Texas Contractor Exam — All Questions

A contractor pays crew members as independent contractors even though the company directs their daily work. If an audit reclassifies them as employees, the likely result is:

• a.The workers must repay the company for the taxes it never withheld from their pay
• b.The company issues corrected 1099 forms for the prior year and owes nothing else
• c.The company owes back payroll taxes and unpaid overtime, plus interest and penalties✓
• d.The workers forfeit the wages they were paid during the period under the audit

Misclassification does not shift the cost to the worker. The employer becomes liable for the payroll taxes it should have withheld and matched, unpaid overtime under the FLSA, interest, and penalties, and it may also face workers' compensation and unemployment assessments for the same workers. The exposure is retroactive across the audit period, which is why the control test should be applied before the first check is written rather than after.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, a covered employer must:

• a.Provide reasonable accommodation to a qualified individual absent undue hardship✓
• b.Hire any applicant who discloses a disability regardless of the job's requirements
• c.Ask every applicant about medical conditions before making an offer of employment
• d.Assign employees with disabilities to office work away from any active job site

The ADA requires a covered employer to provide reasonable accommodation — a modified schedule, adapted equipment, or a restructured non-essential duty — so a qualified individual can perform the essential functions of the job, unless doing so would impose undue hardship on the business. It does not require hiring someone who cannot perform those essential functions even with accommodation. Pre-offer medical inquiries are prohibited, and steering workers into segregated assignments is itself discrimination.

The federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act protects:

• a.Workers of any age from being asked their date of birth on a job application
• b.Only workers who have been with the same employer for at least ten years
• c.Employees under 18 from being assigned hazardous construction site tasks
• d.Applicants and employees who are 40 years of age or older✓

The ADEA prohibits discrimination in hiring, pay, promotion, layoff, and discharge against applicants and employees aged 40 and over at covered employers. It has no length-of-service requirement, and it does not by itself outlaw asking a date of birth, though such questions invite scrutiny. Restrictions on minors working in hazardous occupations come from the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, not from the ADEA.

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act generally entitles an eligible employee of a covered employer to:

• a.Paid leave at full salary for any personal reason the employee thinks important
• b.Unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons✓
• c.Leave the employer may grant or deny at its own discretion on each request
• d.A cash payment equal to the wages lost while caring for a family member

The FMLA provides unpaid leave, with the employee's group health coverage maintained and the right to return to the same or an equivalent position, for reasons such as a serious health condition or the birth or adoption of a child. It applies only to employers that meet the statute's coverage thresholds and to employees who meet its service requirements. It pays no wages, and where it applies the employer cannot simply refuse a qualifying request. Separate paid-leave entitlements, where they exist, are created by state law.

Under the child labor provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which assignment on a construction site is prohibited?

• a.A 16-year-old operating a power-driven circular saw✓
• b.A 19-year-old apprentice working more than 40 hours in a week
• c.An 18-year-old driving a company pickup to a supply house
• d.A 17-year-old sweeping the shop floor after school hours

The FLSA's hazardous occupations orders bar workers under 18 from jobs the Secretary of Labor has declared particularly hazardous, and power-driven woodworking machinery such as a circular saw is on that list, along with roofing, excavation, and demolition work. Once a worker turns 18 the federal child labor rules no longer apply, so the 18- and 19-year-old assignments are permitted, and non-hazardous cleanup work is allowed for a 17-year-old.

Two employees of a nonunion contractor compare their wages and then jointly ask the owner for a raise. Under the National Labor Relations Act this conduct is:

• a.Unprotected, because the labor act reaches only unionized workplaces
• b.A breach of company confidentiality the owner may lawfully punish
• c.Protected concerted activity the employer may not punish✓
• d.Allowed only if the workers first petition a federal labor agency

The NLRA protects employees who act together over wages, hours, or working conditions, and that protection applies whether or not a union is involved. Two workers discussing pay and taking a shared request to the employer is textbook protected concerted activity. Firing or disciplining them for it, or maintaining a rule that forbids employees from discussing their pay, is generally an unfair labor practice, and no petition or filing is needed first.

