South Carolina Contractor License Exam — All Questions

A contractor's total direct cost for a job is $18,000. The contractor adds a 15% markup to cover overhead and profit. What is the bid price?

• a.$18,150
• b.$18,270
• c.$20,700✓
• d.$21,150

Markup is a percentage added on top of cost. Multiply the cost by (1 + markup): $18,000 x 1.15 = $20,700. The markup dollars are $18,000 x 0.15 = $2,700, which is added to the $18,000 cost to reach the bid price. Markup covers both company overhead and profit.

A job costs the contractor $8,000. The contractor wants a 20% gross profit MARGIN (profit as a percentage of the selling price). What must the selling price be?

• a.$9,600
• b.$10,000✓
• c.$9,800
• d.$10,400

Margin is measured against the selling price, not the cost, so you cannot simply add 20% to cost. Price = cost / (1 - margin) = $8,000 / (1 - 0.20) = $8,000 / 0.80 = $10,000. Check: profit is $2,000, and $2,000 / $10,000 = 20% margin. Adding 20% to cost ($9,600) would only give a 16.7% margin — a common and costly estimating error.

How many cubic yards of concrete are needed for a slab 27 ft long, 30 ft wide, and 4 inches thick?

• a.3.3 cubic yards
• b.6.7 cubic yards
• c.8.5 cubic yards
• d.10 cubic yards✓

First convert thickness to feet: 4 in / 12 = 0.3333 ft. Volume in cubic feet = 27 x 30 x 0.3333 = 270 cubic feet. Convert to cubic yards by dividing by 27 (there are 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard): 270 / 27 = 10 cubic yards. Getting units consistent — feet for all three dimensions — is the key step.

On a project where the exact quantities of excavation and fill are not yet known, which bidding method best protects both owner and contractor from large quantity surprises?

• a.A unit-price contract✓
• b.A lump-sum contract based on the estimated quantities
• c.A fixed-price contract with a contingency allowance
• d.A cost-plus contract with no guaranteed maximum price

Unit pricing sets a fixed price per unit (for example, per cubic yard of excavation), and the contractor is paid for the actual measured quantity. This fairly handles uncertain quantities: the owner pays only for work performed, and the contractor is protected if quantities grow. A lump sum forces the contractor to guess and gamble on the quantity, which is risky when the amount is genuinely unknown.

A wall is 40 feet long and 8 feet high. How many 4 ft x 8 ft sheets of drywall are needed to cover one side, before adding any waste factor?

• a.8 sheets
• b.10 sheets✓
• c.12 sheets
• d.16 sheets

First find the wall area: 40 ft x 8 ft = 320 square feet. Each drywall sheet covers 4 ft x 8 ft = 32 square feet. Divide: 320 / 32 = 10 sheets. In practice an estimator adds a waste factor for cuts and breakage, but the base quantity is 10 sheets. Getting area and sheet coverage in the same units is the key step.

In estimating, what is a 'quantity takeoff'?

• a.The amount shaved off a bid to win the job
• b.A discount a supplier takes off the material price
• c.Counting the materials and work units shown on the plans✓
• d.The delivery schedule for materials on the job

A quantity takeoff is the process of reviewing the drawings and specifications and measuring or counting every item of material and unit of work needed — cubic yards of concrete, squares of roofing, linear feet of pipe, and so on. It is the foundation of an accurate estimate: once quantities are known, the estimator applies unit costs for labor and materials to build the total price.

Why do estimators include a 'waste factor' when calculating material quantities?

• a.To cover material lost to cuts and breakage✓
• b.To secretly increase the company's profit margin
• c.Because suppliers require a minimum order quantity
• d.To cover the cost of the owner's change orders

A waste factor is an added percentage that covers material that is cut off, broken, damaged, or otherwise unusable during installation — for example, off-cuts of lumber, tile, or drywall. Ordering only the exact net quantity would leave a job short. The waste percentage varies by material and complexity, but including a reasonable allowance prevents shortages and costly reorders. It is not hidden profit.

