A General Engineering exam questions, with answers
10 practice questions for the CSLB General Engineering trade exam, each with the answer, a plain explanation and the source it rests on.
These are not real exam questions. CSLB does not release its test questions or answer keys, and nobody else has them. We write our own questions from the A outline and the codes, standards and references CSLB lists for the exam. Each answer names its source so you can check it.
The A exam has 8 sections. The questions below are grouped by section, with the share of the exam each one carries. Read the question, pick an answer, then open “Show the answer”. The other questions of the free test, scored section by section, are in the free 25-question A test.
Planning and Estimating · 15% of the exam
Reviewing plans and specifications; code compliance; evaluating job sites; coordinating projects with other trades; estimating costs for materials, equipment, and labor.
1. You are checking a Caltrans roadway profile sheet for a road through gently rolling terrain. The horizontal scale is 1" = 50'. Per the Caltrans Plans Preparation Manual, what vertical scale is commonly used with it, and what does that do to the grade line you see?
- 1" = 10' vertical, so grades look 5 times steeper than they are
- 1" = 2' vertical, so grades look 25 times steeper than they are
- 1" = 5' vertical, so grades look 10 times steeper than they are
- 1" = 50' vertical, so grades are drawn at their true slope
Show the answer
Answer: C. The PPM lists 1" = 5' vertical with 1" = 50' horizontal for rural or urban roads in gentle rolling terrain, and says a horizontal-to-vertical ratio of 10 is typical for roadway profiles. A 2 percent grade therefore looks like 20 percent on the sheet, so read grades from the numbers, not by eye. 1" = 2' vertical goes with 1" = 20' horizontal on level terrain, and 1" = 10' with 1" = 100' in hilly or mountainous country.
Structural Principles · 6% of the exam
Constructing structures; seismic requirements; basic engineering.
2. The geotechnical report for your pump station compares a possible magnitude 7.0 earthquake on a nearby fault with a magnitude 5.0 event. The USGS says each whole-number step in magnitude releases about 32 times more energy. About how much more energy does the 7.0 release?
- About 20 times
- About 64 times
- About 100 times
- About 1,000 times
Show the answer
Answer: D. USGS explains that each whole-number step in magnitude is a tenfold increase in measured amplitude but about 32 times more energy. Two steps give 32 × 32 = 1,024, about 1,000 times. 100 times is the amplitude ratio (10 × 10), while 64 and 20 add the two steps instead of multiplying them.
Source: USGS, Energy Release (32 times per whole-number magnitude step)
Earthwork and Surveying · 15% of the exam
Surveying job sites; preparing job sites; assessing soil conditions; assessing soil compaction and expansion.
3. Your new pipeline route crosses a dry inland valley in an arid part of California. According to the Caltrans Geotechnical Manual, which of these deposits along the route is a naturally occurring collapsible soil to watch for?
- Stiff, fissured clay that swells and shrinks each season
- Dense, well-graded gravel in an active river channel
- Saturated soft bay mud lying below the water table
- Wind-deposited loess and alluvial fan deposits
Show the answer
Answer: D. The manual lists aeolian (wind) deposits such as loess, and alluvial deposits such as alluvial fans and flows, both common in arid and semi-arid climates, among the materials where collapsible soil occurs naturally. Collapsible soil is unsaturated and loses volume when it is wetted, so saturated bay mud does not fit. Clay that swells and shrinks with the seasons is expansive soil, a different problem.
Source: Caltrans Geotechnical Manual, Collapsible Soil, Naturally Occurring Collapsible Soil
Subsurface, Surface, and Elevated Piping Work · 21% of the exam
Shoring and sloping excavations; preventing erosion; tunneling, drilling, and boring; installing pipelines; connecting and testing systems; connecting dry utilities.
4. Your crew is installing a long run of silt fence across the low edge of a graded building pad. Per EPA's silt fence fact sheet, how should the two ends of the run be set?
- Turned upslope so the bottom of each end sits above the top of the middle
- Kept at the same elevation as the middle so the whole run fills evenly
- Overlapped 6 in with the next run and kept at the same grade as that next run
- Set lower than the middle so that heavy flows can spill out at the ends
Show the answer
Answer: A. EPA says the bottom of each end of the fence should be higher than the top of the middle. Then, in an unusually heavy rain, water flows over the top, which lets only fine material through, instead of around the ends, where it would cause erosion. A level run or low ends send the flow around the fence.
5. Your USA North 811 ticket for a long conduit job reaches its 28th day tomorrow. The work will go on for two more weeks, and all the marks are still clearly visible. Per the USA North 811 California Excavation Handbook, what should you do?
- Renew the ticket online or by calling 811 by the end of the 28th day
- Request re-marks from every member before the ticket's 28th day ends
- Get a new ticket and wait 2 more working days before digging again
- Keep digging, since a ticket stays active until the excavation is done
Show the answer
Answer: A. A ticket is active for 28 calendar days from the date it is issued. If work continues past the 28th day and the marks are still clearly visible, the ticket can be renewed online or by calling USA North 811 by the end of the 28th day. Re-marks are requested when the marks are no longer reasonably visible.
