Virginia Contractor Advanced Portion (Class A)
Practice at the real exam's pace
Every practice exam shows your time per question against the real exam's clock (2:30 here), and each topic lands in one of these:
What's on the exam
Questions per topic, out of 24Topics
Estimating and Bidding
Key Concepts
- Bid package contents. A competitive bid package often includes an invitation to bid (brief overview, deadlines, general requirements), bid instructions, bid forms (bid sheet, bid schedule, bidder's questionnaire on experience/financial responsibility, copy of the contract), and supplements (e.g., property survey, soil analysis) — Bid Documents (Page 7-1).
- Responsiveness. All instructions must be followed and all documents submitted to specification; the bidder can be found unresponsive (non-responsive) if information is incorrectly submitted or omitted altogether — Bid Documents (Page 7-1).
- Pre-bid meetings may be scheduled, especially for larger projects; the project specifications and any changes to the bid package are discussed there — Bid Documents.
- Addenda. Changes made to a bid package before it is due are issued as an addendum, which becomes part of the bid documents and ultimately part of the contract — Estimate Planning (Page 7-2).
- Ethics in bidding — Ethics in Bidding (Page 7-2):…
Contract Management
Exam: Virginia Contractor Advanced Portion (Class A)
Key Concepts
Four required elements of a binding contract — offer and acceptance, consideration, competent parties, and legal purpose. All four must be in effect (Chapter 8 — Required Contract Elements, Page 8-1).
- Offer and acceptance: an estimate or bid submitted for work is an offer. A counteroffer is not acceptance; only when both parties agree to the terms is acceptance obtained, and until then neither party is bound. If the offer states no deadline for acceptance, it expires in a "reasonable time," which is up to court interpretation case by case (Chapter 8 — Offer and Acceptance).
- Consideration: both parties must give up something of value — usually the contractor's services in exchange for the owner's monetary compensation (Chapter 8 — Consideration).
- Competent parties: parties must be of sound mind; minors are prohibited from entering contracts without parental consent (*Chapter 8 — Competent…
Project Management
Exam: Virginia contractor licensing exam — Project Management topic Reference: NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management – Virginia, 11th Ed., Chapter 9: Scheduling and Project Management
Key Concepts
Scheduling process elements (Scheduling Process section, Pages 9-1 to 9-2). The scheduling process determines: sequence of tasks, activity duration, contingency time, task time ranges, and float time.
- Sequence of tasks: Some tasks run at the same time; others must be finished first. Example: interior and exterior paint may be applied at the same time, but drywall must be completed before paint (Page 9-1).
- Activity duration depends on size of the project, labor hours estimated, and length of time dedicated to the task each day. If total time exceeds the contract completion time, consider increasing labor resources, requiring overtime, or extending the completion date (Page 9-1).
- Contingency time is a buffer between tasks to protect against unforeseen delays. Tasks subject to…
Risk Management
Key Concepts
Risk assessment. You must determine the probability of loss occurring and the consequences if it occurs; a risk with a large potential loss and low probability is handled differently from one with minimum loss but high likelihood (Insurance section, Page 4-1). Insurance is a contract in which one party indemnifies another against specified loss in return for premiums; a policy lists at minimum the policy term, coverage, premiums, and deductibles (Insurance section, Page 4-2).
Property insurance covers business and personal property when damage, theft, or loss occurs (Property Insurance, Page 4-2).
- All-risk builder's risk: provides for direct loss by those perils not specifically excluded; covers almost all risks including theft, vandalism, accidental losses, and damage or destruction. Construction must be in progress for coverage to exist. Major construction defects such as poor workmanship and faulty design are generally not covered, and your tools may not be covered (All-Risk Builder's Risk Insurance,…
Safety
Key Concepts
Guardrail strength. Guardrail systems must withstand, without failure, a force of at least 200 pounds (890 N) applied within 2 inches of the top edge, in any outward or downward direction, at any point along the top edge (§1926.502(b)(3)). The 150-pound requirement applies to midrails, screens, mesh, and intermediate structural members (§1926.502(b)(5)).