A subcontractor gives the general contractor a firm price only after the bid is submitted, but the GC relied on that quoted number in the bid. This risk is best reduced by:

• a.Self-performing all of the work with your own crews
• b.Using last year's subcontractor prices in the bid
• c.Adding a flat contingency to cover subcontractor prices
• d.Obtaining firm written subcontractor quotes before bidding✓

Because a large share of a general contractor's price often comes from subcontractors and suppliers, the GC should secure firm written quotes before submitting the bid. Relying on verbal or last-minute numbers exposes the GC to being bound to an owner at a price that no longer matches what subs will actually charge. Locking in written quotes protects the GC's margin against bid-day surprises.

A contractor pays a carpenter a base wage of $30 per hour, but the true cost per hour with taxes, insurance, and benefits is $42. The $42 figure is called the:

• a.Base hourly wage rate
• b.Burdened labor rate✓
• c.Prevailing wage rate
• d.Overtime premium rate

The burdened, or fully loaded, labor rate includes the base wage plus all the added costs of employing the worker — payroll taxes, workers' compensation and liability insurance, and benefits. Estimating with only the base wage badly understates cost. Using the burdened rate ensures the estimate captures what the labor actually costs the company, which is essential to bidding profitably.

One roofing 'square' equals how many square feet of roof area?

• a.10 square feet
• b.50 square feet
• c.100 square feet✓
• d.1,000 square feet

In roofing, one 'square' is a standard unit equal to 100 square feet of roof surface. If a roof measures 2,400 square feet, it is 24 squares. Roofing materials and labor are commonly priced per square, so converting the measured area into squares (area divided by 100) is a routine and frequently tested estimating step.

A contractor's annual overhead is $120,000 and they expect to do $1,000,000 in direct job costs this year. What overhead markup percentage must be added to each job's costs just to recover overhead?

• a.12%✓
• b.8.3%
• c.20%
• d.1.2%

To recover overhead, spread it across the year's direct costs: $120,000 / $1,000,000 = 0.12, or 12%. So the contractor must add at least 12% to each job's direct cost just to break even on overhead — profit must be added on top of that. Setting markup below the overhead recovery rate is a classic way a busy company still loses money.

A slab measures 24 ft by 30 ft and is 4 inches thick. Adding 5 percent for waste and rounding up to the next quarter yard, how much concrete should be ordered?

• a.9.0 cubic yards
• b.8.9 cubic yards
• c.9.5 cubic yards✓
• d.26.7 cubic yards

Convert the thickness first: 4 in / 12 = 0.3333 ft. Volume = 24 x 30 x 0.3333 = 240 cubic feet, and 240 / 27 = 8.89 cubic yards. Adding 5 percent gives 9.33 cubic yards, which rounds up to the next quarter yard: 9.5 cubic yards. Stopping at 8.9 forgets the waste, rounding the bare 8.89 up gives 9.0 without any waste, and 26.7 comes from dividing by 9 (the square-yard divisor) instead of 27.

A continuous footing is 24 inches wide and 12 inches deep and runs 135 linear feet. How many cubic yards of concrete does it contain?

• a.10 cubic yards✓
• b.120 cubic yards
• c.270 cubic yards
• d.30 cubic yards

Put every dimension in feet: 24 in = 2 ft wide, 12 in = 1 ft deep. Volume = 2 x 1 x 135 = 270 cubic feet, and 270 / 27 = 10 cubic yards. Reporting 270 means the cubic feet were never converted, 30 comes from dividing by 9 rather than 27, and 120 comes from treating the 24-inch width as 24 feet.

A rectangular room measures 14 ft by 18 ft with 9 ft ceilings. What is the total area of the four walls, before deducting any openings?

• a.288 square feet
• b.252 square feet
• c.2,268 square feet
• d.576 square feet✓

Wall area equals the perimeter times the wall height. Perimeter = 2 x (14 + 18) = 64 lineal feet, so 64 x 9 = 576 square feet. Using 14 + 18 = 32 instead of the full perimeter yields 288, which covers only two walls; 252 is the floor area (14 x 18); and 2,268 is the room's volume in cubic feet (14 x 18 x 9), not an area.

