PDD new practice Exam
Has anyone taken the updated practice exam? It would be great to go over some of the questions and answers. A lot of the questions are absolutely ridiculous
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It was actually pretty similar with maybe a couple of more obscure questions I could not possibly study for. I scored 71% in the practice exam and I also thought specifications was a weak area for me so I went through this website https://www.4specs.com/ last night so I have a generic understanding of what section is what, and then I skimmed through CSI, Project Resource Manual, to understand little more about Division 00, and 01. It worked out!
I did a lot of practice tests, Amber Book, Ballast, WeAre, etc. In my experience, nothing comes close to the real exam as much as Ncarb practice test does.
Best of luck!
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Awesome. Thank you. I passed PPD about 3 weeks ago using the amber book so that’s all still pretty fresh. Did you go through the PDD flash cards in amber book? And did they help?
I think I was more towards like 65% on my practice test. But I was mostly struggling with spec sections and then then not completely reading through the questions which I think I would do a better job of on the actual test
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Yes, flash cards are crucial. There is so much extra content in there you can't miss. There is also a youtube playlist on there, one of the last flash cards I believe. The videos in that playlist feel like you're going too much into the weeds but you're not!! If you have time to watch some of those videos, you would benefit from it. I also only watched a few.
I actually passed PA, PPD and PDD all in the last 5 days with almost just Amber Book. Especially for PDD, I didn't really use much of anything else, but I watched every single one of those 40 minutes of competence videos scattered in the flash cards. Ballast has way way way too much structural calculation sections, I ended up not even reading more than half of it. I did not use a single structural formula for the entire exam. Your exam might be different of course but I would focus more on the concept of things like what's shear, what's bending moment, etc. You can figure a lot of it on the spot as well.
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Hi Pelin & Christopher,
Congrats Pelin!
I am reviewing one question on NCARB's PDD demo exam and I can't figure out how the 4" polyisocyanurate insulation, 1.5" of polystyrene rigid insulation in the brick veneer cavity and 4.5" rockwool blankets in the metal studs answer. Please see below. I understand the calculation but I am also confused why it's compliant.
Thank you in advance.
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Hey,
This was my thinking.
1st. It says office building. So the requirements would be in the left two categories "Nonresidential"
2nd. You can eliminate the middle option because you need a R35 for "insulation above deck. Which would be 4" minimum.
3rd. This is the tricky part and I also might be mistaken. So its considered a steel frame building. The rigid insulation is considered the "c.i" part of the requirement which is R-5 c.i. Option 1 is "1 inch of polystrene" would only give you 4.5 R.
I hope that makes sense
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Hi Marilou,
Thank you!
Yes, Christopher is right. You'll look at the non-residential column and for the rows, you'll look at "Insulation above deck" for roof and "steel-framed" in the walls above grade section.
So to be compliant you'll need R-25 at roof, R-5 rigid insulation in brick veneer cavity and R-13 in metal studs. You'll have to calculate all options until you're compliant.
Hope it helps.
Pelin
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Hi Jun,
This is not a well-worded question, I agree. I might be wrong but here is my understanding:
The asterisk call-out for the metal building explains that "metal building" refers to a rigid frame or similar steel structure that is manufactured off-site. It also mentions that they typically have metal panels for exterior walls. The building in the question doesn't have that. It is built on site with concrete and brick veneer, metal studs, etc. Out of all the options, steel framed building seems to be fitting the situation the best, since "metal building" certainly does not. Hope that helps.
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Hi Pelin,
Thanks a lot for your response. I noticed the asterisk part too, and have the same guess. I've searched the " metal building" picture online and they all look like metal panels without brick veneer. Was worried that I missed something other than knowledge here. Great to see your understanding which makes sense to me. Thank you!!!
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