Technical Legislation, Standards and Contracts
What the exam tests
This domain tests the legal and contractual framework around construction: permits and approvals, standards and CE marking, contract formation, obligations, variations, payment, time, defects and liability. Answers should distinguish planning permission, building permit, contract instruction and technical standard.
Core rules
- Planning permission controls land use and development; a building permit controls construction. Work should not start before required permits and appointments are in place.
- A contract requires offer, acceptance, consideration and intention to create legal relations. Construction contracts should define scope, price, time, payment, variations, risk allocation and dispute resolution.
- Standards such as EN and ISO documents are technical requirements; a standard does not automatically override a contract, but the contract may incorporate it.
- CE marking indicates conformity with applicable harmonised European requirements; it is not a general quality mark and does not replace project-specific testing.
- Variations should be instructed in writing by an authorised person. Valuation may use a similar bill rate; if no rate applies, a fair new rate is built from labour, plant, materials, overhead and profit.
- Notice periods, retention, performance security, delay damages and defects liability periods are contractual terms and must be checked, not assumed.
Worked example
A bill of quantities has a rate of €68/m² for a wall type. A variation instructs a similar wall but with an extra 25 mm insulation layer not in the original item. The original rate is not directly applicable. A fair valuation starts from the original rate, deducts the omitted insulation, adds the new insulation material and labour at documented rates, and then applies the contract's agreed overhead and profit. The variation must be instructed and recorded before work proceeds; a verbal request alone is weak evidence.
Traps
Starting work without the correct permit; treating a standard as a contract; accepting a verbal variation without written confirmation; missing a notice deadline; and assuming the lowest tender is automatically the best value. Another common error is confusing a defects liability period with a limitation period.
Project Costing, Estimating and Quality Control
What the exam tests
This domain tests measurement, bill of quantities, unit-rate build-up, preliminaries, contingency, cash flow, cost control and quality control. You should be able to build a rate from resources, check a cost report, and describe inspection, testing and non-conformance procedures.
Core rules
- A unit rate is built from labour, material, plant, subcontract, overhead and profit, allowing for waste and output. Labour cost = hours per unit × hourly rate.
- Preliminaries are project-level costs such as site staff, temporary works, insurance, utilities and scaffolding; they are not part of every measured item.
- Contingency covers identified uncertainty; it is not a substitute for poor measurement.
- Cash flow depends on timing of payments, retention and advance payments, not only total contract value.
- Earned value: cost variance CV = BCWP − ACWP; schedule variance SV = BCWP − BCWS. Negative CV means over budget; negative SV means behind schedule.
- Quality control uses inspection and test plans, hold points, material tests, calibration, records and non-conformance reports. Work should not be covered up before required inspection.
Worked example
Estimate a unit rate for 1 m² of a trowelled finish. Labour is 2.5 hours at €18/hour = €45. Material is €12/m². Plant is €3/m². Direct cost = 45 + 12 + 3 = €60/m². Add 15% overhead and profit: 0.15 × 60 = €9. Rate = €69/m². If 5% waste on material is required, add 0.05 × 12 = €0.60 before overhead and profit.
Traps
Omitting preliminaries; double-counting an item already included in another rate; using net dimensions where measurement rules require gross; forgetting waste and compaction factors; and accepting non-conforming work without a non-conformance report. In earned value, do not compare actual cost with budgeted cost for the whole project and call it a variance without the earned value.