A basement excavation measures 40 ft by 30 ft by 9 ft deep. The soil swells 25 percent once it is dug. How many cubic yards must be hauled away?

• a.400 cubic yards
• b.500 cubic yards✓
• c.320 cubic yards
• d.13,500 cubic yards

Bank volume = 40 x 30 x 9 = 10,800 cubic feet, and 10,800 / 27 = 400 cubic yards in place. Loose soil occupies more room, so multiply by the swell factor: 400 x 1.25 = 500 cubic yards to haul. Answering 400 ignores swell entirely, 320 comes from dividing by 1.25 instead of multiplying, and 13,500 applies swell to the cubic feet and never converts to cubic yards.

A parking pad 45 ft by 36 ft receives a 4-inch compacted gravel base. How many cubic yards of gravel does that base require?

• a.20 cubic yards✓
• b.240 cubic yards
• c.60 cubic yards
• d.540 cubic yards

Area = 45 x 36 = 1,620 square feet, and 4 inches = 0.3333 ft, so the volume is 1,620 x 0.3333 = 540 cubic feet. Divide by 27 to get 20 cubic yards. Leaving the answer at 540 skips the conversion to cubic yards, 60 comes from dividing by 9, and 240 comes from using 4 feet of depth instead of 4 inches.

A gable end is 32 ft wide at the top plate and rises 8 ft to the ridge. What is the area of that single gable triangle?

• a.256 square feet
• b.40 square feet
• c.128 square feet✓
• d.64 square feet

A gable end is a triangle, so the area is one-half base times height: 0.5 x 32 x 8 = 128 square feet. Multiplying 32 x 8 and stopping gives 256, which is the full rectangle and forgets the one-half. Halving the base and then halving again produces 64, and adding the two dimensions instead of multiplying them produces 40.

A round concrete pier is 24 inches in diameter and 4 ft deep. How many cubic feet of concrete does one pier take?

• a.25.1 cubic feet
• b.50.3 cubic feet
• c.16.0 cubic feet
• d.12.6 cubic feet✓

The area of a circle is pi times the radius squared, and the radius is half of the 24-inch diameter, or 1 ft. Area = 3.1416 x 1 x 1 = 3.14 square feet, and 3.14 x 4 ft deep = 12.6 cubic feet. Using the 2-ft diameter as the radius gives 50.3, using the circumference (2 x pi x r = 6.28) in place of the area gives 25.1, and treating the pier as a 2 ft by 2 ft square column gives 16.0.

A floor plan is a 40 ft by 30 ft rectangle with a 10 ft by 12 ft corner notched out of it. What is the floor area?

• a.1,200 square feet
• b.1,080 square feet✓
• c.1,320 square feet
• d.140 square feet

Take the area of the enclosing rectangle and subtract the missing corner: 40 x 30 = 1,200 square feet, less 10 x 12 = 120 square feet, leaves 1,080 square feet. Answering 1,200 ignores the notch, 1,320 adds the notch instead of subtracting it, and 140 is the perimeter of the enclosing rectangle rather than an area.

A building footprint measures 62 ft by 38 ft. How many lineal feet of foundation wall run around the outside of it?

• a.200 lineal feet✓
• b.100 lineal feet
• c.400 lineal feet
• d.2,356 lineal feet

Perimeter of a rectangle = 2 x (length + width) = 2 x (62 + 38) = 200 lineal feet. Adding the two dimensions only once gives 100, which counts just two of the four sides. Doubling each side and then doubling the total again gives 400, and 2,356 is the footprint area (62 x 38) in square feet, not a length.

A subfloor covers an area 24 ft by 36 ft. Using 4 ft by 8 ft sheets and no waste allowance, how many sheets are required?