Source: USA North 811 California Excavation Handbook, Renewal Notification and Re-mark Notification
Foundation and Concrete Construction · 11% of the exam
Constructing forms and falsework; placing and finishing concrete; installing pilings and foundations.
6. Your carpenters are stripping the wall forms on a Caltrans bridge abutment and must deal with the metal form fasteners left in the concrete. Per the Caltrans Reinforced Concrete Construction Manual, how far below the concrete surface must the metal fasteners be removed?
- At least 1 1/2 inches
- At least 3/4 inch
- At least 1/2 inch
- At least 1 inch
Show the answer
Answer: D. The manual says form fasteners must be a type that can be removed without chipping, spalling, heating or otherwise damaging the concrete surface, and that metal fasteners are removed to a minimum of 1 inch below the concrete surface. The 3/4-inch figure is the minimum size of the triangular fillets that form chamfers at exposed edges, not the fastener depth.
Source: Caltrans Reinforced Concrete Construction Manual, 3-3.01 Form Fasteners
Buildings, Structures, and Related Work · 9% of the exam
Installing mechanical systems; installing plumbing pipes; installing electrical systems; demolition, disposal, and recycling.
7. Your crew is demolishing an old building on a lot that will be regraded, and its building sewer will be abandoned. Under the 2025 California Plumbing Code (CPC 722.1), where must the abandoned sewer be plugged or capped?
- At the wye on the public sewer main
- Within 2 ft of the old foundation
- Within 10 ft of the property line
- Within 5 ft of the property line
Show the answer
Answer: D. CPC 722.1 requires an abandoned building sewer to be plugged or capped within 5 ft of the property line. Capping it at the old foundation, or 10 ft back from the line, leaves more of the old pipe open on the lot than the rule allows, and the wye on the public main is not the point the rule names.
Source: 2025 CPC 722.1, 2025 California Plumbing Code, Chapter 7
Roadwork and Paving · 5% of the exam
Base for highways, roads, and parking lots.
8. On a federal paving job specified with UFGS 32 11 23, parts of the compacted top lift of aggregate base are out of grade tolerance. Your foreman wants to spread a thin layer of fines over those spots and roll it in. What does the specification require?
- Thin lifts are allowed if they are at least 1 in thick and rolled with a steel drum
- No thin lifts; scarify the top lift at least 3 in, blend in material and recompact
- Thin lifts are allowed if the fines are wetted to optimum before they are rolled
- No thin lifts; remove the whole base course down to subgrade and then rebuild it
Show the answer
Answer: B. UFGS 32 11 23 says not to add thin lifts of material to the top lift of base course to meet grade. If the top lift is out of tolerance, scarify it to a depth of at least 3 in, blend new material in and compact it to bring it to grade. Rebuilding the whole course down to subgrade is not what the finishing paragraph calls for.
Safety · 18% of the exam
Personnel and job site safety; personal protective equipment (PPE); hazardous material safety.
9. At 10 a.m. the thermometer on your grading job reads 84°F. Under Title 8 §3395, as summarized in the Cal/OSHA Pocket Guide for the Construction Industry, what does the shade rule now require?
- Shade up at all times, but only with room for half of the crew at any one time
- Shade up at all times while the crew is present, enough for all on rest breaks
- Shade only on request, set up when a worker asks for a place to cool down
- Shade up only once the reading reaches 95°F and the high-heat rules start
Show the answer
Answer: B. When the outdoor temperature exceeds 80°F, one or more shaded areas must be up at all times while employees are present, with enough shade for all employees on recovery and rest breaks. Shade on request is the rule at 80°F or less, and 95°F is the trigger for high-heat procedures, not for shade.
Source: 8 CCR §3395(d) (Cal/OSHA Pocket Guide, Heat Illness Prevention, F. Shade)
10. A soils lab technician will walk the fill to run nuclear gauge tests while scrapers and a water truck keep working the same area. Under Title 8 §1592(e), what must the earthmoving operation do?
- Keep the technician at least 25 ft from every machine that is moving
- Give the technician a spotter who walks along with him for every test
- Be controlled so that the equipment operators know the technician is there
- Stop all the equipment working on the fill each time the technician runs a test
Show the answer
Answer: C. §1592(e) says hauling or earthmoving operations must be controlled so that equipment and vehicle operators know of the presence of rootpickers, spotters, lab technicians, surveyors or other workers on foot in their areas. The rule does not set a fixed distance or require a shutdown for each test; it requires that the operators know who is on foot around them.
Source: 8 CCR §1592(e), Cal. Code Regs. Title 8, §1592 Warning Methods (Construction Safety Orders)
Where to go from here
How the license works, from experience to fees: how to get an A license. Everything about the course: the A exam page.
Questions from our free A test, written from CSLB License Examination Study Guide, General Engineering (A), form 13E-A (03-2026), for examinations scheduled on or after February 1, 2025. CSLB notes that the percentages are approximate. Reviewed 14 October 2026. Study guidance only; we are not affiliated with CSLB or PSI.