In most U.S. jurisdictions, 'at-will employment' means that:

• a.The employer may fire a worker for any reason at all, including race or religion
• b.The employee must give the employer advance notice before quitting a job
• c.Employment continues until the employer can show good cause for a discharge
• d.Either side may end the relationship at any time, except for unlawful reasons✓

At-will is the general default: absent a contract, either the employer or the employee may end the relationship at any time, with or without notice or cause. The exceptions matter as much as the rule — a termination may not be based on a protected characteristic, in retaliation for protected activity such as a safety complaint, in violation of public policy, or contrary to an employment contract or collective bargaining agreement. The precise exceptions recognized vary by state.

On a covered federal construction contract, what does a contractor submit to document compliance with Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements?

• a.A weekly certified payroll listing each worker's classification, hours, and wages✓
• b.An annual summary of the total wages paid to all crews on the whole project
• c.A copy of every worker's Form W-4 filed at the start of the contract period
• d.A monthly statement of the company's overall profit earned on the contract

Contractors and subcontractors on covered federal projects must submit weekly certified payrolls showing each laborer and mechanic, the classification worked, hours by day, rate paid, deductions, and fringe benefits, along with a signed statement of compliance. The certification is made under penalty of law, so falsifying it carries serious consequences. Annual summaries, tax withholding forms, and profit statements do not show whether each worker received the prevailing wage for the classification actually performed.

The federal Copeland 'Anti-Kickback' Act makes it unlawful for a contractor on a covered federal project to:

• a.Hire a relative of a company officer to work as a laborer on the job
• b.Induce a worker to give back any part of the wages they have earned✓
• c.Pay a subcontractor before the owner releases that month's progress payment
• d.Offer a bonus to a crew that finishes the work ahead of the schedule

The Copeland Act closes the obvious loophole in prevailing wage law: it prohibits inducing any worker on a covered federal contract to give up, by force, threat, or any other means, part of the compensation they are entitled to. It also underlies the requirement to submit weekly certified payrolls and limits payroll deductions to those that are permitted. Hiring relatives, paying subcontractors early, and offering completion bonuses are ordinary business decisions, not kickbacks.

An employee covered by workers' compensation is hurt on the job through the employer's ordinary negligence. Under the exclusive remedy rule, the employee generally:

• a.May also sue the employer for pain and suffering on top of the benefits
• b.Receives benefits only if the employer is proven to have been at fault
• c.Takes the statutory benefits and cannot sue the employer in tort for it✓
• d.Must choose between filing a claim and keeping the job with that employer

Workers' compensation is a trade-off. The worker gets medical care and wage replacement without proving fault, and in exchange the compensation claim is normally the exclusive remedy against the employer, so ordinary negligence suits are barred. Claims against negligent third parties, such as an equipment maker or another contractor on site, generally remain available. Who must carry coverage, what benefits are paid, and the narrow exceptions to exclusivity are all set by state law and differ from state to state.

Under the model building code, the 'means of egress' from a building is made up of which three parts?

• a.Exit access, exit, and exit discharge✓
• b.Corridor, stairway, and fire escape
• c.Occupant load, travel distance, and exit width
• d.Door, landing, and public way

A means of egress is a continuous and unobstructed path divided into exactly three parts: the exit access leading from any occupied point to the exit, the exit itself (the protected portion, such as an enclosed stair), and the exit discharge from the exit to a public way. Corridors, stairways, doors and landings are components that appear inside those parts, not the parts themselves. Occupant load, travel distance and exit width are the numbers used to size a means of egress, not its segments.

What does assigning a building an occupancy classification (Assembly, Business, Mercantile, Residential, Storage and so on) accomplish under the model building code?

• a.It establishes the zoning district in which the parcel sits
• b.It determines how many parking spaces the site is required to provide
• c.It fixes the insurance premium class the carrier is obliged to apply
• d.It ties fire, egress and construction rules to the building's use✓

Occupancy classification is the code's way of matching hazard to requirement: a nightclub packed with people and a warehouse full of boxes get very different exit, sprinkler and fire-separation rules. Zoning districts and parking counts come from the zoning ordinance, which is a separate local law from the building code. Insurers use their own classification systems, informed by the code but not set by it.