• a.32 sheets
• b.22 sheets
• c.27 sheets✓
• d.108 sheets

Floor area = 24 x 36 = 864 square feet, and each 4 ft by 8 ft sheet covers 32 square feet, so 864 / 32 = 27 sheets. Dividing 864 by 27 (the cubic-yard divisor) mistakenly returns 32, dividing by the sheet's 8-ft length instead of its area returns 108, and figuring 4 ft by 10 ft sheets at 40 square feet each returns 22.

A straight wall runs 48 ft with studs 16 inches on center. Counting the stud that closes the last space and ignoring corners and openings, how many studs are needed?

• a.36 studs
• b.37 studs✓
• c.25 studs
• d.48 studs

Convert the wall to inches: 48 ft x 12 = 576 inches, and 576 / 16 = 36 spaces. A layout always needs one more stud than it has spaces, so 36 + 1 = 37 studs. Answering 36 forgets the stud that closes the last bay, 25 comes from spacing at 24 inches on center, and 48 comes from the shortcut of one stud per foot of wall.

How many board feet are contained in twelve pieces of 2 x 8 lumber, each 16 ft long?

• a.256 board feet✓
• b.3,072 board feet
• c.30.7 board feet
• d.21.3 board feet

Board feet = thickness in inches x width in inches x length in feet, divided by 12. One piece is 2 x 8 x 16 / 12 = 21.33 board feet, and twelve pieces give 21.33 x 12 = 256 board feet. Never dividing by 12 gives 3,072, dividing by 100 instead of 12 gives 30.7, and 21.3 is the volume of a single piece rather than the whole order.

A room measures 16 ft by 20 ft and has two 3-ft door openings that receive no base. How many lineal feet of baseboard are needed?

• a.72 lineal feet
• b.69 lineal feet
• c.36 lineal feet
• d.66 lineal feet✓

Perimeter = 2 x (16 + 20) = 72 lineal feet, and the two 3-ft openings remove 6 feet: 72 - 6 = 66 lineal feet. Answering 72 never deducts the doors, 69 deducts only one of the two openings, and 36 adds the two room dimensions once instead of taking the full perimeter.

A roof plan area is 40 ft by 50 ft. The slope multiplier supplied for this pitch is 1.25. At three bundles per square, how many bundles of shingles are required?

• a.60 bundles
• b.25 bundles
• c.75 bundles✓
• d.250 bundles

Plan area = 40 x 50 = 2,000 square feet, and applying the slope multiplier gives the true sloped area: 2,000 x 1.25 = 2,500 square feet. One roofing square is 100 square feet, so that is 25 squares, and 25 x 3 = 75 bundles. Skipping the slope multiplier gives 60, ordering one bundle per square gives 25, and dividing by 10 instead of 100 gives 250.

A roof measures 2,600 square feet. One roll of underlayment covers 400 square feet after laps. How many rolls must be ordered?

• a.26 rolls
• b.7 rolls✓
• c.6 rolls
• d.65 rolls

Divide the roof area by the net coverage of a roll: 2,600 / 400 = 6.5 rolls. Material comes in whole rolls, so the order rounds up to 7. Answering 6 drops the partial roll and leaves the job short, 26 assumes one roll per 100-square-foot square, and 65 comes from dividing by 40 instead of 400.

A tile floor totals 700 square feet. One 50-pound bag of thinset covers 60 square feet at the required trowel size. How many bags must be ordered?

• a.11 bags
• b.14 bags
• c.7 bags
• d.12 bags✓

Divide the area by the stated coverage: 700 / 60 = 11.67 bags, which rounds up to 12 whole bags. Rounding down to 11 leaves the setter short before the last row. Dividing by the 50-pound bag weight rather than the 60-square-foot coverage gives 14, and dividing by 100 (the roofing-square factor) gives 7.

A wall area of 1,800 square feet is to receive two coats. The paint covers 350 square feet per gallon. How many gallons should be ordered?

