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Alabama Building Contractor Under Four Stories — Practice Exam

What This Practice Exam Covers

This practice exam targets the Alabama Building Contractor Under Four Stories licensing exam: 90 questions, 230 minutes, 70% to pass.

Free practice exam: You get 10 questions per attempt pulled from a limited pool. Retake it as many times as you want. It gives you a feel for the format and question style before you commit to anything.

Full practice exam: 90 questions, 230-minute timer — same format as the real thing. Questions are drawn from a pool of 703+ items, so no two attempts are identical. Every retake is a fresh exam. Topics match what the official test provider has published. If you're serious about passing, this is how you find your weak spots before they cost you on exam day.

Start with the free version. If you're scoring below 80% on that, the full exam will show you exactly where to focus.

What You'll Be Tested On

General Code and Construction Knowledge — 20 items
The heaviest topic on the exam. Expect occupancy classifications, building height and area limits by construction type, fire-resistance ratings, and means of egress. You need to know occupant load calculations (IBC Table 1004.5), exit width sizing (IBC Section 1005.3.1), and travel distance limits (IBC Table 1017.2). Fire wall requirements under IBC Sections 706.5 and 706.8 show up, as do shaft enclosures (IBC Section 713.4) and smoke barriers (IBC Section 709.3). IECC energy requirements appear here too — thermal envelope, air barrier compliance, and duct sealing. This topic also includes straightforward labor and production math: crew size, daily output, and scheduling calculations.

Carpentry — 16 items
The second heaviest topic. Know lumber grades, moisture content limits, and how to read span tables for joists and rafters. Wall framing questions test stud sizing, header spans, and sheathing nailing schedules — including IBC Table R602.3(3). Floor framing covers joist sizing, girder bearing, and subfloor attachment. Roof truss questions reference BCSI guidelines for handling, temporary lateral restraint, and permanent bracing. Engineered wood products (LVL, I-joists, glulam, OSB) appear regularly. Know the differences — an I-joist is not interchangeable with dimensional lumber in every application.

Roofing — 10 items
Rafter math is tested directly. You need the Pythagorean theorem, unit-length method, and step-off method for common rafters. Hip, valley, and jack rafter lengths require the same calculation skills applied at different angles. Roof sheathing installation references IRC Table R803.1 and Section R803.2.1. Covering types — asphalt shingles, wood shakes, clay tile, metal, built-up — each have specific underlayment, fastening, and slope requirements. Ice barrier and underlayment placement rules appear under IRC Section R905.2.1 and R905.2.5. Know minimum slopes for each covering type.

Associated Trades — 10 items
Questions here span plumbing, electrical, mechanical, fuel gas, and gypsum board. Electrical questions hit GFCI and AFCI requirements and branch circuit sizing. Plumbing tests trap requirements, venting, and backflow prevention. Mechanical questions cover duct construction, exhaust systems, and combustion air per IRC mechanical chapters. Gypsum board questions include fastener schedules (IBC Chapter 25, Table 25.06.1), finishing levels, and fire-rated assembly requirements.

Sitework, Footings and Foundation — 8 items
Soil classification and presumptive bearing values from IBC Table 1806.2 are tested. Know footing size and depth rules, including frost protection requirements from IRC Section R403.1.1. Excavation safety pulls directly from OSHA Subpart P — soil types, sloping angles, and cave-in protection under 29 CFR 1926, Subpart P, Appendix B. Dampproofing versus waterproofing distinctions matter here.

Concrete and Concrete Reinforcement — 8 items
Water-cementitious materials ratio, cement types, and admixture effects are fair game. Compressive strength testing under ASTM C31 and C39 is tested — know the acceptance criteria. Durability exposure categories come from ACI 318-11, Table 4.4.1. Reinforcing steel placement tolerances and concrete cover requirements are in ACI 318-11, Page 93 (Section 7.7.1). Development length and lap splice rules round out this topic.

Masonry — 6 items
Know mortar types M, S, N, O per ASTM C270 — proportions and appropriate applications. CMU, brick, glass unit masonry, and AAC each have distinct classification rules per ACI 530/530.1-11. Grout placement — low-lift versus high-lift methods — is tested. Wall system types (cavity, composite, veneer, reinforced) require you to know construction differences, not just terminology.

OSHA Safety — 7 items
Fall protection thresholds, scaffold load ratings (29 CFR 1926, §1926.451(a)(1)), ladder safety rules (29 CFR 1926, §1926.1053(b)(1)), and PPE selection appear here. Know excavation cave-in protection by soil type. Fire protection and flammable liquid storage rules also show up (29 CFR 1926, §1926.152(b)(1)).

