Tennessee - NASCLA Commercial Building Contractor Examination

On the income statement, direct costs are tied to a particular project (materials, subcontractor fees, permit fees, labor), while operating/indirect expenses are not project-specific (office salaries, advertising, warehouse rental).

Named peril policies are narrower and cover only the perils specifically listed (typically fire and lightning, and possibly wind, explosion, water damage, terrorism or earthquake), whereas all-risk coverage is broader.

A letter of credit is not a bond and not a guarantee of performance but a cash guarantee customarily covering only 5 to 10 percent of the contract, while performance bonds are usually set at 100 percent of the contracted price and maintenance bonds often at 10 percent of construction cost.

Per IBC 2021 Section 1610.1, walls whose horizontal movement is restricted at the top must be designed for at-rest pressure, while retaining walls free to move and rotate at the top—and (by exception) foundation walls extending not more than 8 feet below grade that are laterally supported at the top by flexible diaphragms—are permitted to be designed for active pressure.

The registered design professional must indicate on the construction documents the joist/joist girder designations, design requirements, layout, end supports, anchorage, bridging design differing from SJI, bridging termination connections and bearing connection design for uplift and lateral loads; the manufacturer designs the joists to support those loads and, when required, submits sealed calculations plus connection design for connections differing from SJI, field splices and joist headers.

Field-cured specimens stay on site under the same conditions as the placement and may be used to determine when it is safe to remove forms, while acceptance strength is determined from laboratory-cured cylinders tested under ASTM C39.

Free float is the time an activity can be delayed without impacting the early start of the next activity, while total float is the leeway allowed without delaying the overall project completion date; activities with zero float are critical.

Bar chart and calendar scheduling do not show the interdependencies of activities (so a delay's impact on other tasks is not shown), while CPM illustrates interdependent task relationships, simultaneous events and the critical path that determines project duration.

Under IRS guidelines (behavioral control, financial control, type of relationship), a worker who uses his own tools and methods, advertises to multiple companies, is paid a flat-fee bid and can realize a profit or loss is more likely an independent contractor rather than an employee.

An S corporation passes income, loss, deduction and credits through to shareholders' separate returns (avoiding double federal taxation) and is limited to one class of stock and no more than 100 shareholders, while a C corporation is taxed at the corporate level and shareholders are taxed again on dividends.

Depreciation from the original purchase price is an ownership cost tied to the asset's declining value, while fuel, operator labor and operator training/licensing are operating and use-related costs.

Where the ground surface is covered with a Class I vapor retarder, net ventilation opening area is reduced to not less than 1 square foot per 1,500 square feet of crawl space area, versus 1 square foot per 150 square feet for uncovered earth floors.

In covered and open mall buildings the path of travel to required public and employee toilet facilities shall not exceed 300 feet from the main entrance of any store or tenant space (and the facilities may be no more than one story above or below), while the 500-foot limit applies to occupancies other than malls.

A profile is the side view taken parallel to the center line showing heights, depths and slopes, while a cross section is a cutaway view perpendicular to the longitudinal axis or center line.