AR General Contractor common mistakes
AR General Contractor · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
Answering licensing-scope questions from a general recollection that "contractors need a license" rather than from the Arkansas threshold and exemption list - e.g., confidently saying a small job needs a license, or that a specialty trade is always exempt.
Most self-study material and most candidates' prior experience come from other states or from general industry rules, so out-of-state dollar thresholds and exemption categories get substituted for Arkansas-specific ones without the candidate noticing.
What to do instead
Build a one-page Arkansas card covering: the dollar threshold that triggers licensure, the limit on bidding/contracting for licensed contractors, the commercial vs. residential classification definitions, and the statutory exemption list. Rewrite it from memory weekly and re-verify each line against the Contractors Licensing Board statute rather than a commercial outline.
Answering lien and payment questions by picking the longest deadline or assuming the general contractor must give notice to every party on the job, instead of reproducing the statutory sequence of who must notify whom and when.
Lien law is a stack of conditional deadlines that only make sense as a timeline; candidates memorize isolated day counts and then guess at which party each one attaches to.
What to do instead
Draw the timeline once, end to end, from first furnishing through notice of intent, filing, and enforcement suit, with a column for each party type (owner, GC, sub, supplier). Re-draw it from blank paper during review and check each entry against the statute text.
Equating the critical path with the activity that has the longest duration, or with the path containing the most activities, when reading a network diagram.
Critical path is taught informally as "the longest path," which gets shortened in memory to "the longest task," and float arithmetic is easy to fudge when a question is read quickly.
What to do instead
Drill forward-pass/backward-pass calculations on small networks until total float is computed as a reflex, then practice stating the critical path as "the chain of activities with zero total float." Include near-critical examples where the longest-duration activity is not on the critical path.
Treating any owner-caused delay as automatically compensable and time-extending, or treating concurrent delay as if the contractor recovers full time and money.
Delay categories (excusable, non-excusable, compensable, concurrent) are usually learned as vocabulary rather than as a decision tree, so candidates apply the most intuitive label.
What to do instead
Build a two-axis matrix - fault (owner / contractor / neither) against effect (time only / time and money) - and place one worked example in every cell, including a true concurrent-delay example. Practice classifying short fact patterns into the matrix before choosing an answer.
Converting units by shortcut under time pressure - dividing cubic feet by 3 instead of 27, treating square yards and square feet as interchangeable, or omitting waste and compaction factors from a takeoff.
Unit conversions appear in low-stakes housekeeping steps, so candidates do them mentally, and the factor of 27 or a 10-percent waste allowance is easy to drop when the question is really testing something else.
What to do instead
Write the dimensional analysis out every time, including units, until it is habitual: CY = CF ÷ 27, SF = SY × 9, tons = CY × unit weight. Drill a fixed set of conversions (concrete, aggregate, asphalt, masonry, board feet, rebar lap lengths) plus waste/compaction factors, and reject any answer that lacks a stated waste allowance.
Doing quantity takeoff from the architectural sheets alone, skipping the structural, civil, mechanical, and specification sheets and the general notes that modify or override them.
Architectural drawings are the most legible and feel like the "main" set, and general notes are dense prose that is easy to skim past when time is short.
What to do instead
Read the general notes, sheet index, and all addenda before touching a scale. Then perform a deliberate sheet inventory for each takeoff item and record which discipline governs on conflicts. Practice on a sample set where a structural note contradicts an architectural dimension, and note which one controls.
Confusing slump with strength - treating a low slump as evidence of high compressive strength or rejecting concrete on slump alone - and assuming forms can be stripped on a fixed elapsed-day rule regardless of mix, cure conditions, or specification.
Slump and cylinder breaks are both "concrete tests," so the two collapse into one concept, and form-removal timing is remembered as a memorized day count rather than as a specification requirement tied to in-place strength.
What to do instead
Separate the tests explicitly: slump measures workability and is not a strength test; compressive strength comes from cured cylinders, typically specified at 28 days. Learn form-removal and reshoring requirements as strength- or specification-based, and review curing method and duration alongside them.
Treating field compaction as a percentage of the soil's natural in-place density rather than as a percentage of the maximum dry density established by a laboratory Proctor test.
"95 percent compaction" sounds self-explanatory, so the reference density is never questioned, and Standard vs. Modified Proctor is treated as a trivia distinction rather than a different reference curve.
What to do instead
State the reference out loud every time: relative compaction = field dry density ÷ maximum dry density from the specified Proctor (Standard or Modified). Tie it to lift thickness, moisture near optimum, and the field test method (sand cone, nuclear gauge), and practice problems where the two Proctor curves give different pass/fail results.
Flattening OSHA's dimensional triggers into a single remembered number - applying the 4-foot general-industry fall trigger on a construction site, using 5 feet for scaffolds, or assuming the excavation protective-system depth and the ladder-access distance are the same figure.
The numbers live in different subparts and are usually studied as isolated flashcards, so they merge into one plausible value that feels familiar in every context.
What to do instead
Build a single table with columns for hazard, construction vs. general industry, and trigger value: fall protection (6 ft construction), scaffolds (10 ft), ladder extension above the landing, excavation protective system (5 ft), and means of trench egress (25 ft of lateral travel). Reconstruct the table from memory and check it against the standard text.
Treating erosion and sediment control as site housekeeping rather than a permit-driven obligation - not being able to state when a stormwater pollution prevention plan is required, who inspects the BMPs, or how concrete washout and dewatering are handled.
Silt fence and straw bales look like common-sense good practice, so the regulatory trigger, plan contents, and inspection recordkeeping get skipped during study.
What to do instead
Learn the disturbed-area threshold that triggers a construction stormwater permit and the state-delegated permit process, then list the SWPPP contents, the BMP inspection and recordkeeping frequency, and the rules for concrete washout, fuel storage, and dewatering discharge. Practice deciding, from a short site description, whether a permit and SWPPP are required.