Model building codes sort buildings into construction Types I through V. What primarily distinguishes one type from another?

• a.The number of stories and the total floor area the building contains
• b.The occupancy group the building is assigned under the code
• c.The combustibility and fire resistance of the structural elements✓
• d.The seismic design category and wind exposure category of the site

Construction type describes what the building is made of and how long its structural elements resist fire, with Type I noncombustible and highly rated and Type V permitting ordinary combustible framing. Height, story and area limits are a result of the construction type combined with the occupancy, not the definition of it. Occupancy group, seismic design category and wind exposure are separate classifications applied alongside construction type.

In structural design, what is the difference between a dead load and a live load?

• a.Dead load acts vertically downward and live load acts horizontally
• b.Dead load is permanent; live load changes with occupancy and contents✓
• c.Dead load is computed by the contractor and live load by the inspector
• d.Dead load applies only to the foundation and live load only to the roof

Dead loads are the fixed weights that will always be there: framing, sheathing, roofing, permanent equipment. Live loads are transient, such as people, furniture and stored goods. Both can act downward, and lateral loads from wind and seismic events are named separately, so direction is not the dividing line. Both are taken by the designer from the code's load tables, and both apply throughout the structure rather than to one part of it.

A specification calls for a one-hour fire-resistance-rated wall assembly. What must the contractor do to deliver it?

• a.Use gypsum board at least one inch thick on each face of the wall
• b.Build the exact assembly that was tested and listed✓
• c.Apply a listed fire-retardant coating over the finished wall surface
• d.Frame the wall with steel studs

A fire-resistance rating belongs to a whole tested assembly and not to any single product in it, so substituting a board, a fastener spacing or an insulation is enough to void the rating. There is no rule equating an inch of gypsum with an hour of rating. A field-applied coating is not part of a listed assembly unless the listing itself includes it, and steel framing by itself confers no rating at all.

A jurisdiction adopts the model code for existing buildings. What does that code do that the code for new construction does not?

• a.It gives alterations and changes of occupancy their own compliance paths✓
• b.It exempts existing buildings from any permit requirement at all
• c.It freezes every existing building under the code in force when it was built
• d.It applies only to buildings listed on a state or national historic register

An existing-building code recognizes that bringing an old structure fully up to new-construction standards is often impossible, and offers graduated compliance methods scaled to the scope of the work. It does not waive permits, since alterations still require them. It does not simply freeze the old code either, and although it contains provisions for historic buildings, it governs ordinary existing buildings too.

The approved drawings on a commercial project require 'special inspections.' Who performs them, and who pays?

• a.The building department's own inspector, at no additional cost to the owner
• b.The general contractor's superintendent, as part of its quality control program
• c.The design professional of record, as part of the basic design fee
• d.An approved special inspector, retained and paid by the owner, on top of the department's inspections✓

Special inspections are continuous or periodic inspections of specific work such as structural welding, high-strength bolting, concrete placement and soils, performed by a qualified agency the owner retains, reporting to the building official and the design professional. They are in addition to the jurisdiction's inspections and do not replace them. Having the builder inspect its own work would defeat the independence the requirement exists to create.

A permit application for a new commercial building is returned because the drawings are not sealed. What does that mean?

• a.The plans must be submitted in a sealed envelope to the plans examiner
• b.The drawings must carry the general contractor's license number
• c.A licensed design professional must sign and seal the documents✓
• d.The application must be notarized by the owner of the property

A seal is the stamp of a registered design professional, an architect or engineer, taking legal responsibility for the documents; model codes require sealed documents for most buildings above the simplest residential work. A contractor's license number identifies who will build, not who designed. Neither an envelope nor a notary has anything to do with the requirement.

Under the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design, what is the steepest running slope permitted for a new ramp?

• a.1:8
• b.1:20
• c.1:12✓
• d.1:4

Section 405.2 states that ramp runs shall have a running slope not steeper than 1:12, or one inch of rise for each twelve inches of run. A walking surface gentler than 1:20 is not treated as a ramp at all, so 1:20 is the point below which the ramp rules stop applying rather than the limit. 1:8 appears only as a narrow exception for existing sites, and then only for a rise of three inches or less; a slope steeper than 1:8, such as 1:4, is prohibited outright.

