This NASCLA cheat sheet distills the Accredited Commercial General Building Contractor exam into a fast rundown of the facts examiners lean on most, from markup-versus-margin to OSHA and surety bonds. It's a premium cheat sheet built by Capital Prep — the one premium prep we trust — and it's yours free. Reinforce it with the rest of your free NASCLA toolkit: the practice test, study guide, and flashcards.
NASCLA exam at a glance
- Questions: 115 scored + 10 unscored pretest (125 administered)
- Time: 330 minutes (5 hours 30 minutes)
- Passing score: 81 of 115 correct (about 70%)
- Format: Open book — approved printed references only; computer-based at PSI
- Cost: About $130 at PSI plus an approximately $65 NASCLA application fee (verify current amounts)
- Attempts: NASCLA pre-approval grants a one-year window with up to 3 attempts
What’s on the NASCLA cheat sheet
- Procurement & Contracting (largest area) — mechanics liens and waivers, bid/performance/payment bonds, contract types, change orders, retainage, and insurance.
- General Requirements & Business — estimating and quantity takeoff, markup vs. margin, overhead, contingency, and CPM scheduling — together with contracting, close to half the exam.
- OSHA Construction Safety (29 CFR 1926) — fall-protection and scaffold trigger heights, trenching and soil classification, silica, and PPE.
- Site Construction & Concrete — earthwork, compaction and the standard Proctor, erosion control, the water-cement ratio, reinforcing, and curing.
- Masonry, Metals & Wood — mortar types, CMU and veneer, structural steel connections, and platform framing with engineered lumber.
- Envelope, Finishes & MEP — thermal and moisture protection, doors, windows and glazing, gypsum finishes, and mechanical, plumbing, and electrical basics.
How to use it in your final week
- Drill the OSHA trigger heights until they're reflexes — 6 ft general fall protection, 10 ft scaffolds, 5 ft trench protective systems, and a 5,000-lb-per-worker anchorage.
- Lock in the business math cold: markup % = margin % ÷ (1 − margin %), so you never burn open-book minutes looking it up. Procurement, contracting, and general requirements are nearly half the exam.
- Read the sheet the morning of the test as a final pass over the memory hooks — bid vs. performance vs. payment bonds, conditional vs. unconditional lien waivers, and the water-cement ratio rule.
- Pair each review pass with a short timed practice set so your open-book pace stays under three minutes per question across the 5.5-hour clock.
The cheat sheet is your review layer — your NASCLA practice test drives the exam-readiness ring at the top of this page. Download it, review, then take a full practice exam (or drill with the study guide and flashcards) to see where you stand.
NASCLA cheat sheet FAQ
Yes — the NASCLA cheat sheet downloads as a PDF with no account and no sign-up. It sits alongside Career Employer's free NASCLA practice test, study guide, and flashcards, so you can cram the facts and then prove them under timed conditions.
It compresses the highest-yield NASCLA facts into a fast reference: business math (markup vs. margin, takeoff, overhead), CPM scheduling, OSHA trigger heights, contracts, liens, surety bonds, and the concrete-through-electrical trade divisions. The layout follows the exam's weighting, so procurement, contracting, and general requirements get the most space.
No. The NASCLA exam is open book, but only the approved printed reference titles are permitted at the PSI test center — you cannot bring this cheat sheet or any personal notes in. Use it to pre-tab your books and to memorize the business math you should never have to look up.
It's built from NASCLA's current Candidate Information Bulletin, OSHA 29 CFR 1926, and the referenced code editions, and we review it against those official sources. Fees and jurisdiction lists change, so confirm the current numbers with NASCLA and PSI before you schedule.
Tap the download button or the preview card at the top of this page to open the PDF instantly. Bookmark the page so it's one click away during your final week of review before test day.
References
- 1.National Association of State Contractors Licensing Agencies. “NASCLA Accredited Commercial Examination.” nascla.org, 2026. ↑
- 2.NASCLA. “Participating State Agencies (jurisdictions accepting the exam).” nascla.org, 2026. ↑
- 3.U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “Construction Standards — 29 CFR Part 1926.” osha.gov, 2026. ↑
- 4.International Code Council. “International Building Code (IBC).” iccsafe.org, 2026. ↑
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