• a.11 gallons✓
• b.6 gallons
• c.10 gallons
• d.5 gallons

Two coats mean the paint must cover the area twice: 1,800 x 2 = 3,600 square feet, and 3,600 / 350 = 10.3 gallons, which rounds up to 11 whole gallons. Answering 10 drops the partial gallon, while 6 and 5 both figure a single coat (1,800 / 350 = 5.1), rounded up and rounded down respectively.

A contractor adds a 25 percent markup to a job that costs $40,000. What gross profit MARGIN does the resulting price actually earn?

• a.25 percent
• b.33.3 percent
• c.20 percent✓
• d.16.7 percent

Markup is measured against cost, margin against the selling price. Price = $40,000 x 1.25 = $50,000, so the profit is $10,000 and the margin is $10,000 / $50,000 = 20 percent. Answering 25 percent assumes markup and margin are the same number, which they never are; 33.3 percent is the markup that would be needed to produce a 25 percent margin; and 16.7 percent is the margin a 20 percent markup would produce.

A job sells for $64,000 and its direct costs are $48,000. What is the gross profit percentage measured on the selling price?

• a.33.3 percent
• b.25 percent✓
• c.75 percent
• d.16 percent

Gross profit = $64,000 - $48,000 = $16,000, and gross profit percentage divides that by the selling price: $16,000 / $64,000 = 25 percent. Dividing the same $16,000 by the $48,000 cost gives 33.3 percent, which is the markup, not the margin. The 75 percent figure is cost as a share of price, and 16 percent simply reads the profit dollars as a percentage.

A company expects $2,400,000 of revenue this year and carries $360,000 of annual overhead. What share of every revenue dollar must go to overhead?

• a.17.6 percent
• b.6.7 percent
• c.1.5 percent
• d.15 percent✓

Allocating overhead against revenue divides overhead by revenue: $360,000 / $2,400,000 = 0.15, or 15 percent of each dollar billed. Measuring the same overhead against the $2,040,000 of direct cost instead gives 17.6 percent, which is the markup on cost rather than the share of revenue. Dividing revenue by overhead returns the ratio 6.7, not a percentage, and 1.5 percent is a misplaced decimal.

A carpenter's base wage is $28.00 per hour, and payroll taxes, insurance, and benefits add 34 percent. What hourly labor cost should the estimator carry?

• a.$34.00 per hour
• b.$37.52 per hour✓
• c.$20.90 per hour
• d.$62.00 per hour

Labor burden is a multiplier on the base wage: $28.00 x 1.34 = $37.52 per hour. Estimating at the bare $28.00 wage understates the real cost of employing the worker by more than nine dollars an hour. Dividing by 1.34 rather than multiplying gives $20.90, adding $34 to the wage gives $62.00, and $34.00 mistakes the burden percentage for a dollar rate.

A crew sets concrete forms at 45 lineal feet per crew-hour. The job has 1,080 lineal feet of forms. How many crew-hours should the estimator carry?

• a.24 crew-hours✓
• b.1,035 crew-hours
• c.45 crew-hours
• d.48,600 crew-hours

Crew hours = quantity divided by the production rate: 1,080 / 45 = 24 crew-hours. Multiplying the quantity by the rate instead gives 48,600, an impossible figure that signals the operation was inverted. Subtracting the rate from the quantity gives 1,035, and 45 simply repeats the production rate rather than answering the question.

A builder bids $258,000 on a house with 2,400 square feet of living area plus an attached 600 square foot garage. What is the bid per square foot of living area?

• a.$86.00 per square foot
• b.$215.00 per square foot
• c.$107.50 per square foot✓
• d.$1,075.00 per square foot

A unit price divides the total by the units asked for: $258,000 / 2,400 square feet = $107.50 per square foot of living area. Including the 600-square-foot garage in the denominator gives $86.00, a figure that is not comparable to published living-area costs. Dividing by half the living area gives $215.00, and $1,075.00 is a misplaced decimal.

A drawing is at a scale of 1/4 inch = 1 foot. A wall measures 3 inches long when checked with a scale. How long is that wall in the building?