Under the 2010 ADA Standards, what is the minimum clear width of a walking surface on an accessible route?

• a.30 inches
• b.36 inches✓
• c.44 inches
• d.48 inches

Section 403.5.1 sets 36 inches minimum, with a narrow exception permitting 32 inches for a length of no more than 24 inches at a pinch point such as a doorway. 30 inches is below the minimum and will fail. 44 and 48 inches are common corridor widths required by the building code for other reasons, such as occupant load, but neither is the ADA accessible-route minimum.

Under the 2010 ADA Standards, how much rise is permitted in a single ramp run before a level landing is required?

• a.12 inches
• b.24 inches
• c.36 inches
• d.30 inches✓

Section 405.6 limits the rise of any ramp run to 30 inches maximum, after which a landing complying with 405.7 is required. At the maximum 1:12 slope that works out to a landing roughly every 30 feet of run. 12 and 24 inches are stricter than the standard actually requires, and 36 inches exceeds what it permits.

An energy code calls for R-21 insulation in a wall. What does the R-value measure?

• a.Resistance to heat flow, where higher is better✓
• b.Insulation density, in pounds per cubic foot
• c.The rate at which heat passes through the assembly, where lower is better
• d.The material's fire-resistance rating, expressed in hours

R-value is thermal resistance, so roughly doubling it halves the conductive heat loss through that path. The rate of heat flow is the U-factor, which is the reciprocal of R and is indeed better when lower, but that description belongs to U and not to R. Density and fire rating are unrelated properties measured in entirely different units.

Both GFCI and AFCI protection are required in various locations by the model electrical code. What is the difference in what they protect against?

• a.A GFCI protects against overloads; an AFCI protects against short circuits
• b.A GFCI protects people from shock; an AFCI protects against fire✓
• c.A GFCI is for 240-volt circuits; an AFCI for 120-volt
• d.A GFCI protects the building wiring; an AFCI protects the appliance

A ground-fault circuit interrupter trips on a small imbalance between the hot and neutral conductors, meaning current is leaking through a person or to ground, at a level far below what a breaker would ever notice. An arc-fault circuit interrupter recognizes the electrical signature of an arcing fault in damaged wiring or cords and cuts power before it ignites framing. Overloads and short circuits are the ordinary circuit breaker's job, and voltage is not what distinguishes the two devices.

Every plumbing fixture connected to the drainage system must have a trap, and every trap must be vented. Why?

• a.The trap's water seal blocks sewer gas; the vent protects that seal✓
• b.The trap catches debris and the vent lets the drain run faster
• c.The trap slows the flow and the vent equalizes supply-line pressure
• d.The trap prevents backflow into the water supply and the vent releases steam

A trap holds a plug of water that sewer gas cannot pass through. Without a vent, the negative pressure created by a discharging fixture would pull that water down the drain and the seal, along with the protection, would be gone. Vents serve the drainage system rather than the pressurized supply piping, and backflow into the supply is prevented by air gaps and backflow preventers, which are different devices entirely.

Midway through a permitted project, the owner and contractor agree to move a bearing wall that is shown on the approved plans. What does the adopted code require?

• a.Note the change on the field set and show the inspector at final inspection
• b.Build it, then record the change on the as-built drawings at closeout
• c.Nothing, so long as the change does not add to the building's square footage
• d.Get the revision approved before the work is built✓

A permit is issued for the approved documents, so work that departs from them is unpermitted work until the revision is approved. Showing an inspector a marked-up field set after the fact invites a stop-work order or a demand to open finished work back up. As-built drawings record what was built for the owner's records and carry no regulatory weight, and square footage is not the test for whether a revision needs approval.

Model codes repeatedly say that a material or method must be 'approved.' In code language, approved by whom?

• a.A nationally recognized testing laboratory
• b.The architect or engineer of record
• c.The building official✓
• d.The manufacturer's technical department

In the model codes 'approved' is a defined term meaning acceptable to the building official. A testing laboratory's role is to evaluate products, and the codes use the separate defined terms 'listed' and 'labeled' for that. The design professional approves submittals under the construction contract, which is a contractual approval rather than a code one, and a manufacturer approving its own product is not a code concept at all.

