NM General Contractor study plan

Build a one-page formula sheet covering markup vs. margin, overhead allocation, retainage, and simple break-even, then solve five numeric problems without notes

Reconstruct the contractor license classification tiers and the dollar/scope limits that attach to each, from memory, on a blank sheet

Map the license application, qualifying-party, and renewal requirements into a dated checklist you can act on

Draft a cash-flow timeline for a hypothetical 90-day job showing when mobilization, progress billing, retainage release, and supplier payments land

Work through ten lien and payment-bond scenarios and state who can claim, against whom, and within what window

Compute gross profit, net profit, and overhead recovery for two sample jobs with different contract types (lump sum vs. cost-plus)

List the disciplinary actions and complaint paths the licensing authority can pursue, and match each to a violation type

Practice explaining to a fictional client why an unlicensed contract may be unenforceable

Identify the standard contract documents, the order of precedence among them, and the notice deadlines that most often cause disputes

Build a change-order workflow diagram from request to executed modification, naming who signs at each step

Perform a quantity takeoff for a small concrete slab and a stud wall, showing unit conversions explicitly

Assemble a bid from that takeoff: labor, material, equipment, overhead, contingency, and markup, with each line labeled

Compare lump-sum, unit-price, and cost-plus bidding and state the risk shift in each

Build a critical path schedule for a 20-activity residential or tenant-improvement project, identifying the critical path by hand

Calculate float for at least three activities and explain what happens to the project when a critical activity slips a week

Write the submittal, RFI, and shop-drawing tracking process as a numbered procedure

Set up earned-value tracking on your sample project: compute planned value, earned value, cost variance, and schedule variance at a mid-project checkpoint

Describe how you would recover a project running two weeks behind without adding overtime, listing three specific levers

Build a site-specific safety plan outline covering hazard assessment, competent-person duties, and disciplinary enforcement

Identify the training and documentation obligations that attach to the major hazard categories on a typical commercial site

Walk a real or imagined site and produce a hazard log of at least 15 items, each with a control and a responsible party

Explain fall protection, excavation, scaffolding, and electrical safety requirements accurately enough to teach them to a new hire in five minutes each

Match structural, envelope, and finish materials to their correct installation sequence and common failure modes

Describe concrete placement, curing, and testing requirements, including when cylinders are taken and what the results trigger

Close out a mock project: punch list, substantial completion, final payment, warranty package, and as-built turnover, each with the document that proves it

Resolve three contract dispute scenarios using the contract terms you identified in week 3, citing the specific clause type

Identify the inspection and testing milestones that must be scheduled before concealment on a typical commercial build

Re-derive the material properties and installation tolerances most often confused on the exam, and correct your own earlier errors

Take two full-length timed practice exams under test conditions and score them by domain

Rank your domains from weakest to strongest by practice-exam percentage and re-drill the three weakest for two hours total

Rewrite your week 1 formula sheet and licensing sheet from memory and compare against the originals to find residual gaps

Review every missed question across all eight weeks and write the underlying rule, not just the right answer, for each