10 original questions for the Project and site management exam, each with four options, the correct answer, an explanation and a source. They cover all 5 modules: the legal framework, plans and specifications, estimating, construction activities and sustainable construction. The official exam lasts 3 h and the pass mark is 60%.
Updated October 2, 2026
How to use them
Answer each question before you open the answer, as you would in the exam room.
Always read the explanation, even when you were right: it names what makes the other options tempting.
Note the module of each mistake. It tells you where to go back, and the exam page lists every module with its elements.
These are examples we wrote, not real exam questions: the RBQ does not publish the number of questions or the weight of the modules. The December 2024 information sheet hands out chapter I of the Construction Code (NBC 2015 as amended), while the code in force since 17 April 2025 is based on the NBC 2020: the RBQ has not said which edition is handed out on exam day.
10 worked questions
Question 1
Module 1: Legal, normative and regulatory frameworkRecall
The licence of a contractor in Sainte-Marie has a single subclass. A client asks for work that falls under another subclass, one that the licence does not include. What is needed for the contractor to do that work personally?
AOption A: Also holding the subclass for that work
BOption B: The municipality issuing a permit for that work
COption C: The client being the owner of the building concerned
DOption D: The contract being signed in writing with the client
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Also holding the subclass for that work
The licence authorizes the work of the subclasses it includes. To do work under another subclass personally, the contractor must also hold that subclass. Neither the contract, nor the municipality’s building permit, nor the client’s status widens the scope of the licence.
Module 1: Legal, normative and regulatory frameworkApplicationDocuments provided
On the drawings of a small house, a note by the drafter waives a Part 9 requirement. What actually allows such a requirement to be waived?
AOption A: A means of compliance recognized by the code.
BOption B: Repeating the note in the project specifications.
COption C: The client’s initials on the note, on the drawing.
DOption D: The author’s membership in a professional order.
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. A means of compliance recognized by the code.
A code requirement cannot be waived by a drawing note: a means of compliance that the code recognizes is needed (according to the NBC 2015 (Québec amended), Chapter I). Repeating the note in the specifications, the client’s initials and the author’s professional title do not erase the requirement.
Module 2: Reading and interpreting plans and specificationsApplication
On the drawings for a project in Montmagny, the partial dimensions of a wall do not add up to the overall dimension. What does the contractor do before ordering materials?
AOption A: Have the dimension confirmed in writing by the designers
BOption B: Use the shortest dimension to avoid excess
COption C: Measure the dimension to scale on the printed sheet
DOption D: Order based on the largest total to be safe
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Have the dimension confirmed in writing by the designers
Dimensions that do not add up reveal an error or an omission in the drawings. It is confirmed in writing by the designers before ordering. Choosing the shortest or the longest value, or measuring on the print, amounts to guessing.
Module 2: Reading and interpreting plans and specificationsAnalysis
The original price schedule of a call for tenders provides for 400 m² of gypsum board to install. Addendum 1 raises the quantity to 560 m². Addendum 2, received two days before closing, sets it at 450 m². What quantity must the estimator price?
AOption A: 400 m²
BOption B: 450 m²
COption C: 470 m²
DOption D: 560 m²
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. 450 m²
For the quantity it modifies, the most recent addendum received before closing replaces the earlier documents. The estimator therefore prices 450 m², the figure from addendum 2. The original quantity, the one from addendum 1 and the average of the three figures are no longer to be priced.
A firm carries out the work with its own crews. The client reimburses its actual costs, plus a fee agreed in the contract. What type of contract is this?
AOption A: A cost-plus contract.
BOption B: A lump-sum contract.
COption C: A unit-price contract.
DOption D: A construction management contract.
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. A cost-plus contract.
When the client reimburses the firm’s actual costs and adds an agreed fee, the contract is cost-plus. A lump sum fixes one overall price, a unit-price contract pays for measured quantities, and under construction management the firm coordinates the trades instead of doing the work itself.
An estimator has taken off her quantities and received the subcontractors’ prices for a bid. When does she add the profit?
AOption A: Right at the start, before pricing the quantities
BOption B: After labour, before including overhead
COption C: At invoicing, once the actual costs are known
DOption D: Once the total cost is established, overhead included
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Once the total cost is established, overhead included
Profit is added once the costs are known: direct costs, subcontractor prices and overhead make up the total cost, to which the target profit is applied. It is not set before the pricing or after the fact, because the bid price must already contain it.
Module 4: Managing construction activitiesAnalysis
On the Grand-Mère arena project, the light fixture installation has 4 days of total float and is not on the critical path. The crew lead proposes shortening it by 2 days to finish the project sooner. What happens to the project finish date?
AOption A: It does not move, since the critical path keeps the same duration
BOption B: It moves up by 2 days, since every day saved carries over to the finish
COption C: It moves up by 4 days, since all of the task’s float is recovered
DOption D: It moves back by 2 days, since the task’s float shrinks by that much
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. It does not move, since the critical path keeps the same duration
The finish date depends on the critical path. Shortening a task that has float changes nothing there: the task’s float increases, here from 4 to 6 days, and the project finish stays the same. Only a gain on the critical path moves the finish up.
Module 4: Managing construction activitiesApplication
The inspection rejects the plumbing installed above the future ceiling of a daycare. The ceiling closure is scheduled for tomorrow. What does the contractor do?
AOption A: Closes the ceiling and settles the plumbing defect at handover
BOption B: Notes the plumbing rejection in the inspection log and closes the ceiling
COption C: Has the plumbing corrected, then requests a new inspection
DOption D: Has the plumbing subcontractor sign a release, then closes the ceiling
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. Has the plumbing corrected, then requests a new inspection
Work rejected at inspection must be corrected and resubmitted before it is hidden by the closure. Closing to keep to the schedule, recording the rejection without correcting it, or getting a release signed would leave a defect that can no longer be reached.
While cleaning a clinic slab, the crew sends wash water loaded with cement to the neighbouring lot’s ditch to free up the area sooner. What does the environmental protection principle call for?
AOption A: Holding it on site, with no discharge to the surrounding environment
BOption B: Discharging it to the ditch, since the ditch lies outside the site
COption C: Discharging it to the ditch after diluting it with a lot of clean water
DOption D: Discharging it to the ditch as long as the neighbour reports no damage
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. Holding it on site, with no discharge to the surrounding environment
The environmental protection principle (section 6 of the Sustainable Development Act) requires taking the natural environment into account from the moment a decision is made. The wash water must therefore be held rather than discharged. It makes no difference whether the ditch is off the site, whether the water is diluted, or whether nobody complains.
Module 5: Sustainable development rulesApplication
A contractor must replace the windows on the facade of a classified heritage building. The application required for this work has been filed with the ministry, but no answer has been received. When can the facade work start?
AOption A: As soon as the application is filed, since the answer may arrive during the work
BOption B: As soon as the municipality issues the building permit, with no further step
COption C: When the Minister of Culture’s authorization is obtained
DOption D: As soon as the project architect approves the chosen windows
Show the answer and explanation
Correct answer: C. When the Minister of Culture’s authorization is obtained
For a classified heritage building, altering, repairing or modifying it requires the minister’s authorization (Cultural Heritage Act, s. 48). That authorization must be in hand before the work begins. A filed application, a municipal permit or a professional’s approval does not replace it.