Scope of Subpart M. §1926.501 states where fall protection must be provided; §1926.502 gives installation, construction and use criteria. Fall protection for scaffolds is in subpart L, cranes and derricks in subpart CC, steel erection in subpart R, tunneling equipment in subpart S, tanks and communication/broadcast towers in §1926.105, aerial lifts/poles for transmission work in subpart V, and stairways and ladders in subpart X (§1926.500(a)(2)–(3)). Subpart M does not apply to inspections, investigations or assessments of workplace conditions before construction starts or after all work is complete (§1926.500(a)(1)).
Labor Laws
Virginia Contractor Advanced Portion (Class A)
Key Concepts
New hire reporting (Chapter 11, Employee Management) - All new, rehired, recalled, and temporary employees must be reported to the Virginia New Hire Reporting Program no later than 20 days from the date of hire or rehire. - Employers submitting magnetically or electronically must send reports in two monthly transmissions no more than 16 days apart. - Failure to comply: $25 fine per incident for failure to report, up to $500 per employee. - Required data: employer name, employer address, employer federal identification number, employee name, employee address, employee Social Security number, employee first day of work, and a statement of whether the employee is a hire or rehire. - Uses: establish/enforce child support orders; detect unemployment benefits fraud; detect workers' compensation fraud; detect fraud in other government programs such as welfare and food stamps. - The federal requirement came from the **Personal Responsibility and Work…
Financial Management
Based on the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management — Virginia, 11th Edition, Chapter 14
Key Concepts
- Accounting's purpose: collecting, analyzing, and reporting information to develop tools such as financial statements used to evaluate the company's financial aspects. Bookkeeping is the first step and involves the clerical side of accounting (Chapter 14, Bookkeeping section, p. 14-1).
- The accounting cycle repeats each reporting period in this order: (1) Classifying and recording transactions, (2) Posting transactions, (3) Preparing a trial balance, (4) Preparing an adjusted trial balance, (5) Preparing financial statements, (6) Analyzing financial statements (The Accounting Cycle section, p. 14-1).
- Journals: cash receipts and sales journal (cash in or a charged sale); purchases journal (all purchases); cash disbursements journal (cash paid out — loan payments, vendor invoices); payroll journal (summary of salaries and wages, deductions, and employer contributions); general journal (non-cash transactions) (Classify and Record Transactions section, p. 14-2).…
Federal and State Taxes
Virginia Contractor Advanced Portion (Class A)
Key Concepts
Employer Identification Number (EIN) — Tax Basics chapter, Employer Identification Number section (Page 15) - Only two entity types do not need an EIN: sole proprietorships with no employees that file no excise or pension tax returns, and LLCs with a single owner (where the owner files employment tax returns). In those cases the owner uses his or her social security number as the taxpayer identification number. - All other business entities, including partnerships, are required to obtain an EIN. - Obtained by completing Form SS-4, submitted by phone (Business and Specialty Tax Line, 800-829-4933), fax, mail, or online at www.irs.gov. - The EIN is a 9-digit number issued by the IRS, arranged 00-0000000.
Three general types of business taxes — Federal Business Taxes section: income tax, self-employment tax, and employment taxes.
Lien Laws
Key Concepts
What a lien is / governing law. A mechanics' lien clouds title to real property and may be foreclosed in a lawsuit; the court can order the property sold and proceeds used to pay the claimant — even if the owner already paid the general contractor, meaning the owner may have to pay twice. The law is in the Code of Virginia, Title 43, Chapter 1 (Chapter 16, p. 169).
Who is entitled (§ 43-1, § 43-3). "General contractor" includes contractors, laborers, mechanics, and persons furnishing materials who contract directly with the owner; "subcontractor" includes those who do not contract with the owner but with the general contractor (§ 43-1). Persons supplying labor or materials to a subcontractor also have lien rights (p. 169). § 43-3 grants the lien to all persons performing labor or furnishing materials "of the value of $150 or more, including the reasonable rental or use value of…