• a.3 feet
• b.48 feet
• c.0.75 feet
• d.12 feet✓

At 1/4 inch = 1 foot, every quarter inch on the paper stands for one foot, so divide the measured length by 0.25: 3 / 0.25 = 12 feet. Multiplying by 1/4 instead of dividing gives 0.75 feet, reading the paper dimension as the real one gives 3 feet, and 48 feet is what the same 3 inches would represent at a 1/16 inch = 1 foot scale.

Which estimating method produces the most accurate number and is the proper basis for a firm lump-sum bid?

• a.A detailed estimate measured from a full takeoff and priced at current unit costs✓
• b.A square-foot estimate that multiplies the gross floor area by a historical cost per square foot
• c.An order-of-magnitude estimate scaled from the total cost of one similar completed building
• d.A budget number the owner names at the first meeting that the contractor agrees to match

A detailed, or definitive, estimate measures every item of work from the drawings and specifications and prices it with current unit costs, so it carries the narrowest range of error and is what a binding lump-sum price should rest on. Square-foot and order-of-magnitude estimates are useful early planning tools but rely on averages from other projects, so their accuracy range is far wider. Agreeing to match an owner's stated budget is not an estimate at all.

An owner has only a program and a site and asks roughly what the building will cost. Which type of estimate fits this stage?

• a.A detailed estimate priced line by line from a complete set of construction drawings
• b.A conceptual estimate based on cost per square foot or per unit of building capacity✓
• c.A firm lump-sum proposal the contractor agrees to hold open for the next ninety days
• d.A schedule of unit prices measured from a finished takeoff of the structural drawings

With no drawings to measure, the only workable approach is a conceptual or order-of-magnitude estimate that applies historical cost per square foot, per bed, or per unit of capacity to the program. Its accuracy range is wide, and the owner should be told so in writing. The other approaches all presuppose drawings detailed enough to measure quantities from, which do not exist yet at the programming stage.

The drawings show one thing and the specifications require another for the same work. Under standard general conditions, what is the contractor's correct position?

• a.The drawings control automatically, because they are prepared after the specifications
• b.The specifications control in every case, so the conflicting drawing may be disregarded
• c.The contractor may build whichever version is cheaper and bill the owner for a credit
• d.The documents are complementary, so the contractor asks for written clarification✓

Standard general conditions treat the contract documents as complementary: what is required by one is binding as if required by all. They do not hand the contractor an automatic rule that drawings beat specifications or the reverse, so a genuine conflict is resolved by asking the design team in writing before the work is built. Some contracts add an express order-of-precedence clause, and where one exists it governs. Quietly building the cheaper version invites a costly tear-out.

Three days before bids are due, the architect issues a document changing the window schedule. What is that document, and what does the bidder owe?

• a.A change order, which is priced and signed after the construction contract is executed
• b.A request for information, which is the contractor's question and changes no bid price
• c.An addendum, which changes the bidding documents and must be acknowledged on the bid✓
• d.A field directive, which the superintendent may accept verbally once work has started

An addendum is a written revision to the bidding documents issued before bids are opened, and once issued it becomes part of the contract documents. Bid forms require the bidder to list the addenda received, and a bid that fails to acknowledge one can be rejected as nonresponsive or can bind the contractor to work it never priced. A change order modifies an already signed contract, and a request for information is the contractor's own question, not the designer's revision.

The specifications carry a $3,000 allowance for light fixtures. What does that mean for the bidder?

• a.The bidder carries $3,000 for fixtures not yet chosen, trued up at the actual cost✓
• b.The bidder must furnish whatever fixtures the owner picks at no change to the contract sum
• c.The owner buys the fixtures directly, so the bidder carries nothing at all for lighting
• d.The $3,000 is the contractor's guaranteed profit on the lighting portion of the work

An allowance is a stated sum written into the documents for an item the owner has not yet selected, so every bidder carries the same number and the bids stay comparable. When the actual fixtures are chosen, the contract sum is adjusted up or down by the difference. It is not a cap the contractor eats, not an owner-furnished item, and not profit. Estimators should confirm whether the allowance covers installation labor or material only.