What is the federal minimum wage a covered nonexempt employee must be paid under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and since when?

• a.$7.25 per hour, effective July 24, 2009✓
• b.$5.15 per hour, effective September 1, 1997
• c.$10.10 per hour, effective January 1, 2014
• d.$12.00 per hour, effective January 1, 2020

The federal floor has stood at $7.25 since July 24, 2009. $5.15 was the federal rate before the 2007 amendments stepped it upward in three stages. $10.10 and $12.00 are figures adopted by various states and localities and proposed at the federal level, but neither is the FLSA minimum. Where a state or local minimum is higher than the federal one, the employer must pay the higher rate.

For overtime purposes under the FLSA, how is an employee's workweek defined?

• a.Monday through Friday, with weekend hours counted separately
• b.The seven days ending on the employer's regular payday
• c.A fixed, regularly recurring period of 168 hours, or seven consecutive 24-hour days✓
• d.Any seven consecutive days the employer picks after the hours are known

29 CFR 778.105 defines the workweek as a fixed and regularly recurring 168-hour period that may begin on any day and at any hour but, once set, stays fixed. It need not match the calendar week and need not end on payday. Choosing the week after the fact, to spread hours across a boundary and avoid the premium, is exactly what the fixed-week rule prevents; a change is permitted only if it is intended to be permanent and is not designed to evade the Act.

A crew takes a paid 15-minute coffee break in the morning and an unpaid 30-minute lunch during which nobody is on duty. Under the FLSA, how are those two periods treated?

• a.Both the break and the lunch are hours worked
• b.Neither the break nor the lunch is hours worked
• c.The lunch is hours worked and the break is not
• d.The break is hours worked; the lunch is not✓

The Department of Labor treats rest periods of short duration, usually 20 minutes or less, as compensable working time that promotes efficiency. A bona fide meal period, typically 30 minutes or more, is not work time, but only where the employee is completely relieved from duty. A worker who eats at a desk while answering the phone has not been relieved, and that meal period becomes hours worked.

A laborer is told to stay on the job site during a two-hour equipment breakdown in case the machine is repaired. Under the FLSA, is that time paid?

• a.No, because no work was performed
• b.Yes, because he was engaged to wait✓
• c.No, because the breakdown was beyond the employer's control
• d.Only if the interruption runs longer than four hours

The FLSA distinguishes being engaged to wait, which is compensable, from waiting to be engaged, which is not. A worker held on site who cannot use the time effectively for their own purposes is engaged to wait, whether or not anything productive happens in those hours. Neither the cause of the delay nor its length changes the analysis, and there is no four-hour federal threshold anywhere in the rule.

How long does the FLSA require an employer to preserve payroll records?

• a.At least 1 year
• b.At least 5 years
• c.At least 3 years✓
• d.At least 7 years

29 CFR 516.5 requires payroll records, certificates, agreements and collective bargaining agreements to be preserved for at least 3 years. A companion rule, 29 CFR 516.6, requires the supporting records on which wage computations rest, such as time cards and wage-rate tables, to be kept at least 2 years. One year falls short of both. Five and seven years are common retention policies driven by tax and litigation habits, not by the FLSA.

A court orders a contractor to garnish an employee's wages for an ordinary consumer debt. Under the federal Consumer Credit Protection Act, the most that may be taken from one week's pay is:

• a.50 percent of disposable earnings, or 60 percent if no other family is supported
• b.25 percent of gross pay before any deductions, with no minimum amount protected
• c.Whatever amount the court order names, since the federal cap applies only to support orders
• d.Whichever is less: 25 percent of disposable earnings, or the excess over 30 times the minimum wage✓

29 CFR 870.10 sets a two-part cap and the employee gets whichever part protects them more. The base is disposable earnings, meaning pay after legally required deductions, not gross pay, and the 30-times-minimum-wage floor can exempt a low earner entirely. The 50 and 60 percent figures belong to support orders, which have their own higher limits under a different subsection, and a court order for an ordinary consumer debt cannot override the federal cap.

