BORAQS Architect Exam common mistakes
BORAQS Architect Exam · Understand the traps and how to avoid them.
In quantity-surveying measurement questions, the candidate lists every dimension from a drawn element but does not apply the Standard Method of Measurement rules on deductions, so openings, voids and small areas are left in or taken out inconsistently.
Candidates learn measurement as geometry (length × width × height) and treat SMM as a reference document to look up later, so they default to raw arithmetic under exam pressure and forget that the rule set, not the geometry, decides what is measured.
What to do instead
Before any measurement question, write a one-line measurement checklist at the top of the answer: what is measured, what is deducted, the threshold below which no deduction is made, and the unit of billing. Apply the checklist to every item, then total. Practise 20 short take-off questions where the only trap is a deduction rule, not the arithmetic.
The candidate answers contract and procurement questions by quoting general principles ('the employer should act fairly') instead of naming the specific standard form, clause mechanism or notice period that governs the situation described.
Architecture training emphasises design judgement and professional ethics; contract administration is learned on the job in fragments. Under time pressure the candidate reaches for the ethical principle rather than the contractual mechanism, which is what the examiner is testing.
What to do instead
Build a one-page matrix of the standard forms in use in the jurisdiction: which form, which party bears which risk, the notice and claim periods, and the default remedies. Rehearse answering in the form 'Under [form], clause [x] requires [party] to [action] within [period]; otherwise [consequence]'.
On building-regulation and planning questions, the candidate gives the design intention or a rule of thumb (for example a generic '1 in 15 ramp is acceptable') rather than the actual prescribed figure, class of building, or deemed-to-satisfy provision that applies.
Practitioners rely on habit and precedent from previous projects, and regulations are consulted only when a project forces it. The exam, however, tests the regulation as written, and habits from one building class are often wrong for another.
What to do instead
Work regulation questions by first classifying the building (use, height, occupancy, fire compartment) and then retrieving the requirement for that class. Keep a personal table of the numeric limits you most often get wrong (ramp gradients, stair dimensions, travel distances, fire resistance periods) and re-derive each from the code text rather than memory.
The candidate treats a professional-practice scenario as a technical problem and answers with the correct design solution, ignoring the procedural obligation to report, disclose a conflict of interest, or decline the instruction.
Architects are trained to solve problems, so the instinct is to fix the building issue. The scenario question is usually testing the conduct obligation that arises before or instead of the technical fix, and candidates skip it because it feels like a non-answer.
What to do instead
For every scenario, answer in three layers: (1) the professional/ethical obligation and to whom it is owed, (2) the procedural step (notify, record in writing, escalate to the registration body), (3) the technical resolution. Marks are usually allocated in that order, so never stop at layer three.
The candidate produces a cost estimate or appraisal as a single lump figure with no stated basis, no allowances, and no separation of measured work from provisional sums and contingency.
In practice, early estimates are often communicated as a headline number to a client, and the supporting build-up stays in a spreadsheet. In an exam answer, the build-up is the answer; a bare total cannot earn method marks.
What to do instead
Always present estimates as a structured build-up: measured work by element, preliminaries as a percentage with justification, design/construction contingency, and inflation allowance to the mid-point of construction, each with its source. State the basis of cost data (rate source, date, location factor) explicitly.
The candidate confuses drawing conventions and scales, for example reading a dimension off a stated scale when the drawing is marked 'not to scale', or mixing up plan, section and elevation when interpreting what a line represents.
Candidates revise regulations and contracts but assume drawing literacy is already secure. Exam figures are deliberately simplified, so a line that would be obvious on a real set becomes ambiguous, and the candidate answers from assumption rather than from the stated scale and labels.
What to do instead
Before answering any drawing-based question, write down what is stated: scale, north point, section cut line, level datum. If any of these is absent or marked not to scale, answer only from dimensions written on the drawing and say so in the answer. Practise reading simplified exam-style figures, not full construction sets.
The candidate answers a 'describe the process' or 'outline the stages' question with a single paragraph of prose rather than a sequenced, numbered workflow with the responsible party and the output document at each stage.
Long-form writing is the default in design education, and candidates underestimate how much of the mark scheme is allocated to sequence and roles. A fluent paragraph can contain all the content and still lose most of the marks.
What to do instead
Answer process questions as a numbered list: stage, action, responsible party, output/deliverable, and the decision gate. Practise converting three prose answers into this format and compare against the mark allocation to see where sequence marks are earned.
The candidate calculates quantities or costs correctly in the working but reports them in the wrong unit or to the wrong precision, for example billing cubic metres where the item is measured in square metres, or giving a cost to the cent when the estimate is at feasibility stage.
Unit and precision conventions are absorbed from software output and habit rather than from the measurement rules. Under exam conditions the candidate focuses on getting the number and treats the unit as a formality.
What to do instead
Make the unit part of the answer line, not an afterthought: write 'item - quantity - unit' for every line before moving on. Learn the measurement unit for each common item class, and match reported precision to the estimate stage (feasibility to the nearest significant round figure, tender to the nearest currency unit).
The candidate spends disproportionate time on one long calculation and leaves the shorter definitional and regulatory questions unanswered, or writes far more than the mark allocation justifies on the first question.
Calculation questions feel productive and carry visible working, so candidates stay with them past the point of diminishing returns. There is often no practised timing plan, and the first question is treated as a warm-up that can absorb extra minutes.
What to do instead
Set a per-question time budget from the marks (roughly one minute per mark) and write it beside each question number before starting. Do a first pass answering every question at the depth its marks justify, then return to extend the high-value ones. Leave calculation-heavy questions until the definitional marks are banked.
The candidate describes a building element or construction detail in general terms ('a reinforced concrete slab on grade') without stating thickness, reinforcement, damp-proofing, insulation or the interface with adjacent elements, when the question asks for a specification.
Candidates answer at the level of the concept because that is how design discussions usually run. Specification questions, however, are marked on the specific properties and layers, and a generic description reads as if the candidate does not know what a specification contains.
What to do instead
For any specification question, build the answer layer by layer from the ground or the outside face inward, giving material, thickness or grade, and function for each layer, plus the junctions and movement/waterproofing details. Rehearse three common details (ground floor, external wall, flat roof) to this template until the layer sequence is automatic.