup in an untabbed book takes minutes you do not have at about 158 seconds a question.
What is the biggest category?
Procurement and Contracting Requirements at 31 questions, followed by General Requirements at 25.
How many can I get wrong?
34 of the 115 scored questions.
What separates passing from failing?
Preparation of the books rather than knowledge of the trade. Most failures are candidates who knew the answer and could not find it.