United States
Hong KongSitting it with field experience only
Field experience covers the trade categories well, which is 44 questions across nine categories. It covers Procurement and Contracting at 31 questions barely at all, and that is where preparation has to go.
A common position: years of building things, little exposure to how the business around it works.
What your experience covers
The trade categories, and covers them well. Concrete, wood, masonry, finishes, metals - you have done this and the numbers will feel familiar.
Those nine categories total 44 questions.
What it does not cover
Procurement and Contracting Requirements, 31 questions, and the parts of General Requirements dealing with recordkeeping, citations and administration.
- Bidding and the award of contracts
- Bond types and what each guarantees
- Lien rights and their deadlines
- Change orders, claims and delay entitlement
- Business entity liability and taxation
- Estimating, markup, overhead and break-even
You know what is safe. The exam asks what the standard requires, which is a specific number in a specific subpart. Working safely for twenty years does not tell you that the scaffold trigger is ten feet and the steel erection trigger is fifteen.
The advantage you have
Context. When a question describes a site situation you can picture it, and that makes the comprehension questions faster than they are for somebody working from a book.
Where to spend the time
The business and law reference, tabbed finely, worked through with practice questions. Then the OSHA numbers as a memorization and lookup exercise.
The trade categories get a single pass to confirm the numbers match what you thought.
Common questions
Can I pass the NASCLA exam with only field experience?
Yes, but the preparation goes into contracts, business and OSHA specifics rather than into the trades.
What does field experience cover?
The trade categories, totaling 44 questions across nine categories.
What is the gap?
Procurement and Contracting at 31 questions - bidding, bonds, liens, claims, business structure and estimating.
Does working safely cover the OSHA questions?
No. The exam asks what the standard requires, which is a specific number in a specific subpart.
What advantage does field experience give?
Context. You can picture the situations questions describe, which makes comprehension questions faster.