Metals — 5 items
Steel joist designation systems — K-, LH-, DLH-, CJ-Series — and joist girder identification are tested. Bridging requirements by span and series reference the SJI Technical Digest, Chapter 5. Know jobsite storage and erection stability rules. OSHA Subpart R fall protection requirements for steel erection are also in scope.

Worked Sample Questions

Question 1 — General Code and Construction Knowledge

A crew installs 1,200 sq ft per day. The job is 9,600 sq ft and must be completed in 7 days due to weather. Four crew members are currently scheduled. How many extra workers are needed?

• A. 1
• B. 3
• C. 2
• D. 0

Correct Answer: A

Work the math in two steps. First, find the required daily output: 9,600 ÷ 7 = 1,371 sq ft/day. Each worker produces 1,200 ÷ 4 = 300 sq ft/day. Workers needed: 1,371 ÷ 300 = 4.57, which rounds up to 5. You have 4 scheduled. You need 1 additional worker.

Question 2 — Carpentry

You're installing wood structural panel sheathing on exterior walls. Ultimate design wind speed is 170 mph, Exposure Category B. You're using 8d common nails, panels with a 24/16 span rating, studs at 16 inches on center. What nail spacing is required at panel edges?

• A. 6 inches on center
• B. 12 inches on center
• C. 8 inches on center
• D. 4 inches on center

Correct Answer: A

Per IRC Table R602.3(3) (Page 205), 8d common nails with a 24/16 span-rated panel on studs at 16" o.c. require 6" nail spacing at panel edges and 12" in the field. This configuration is rated for ultimate design wind speeds up to 170 mph in Exposure B. Don't confuse edge spacing with field spacing — that's a common wrong-answer trap.

Source: International Residential Code, Table R602.3(3), Page 205

Question 3 — Roofing

A project requires 108 bundles of shingles. Each bundle contains 22 shingles, and each shingle requires 4 nails. How many nails are needed total?

• A. 9,200
• B. 9,500
• C. 9,600
• D. 9,800

Correct Answer: B

Multiply straight through: 108 bundles × 22 shingles × 4 nails = 9,504 nails. The closest answer is 9,500. These questions are testing your ability to run multi-step arithmetic quickly — set up the equation first, then calculate.

How to Read Your Score

Passing requires 70% — that's 63 correct out of 90.

Your first practice score is a diagnostic, not a verdict. Most people underperform on the first attempt because they haven't yet identified which topics are costing them points. That's the whole point of taking it early.

If you score above 80% on your first full attempt, you're in solid shape. If you're between 70–80%, you're close but the real exam has less margin for error than it looks — one bad topic can pull you under. If you're below 70%, treat that as useful information, not a problem. You now have a map.

Use the topic breakdown. If you dropped points on Concrete and Reinforcement, review ACI 318-11 cover and splice rules before going back to sections you already know. Don't grind the topics you're strong in. Put time where the score breakdown tells you to. Retake the full exam after targeted review — the 703+ question pool means you'll see fresh questions, not the same ones repeated.

Where Candidates Lose Points

Rafter math errors. Roofing has 10 items, and most of the calculation questions involve multiple steps. Candidates who mix up rise, run, and slope, or who apply the unit-length method incorrectly for hip rafters, lose several points at once.

Wrong code edition or section. This exam references the 2021 IBC and specific ACI, ASTM, and OSHA sections. Candidates who remember a rule from an older code or apply a residential IRC section to a commercial IBC question get the answer wrong even if their general knowledge is solid.

Skipping units in multi-step problems. Excavation volume questions (bank yards vs. loose yards), concrete volume, and framing material estimates all require unit conversions. Missing one step gives you a wrong number that matches one of the distractor answers.

Misreading OSHA thresholds. Fall protection triggers at specific heights under 29 CFR 1926, §1926.501(b)(1) — candidates often apply the wrong height threshold for the wrong work type.

Running out of time on General Code. With 20 items, General Code is the largest topic. Candidates who slow down on code lookups in early questions can run short on time when they hit calculation-heavy items later. At 230 minutes for 90 questions, you have about 2.5 minutes per question — budget accordingly.

Mortar type mix-ups. In Masonry, Types M, S, N, and O get confused under exam pressure. Know which type goes where (below grade, above grade, interior) — the exam tests application, not just the letter.

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