Which combination makes an employee eligible for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act?

• a.90 days of employment and full-time status at any worksite of the employer
• b.12 months employed, 1,250 hours worked, and 50 employees within 75 miles✓
• c.Six months of employment and 1,000 hours of service in the past year
• d.Employment by any employer with more than 15 employees anywhere in the country

29 CFR 825.110 sets all three conditions and every one must be met, though the 12 months of employment need not be consecutive. A 90-day probationary period and a 1,000-hour threshold come from other contexts, such as benefit-plan and retirement-plan eligibility, not from the FMLA. The 15-employee figure is an employer-size test from a different statute altogether and has nothing to do with FMLA eligibility.

How long must an employer retain a completed Form I-9 for an employee who has left the company?

• a.Three years after hire or one year after separation, whichever is later✓
• b.Three years after employment ends, regardless of the hire date
• c.One year after the date of hire, or until the next government audit
• d.As long as the rest of the employee's personnel file is retained by the company

8 CFR 274a.2(b)(2)(i)(A) states the rule as three years after the date of the hire or one year after the date the individual's employment is terminated, whichever is later. For a long-service employee that means one year after separation; for someone who lasted a month it means nearly three years from hire. Each of the other choices applies only one half of the test, and personnel-file retention is an employer policy, not the I-9 rule.

At what contract value do Davis-Bacon prevailing wage requirements attach to a federal construction contract?

• a.Contracts in excess of $25,000
• b.Contracts in excess of $100,000
• c.Contracts in excess of $150,000
• d.Contracts in excess of $2,000✓

40 U.S.C. 3142(a) applies the prevailing wage requirement to every federal contract in excess of $2,000 for construction, alteration or repair of public buildings and public works. The threshold has never been indexed for inflation, so in practice it catches nearly every federal construction job. The $100,000 figure is the threshold for the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act's overtime clause, a different statute, and $25,000 and $150,000 are acquisition thresholds unrelated to prevailing wages.

On a federal construction contract over $100,000, the Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act requires laborers and mechanics to be paid:

• a.Time and one-half for all hours over 40 in a workweek✓
• b.Time and one-half for all hours over 8 in a day, and double time beyond 12
• c.Double time for all hours over 40 in a workweek
• d.The prevailing wage only, with no overtime premium

29 CFR 5.5(b)(1) requires not less than one and one-half times the basic rate of pay for hours worked in excess of forty in a workweek on covered contracts over $100,000. The daily eight-hour trigger was removed from the statute in 1986 and now survives only in certain state laws, where a daily double-time tier may also apply. Double time is not required by any federal statute, and prevailing wage is a Davis-Bacon requirement about the hourly rate, which is a separate question from the overtime premium.

A private construction company offers a nonexempt employee an extra day off next month instead of overtime pay for this week's 48 hours. Under the FLSA this is:

• a.Lawful, if the employee agrees to the arrangement in writing
• b.Lawful, if the time off is granted at one and one-half hours per hour worked
• c.Unlawful, because a private employer must pay the overtime premium in cash that week✓
• d.Lawful, because the two workweeks average out to 40 hours each

Compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay is available only to public-sector employers under a narrow FLSA provision; a private employer must pay cash overtime for the workweek in which it was earned. The employee cannot waive the right by agreement, because FLSA rights are not waivable. Averaging hours across two workweeks is separately barred, since each workweek stands alone for overtime purposes.

A journeyman leaves to serve a three-year tour in the National Guard and then asks for his job back. Under USERRA, the employer generally must:

• a.Rehire him only if a vacancy happens to exist when he reports back
• b.Reemploy him in the position he would have attained had he not served✓
• c.Rehire him at entry level, because his trade skills have gone stale
• d.Do nothing, because service longer than one year ends reemployment rights

The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act protects reemployment for cumulative service of up to five years and applies the escalator principle: the returning worker steps back onto the seniority escalator where it would have carried him. That right does not depend on a vacancy, so the employer must make room. There is no one-year cut-off, and demoting a returning servicemember is precisely what the statute forbids.

A contractor's workers' compensation premium is multiplied by an experience modification rate of 1.25. What does that tell you?

