ARE Demonstration Exam - Correct Responses

The new ARE 5.0 with Online Proctoring Demonstration Exam is now available through your NCARB Record!

This new demo exam features 75 practice items, a three-hour testing duration, and includes all the updated navigation features and tools you’ll see when testing from December 14 onward—including the new break feature, updated PDF reader, and digital whiteboard. The demo exam is unscored, but you can find rationales and correct responses for most of the items within the updated ARE Handbook.

In an effort to create a full-length ARE demo, NCARB has added 10 practice items and a case study to the exam that are not included in the current Handbook. We are planning to add these items, along with their correct responses and rationales, to future releases of the document.

In the meantime, here are the correct responses for only those demo exam items that do not appear in the Handbook:

Case Study #1 - Items and Correct Responses

The client has reduced the original project budget by two million dollars. They would like to keep the program space as planned and instead reduce the building efficiency factor. The building is estimated to cost $500 per square foot.

• 1.3
• 1.4
• 1.6
• 1.7

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There has been significant turnover in the university board of directors. The new board wishes to allocate more resources to the university's academic departments and has requested that the architect make significant reductions to the Event Center program:

• Each Concessions/Retail space must be reduced by 10%.
• The seating capacity of the Main Event Space will decrease to 4,000, reducing the square footage by 15%.
• The building efficiency factor will decrease to 1.4.

Additionally, the area of the Exterior Plaza will be capped at 4,000 square feet.

What is the new gross square footage of the building?

• 92,610 gross square feet

Case Study #2 - Items and Correct Responses

After reviewing the change in the program that eliminates the spa in favor of additional hotel suites, the contractor submits a change order for $25,000 and 15 days. The client approves the change order.

Assuming that the document and permit revisions can be obtained concurrently with the existing schedule, when will the client obtain occupancy?

• May of Year 3
• June of Year 3
• July of Year 3

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The Architect's Fee Budget is being prepared when construction documents are 80% complete. The architect needs to manage and maintain the remaining allotted hours.

At the current pace of work, how many project hours will remain after completion of construction documents?

• 420 hours

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The owner's directive to replace the spa with additional hotel suites will include an extra floor of suites and an expansion of the building footprint, necessitating changes to the project costs and the construction documents associated with the portion of work for which the structural engineer is responsible. The structural engineer has not yet requested any documents from the architect or any other members of the design team.

Which of the following is the architect contractually obligated to furnish to the structural engineer? Check the two that apply.

• Electrical floor plan
• Plumbing schedules
• Updated estimate on the cost of work
• Geotechnical report
• HVAC drawings for the additional hotel suites
• Owner's updated program

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The hotel renovation project is in September of Year 2 and construction has proceeded according to schedule. The owner, however, loses an important source of funding and informs the architect that the project cost must be cut by 10%. 

Which of the following options to reduce project costs should the architect offer to the owner? Check the three that apply.

• Evaluate the qualifications of other contractors and invite them to submit bids.
• Work with the contractor to provide value engineering services.
• Agree on a reduction in the scope of work and request that the contractor resubmit a price.
• Reduce the contractor's general conditions costs and request that the contractor resubmit a price.
• Request that the contractor lower the price to meet the owner's budget requirements.
• Identify deductive alternates and reissue to the contractor for revised pricing.

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The general contractor has submitted a change order for $273,500. The gross square footage of the project remains unchanged. 

Excluding furnishings, fixtures, and equipment, what is the revised total cost of construction per square foot?

• $40 per square foot

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After receiving the schematic design submission, the owner takes a six-week trip and reviews the submission while touring international hotel properties. The architect anticipates changes from the owner and stops production work on the design development documents. When the owner returns in February of Year 2, the owner approves the schematic design but insists that the project milestones remain the same.

Which one of the following strategies allows the architect to absorb the document production delay and minimize the risk of additional costs?

• Ask the contractor to perform a constructability review prior to completion of the design development phase.
• Direct the design team to produce multiple prime bid construction documents.
• Add staff or direct existing staff to work overtime during the design development phase.

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The firm principal is using the total hours spent to date in the Architect's Fee Budget to determine the progress of the project. The project is currently on schedule.

Click on the month in the project schedule to indicate the point to which the project has progressed.

Discrete Items

Refer to the exhibit:

Construction on a laboratory in a suburban office park is set to begin and the architect must confirm that the information on the Contractor's Application for Payment is acceptable to the firm.