• a.It employs 25 percent more workers than the average firm in its trade
• b.It has earned a 25 percent discount for an unusually good safety record
• c.Its insured payroll has grown 25 percent since the last policy period
• d.Its loss history is worse than average, so it pays 25 percent more✓

An experience modification rate compares a contractor's actual losses with the losses expected for a firm of its size and classification. A mod of 1.00 is average, above 1.00 raises the premium and below 1.00 lowers it, so 1.25 is a 25 percent surcharge rather than a discount. Payroll and headcount already sit inside the premium calculation as the exposure base; the mod is applied on top of them and reflects loss experience alone.

A company classifies its estimator as exempt from overtime because his business card reads 'manager.' Under the FLSA, what actually determines exempt status?

• a.The job title the employer has assigned to the position
• b.How the employee is paid and what the job actually involves✓
• c.Whether the employee is paid weekly rather than by the hour
• d.Whether the employee has signed an agreement waiving overtime

The white-collar exemptions turn on a salary-basis test and a duties test: the employee must be paid a predetermined salary at or above the regulatory threshold and must actually perform executive, administrative or professional work. A title proves nothing, which is why 'manager' on a card has failed repeatedly in wage-and-hour litigation. Pay frequency is not the test, and an employee cannot waive FLSA overtime by agreement.

Before operating a crane near overhead power lines rated up to 350 kV, OSHA requires the employer to determine whether any part of the equipment, load line or load could come closer than what distance?

• a.20 feet✓
• b.10 feet
• c.15 feet
• d.50 feet

29 CFR 1926.1408(a)(2) sets a 20-foot trigger; inside it the employer must either confirm the line is deenergized and visibly grounded, maintain 20 feet using the listed encroachment precautions, or determine the voltage and work to the smaller Table A minimum approach distance. The 10-foot figure belongs to the scaffold rule for lines under 50 kV and to older general-industry practice, not to crane operations. Neither 15 nor 50 feet appears as the trigger.

Under OSHA's construction fire-protection standard, how must portable fire extinguishers be distributed through a protected building area?

• a.One rated at least 2A on each floor
• b.One rated at least 10B for each 3,000 square feet of protected area
• c.A 2A-rated unit per 3,000 square feet, within 100 feet of travel✓
• d.One of any rating within 75 feet of any point in the protected building area

29 CFR 1926.150(c)(1)(i) states both halves of the rule: a 2A extinguisher for each 3,000 square feet or major fraction of it, and a travel distance to the nearest extinguisher not exceeding 100 feet. A separate paragraph does also require at least one per floor, so that is a floor beneath the rule rather than the whole of it. The 10B rating belongs to the flammable-liquid requirement, and 75 feet is not an OSHA construction figure.

A crew keeps 20 gallons of gasoline on site to fuel equipment. What does OSHA's construction standard require nearby?

• a.An extinguisher rated not less than 2A within 50 feet
• b.An extinguisher rated not less than 10B within 100 feet
• c.An extinguisher rated not less than 10B within 50 feet✓
• d.A charged garden hose within 100 feet

29 CFR 1926.150(c)(1)(vi) requires an extinguisher rated not less than 10B within 50 feet wherever more than 5 gallons of flammable or combustible liquid, or 5 pounds of flammable gas, are in use, with the integral fuel tanks of motor vehicles excluded. A 2A rating is for ordinary combustibles and will not extinguish a liquid fire, so the B rating is the one that matters here. The 100-foot travel distance and the garden-hose substitution belong to the general 2A requirement, not to this one.

Normal fire-prevention precautions are not enough for a cutting job inside an occupied building. Under 29 CFR 1926.352, how long must the additional personnel assigned to guard against fire remain?

• a.Only while sparks and slag are actually being produced by the torch
• b.For exactly 30 minutes after the work stops, as the standard specifies
• c.Until the area has been rechecked at the next scheduled safety meeting
• d.During the work and for a sufficient period afterward to ensure no fire is possible✓

Paragraph (e) requires the fire watch during the operation and for a sufficient period of time after completion of the work to ensure that no possibility of fire exists, and requires those personnel to be instructed on the specific hazards and on how to use the firefighting equipment. The construction standard fixes no clock, so 30 minutes, a figure drawn from consensus standards and written into many contracts, is not what 1926.352 says. Leaving when the sparks stop misses exactly the smoldering ignition the rule exists to catch.

A crew is laying a masonry wall 12 feet high. How wide must the limited access zone be, and on which side of the wall?

• a.12 feet, on the scaffolded side where the masons are working
• b.16 feet, on the unscaffolded side✓
• c.6 feet, on both sides of the wall for its entire length
• d.20 feet, on either side

29 CFR 1926.706(a)(2) sets the zone equal to the height of the wall to be constructed plus four feet, so 12 plus 4 gives 16 feet, and 1926.706(a)(3) puts it on the side that will be unscaffolded, because that is the side an unbraced wall falls toward and where no one needs to be. It runs the full length of the wall, and only employees actively engaged in building the wall may enter it.

Under OSHA's masonry standard, at what height must a masonry wall be braced until permanent supporting elements are in place?

• a.Over eight feet✓
• b.Over four feet
• c.Over six feet
• d.Over twelve feet

29 CFR 1926.706(b) requires all masonry walls over eight feet in height to be adequately braced against overturning and collapse unless they are otherwise adequately supported, and the bracing must stay until the permanent structure supports the wall. Below that height the limited access zone stays in place until the wall is adequately supported. Four and six feet are fall-protection trigger heights elsewhere in Part 1926, not the masonry bracing height.

Before employees start demolition work, what does OSHA require?

• a.A verbal walkthrough by the site superintendent, noted in the daily report
• b.An asbestos and lead survey, which also satisfies the structural requirement
• c.Written notice to the building department at least 48 hours before work begins
• d.A written engineering survey by a competent person✓

29 CFR 1926.850(a) requires the engineering survey by a competent person, requires that adjacent structures where employees may be exposed be checked the same way, and requires the employer to have written evidence that the survey was performed. A verbal walkthrough leaves no such evidence. An asbestos survey is separately required but does not satisfy this rule, and any advance notice to the building department is a local permit matter rather than an OSHA requirement.

A worker wants to blow sawdust off a workbench with the shop air line. What does OSHA's construction standard allow?

• a.Only below 30 p.s.i., with chip guarding and PPE✓
• b.Only below 90 p.s.i., which is the usual shop line pressure
• c.Never, because compressed air may not be used for cleaning purposes
• d.Freely, provided the worker is wearing approved eye protection

29 CFR 1926.302(b)(4) permits compressed air for cleaning only when it is reduced to less than 30 p.s.i., and then only with effective chip guarding and the required personal protective equipment; the 30 p.s.i. limit does not apply to concrete form, mill scale and similar cleaning. 90 p.s.i. is a typical shop line pressure, not a limit. The use is restricted rather than banned outright, and eye protection by itself does not satisfy the rule.

A worker in the basket of an articulating boom lift is wearing a harness. Under OSHA's aerial lift standard, where must the lanyard be attached?

• a.To the nearest structural steel member of the building
• b.To the boom or the basket✓
• c.To the guardrail of the adjacent scaffold
• d.To any anchorage rated at 5,000 pounds

29 CFR 1926.453(b)(2)(v) requires the lanyard to be attached to the boom or basket when working from an aerial lift. Tying off to the building or an adjacent structure is the classic and dangerous error, because a lift that drifts or is struck can pull the worker out of the basket against a fixed anchor. The 5,000-pound figure is the general fall-arrest anchorage rule and does not override the lift-specific attachment point.

Vertical reinforcing steel protrudes from a footing where workers will be working above it. What does OSHA require?

• a.Paint the exposed ends of the bars a high-visibility color
• b.Post a warning sign at the edge of the work area above it
• c.Guard the steel against impalement✓
• d.Bend the bars over

29 CFR 1926.701(b) requires all protruding reinforcing steel onto or into which employees could fall to be guarded to eliminate the hazard of impalement, typically with caps rated for impalement protection, troughs or substantial wood covers. Paint and signs make the hazard more visible but leave it fully intact. Bending the bars neither removes the impalement risk nor is it acceptable to the engineer, since it damages the steel.