NASCLA General Requirements: how to study it

What the bulletin says, and what it leaves out

PSI's Candidate Information Bulletin (updated 7 Jul 2026) gives the area name and its count of 25, and nothing below it. There is no topic list. The bulletin says questions come from the 24 listed references and may also draw on trade knowledge and general industry practice. The topics below are our reading of the area name and the reference list, not a list NASCLA publishes.

Topics to cover

• Jobsite safety under 29 CFR 1926. Fall protection, scaffolds, ladders and stairs, electrical safety on site, hazard communication and the competent person. The numbers are fixed, so these can be quick points. See NASCLA OSHA topics for the values to know, each checked against the current eCFR.
• Scheduling. Bar charts and the critical path method (CPM): forward and backward passes, total float and free float.
• Field administration. Submittals, requests for information (RFIs), daily reports, meeting minutes and how an RFI answer that adds cost becomes a change.
• Quality. Quality control is the contractor checking its own work. Quality assurance is the owner's or designer's oversight. Code-required special inspections are a third thing.
• Closeout. Punch list, substantial completion, final completion, record drawings, operation and maintenance manuals, warranties and final lien releases.
• Green building and accessibility. Rating-system categories, and where accessibility applies versus how it is built.
• Building code lookups. Occupancy, construction type, egress and special inspections. Never answer a code limit from memory: look it up in the edition you bring, 2021 or 2024.

Books to open first

Our suggestion from the titles. NASCLA publishes no mapping.

• Construction Project Management: scheduling and CPM.
• Construction Jobsite Management: submittals, RFIs, records and closeout.
• 29 CFR 1926 or PSI's OSHA Excerpts: safety rules by subpart.
• International Building Code and ICC A117.1: code and accessibility lookups.
• Green Building Fundamentals: green building concepts.

The full list with editions is in the reference books guide.

Worked example: total float and free float

An invented six-activity schedule:

Forward pass. A runs 0 to 3. B runs 3 to 8. C runs 3 to 5. D waits for both B and C, so it starts at 8 and finishes at 12. E runs 5 to 11. F waits for D and E, so it starts at 12 and finishes at 13. The project takes 13 days.

Backward pass from 13. F: late start 12. D: late finish 12, late start 8. E: late finish 12, late start 6. B: late finish 8, late start 3. C must finish before the earlier of D's late start (8) and E's late start (6), so C's late finish is 6 and its late start is 4.

Float. Total float on C is 4 minus 3, which is 1 day. Total float on E is 6 minus 5, also 1 day. A, B, D and F have zero float and are critical.

Check by paths. A-B-D-F is 3 + 5 + 4 + 1 = 13 days. A-C-E-F is 3 + 2 + 6 + 1 = 12 days, so the activities on it have 13 minus 12 = 1 day of float. Both methods agree.

Free float. E finishes early at 11 and F cannot start before 12, so E has 1 day of free float. C finishes early at 5 and E starts early at 5, so C has none. If C slips one day, E uses up the float they share.

Common mix-ups

• 6, 10, 15. Six feet is the general fall protection trigger, ten feet is for scaffolds and fifteen feet is for steel erection. Read which work the question describes.
• Substantial is not final. Substantial completion comes first, with a punch list still open. Final completion is when everything, paperwork included, is done.
• A reviewed submittal does not change the contract. A change does that.
• Float is shared along a path. It does not belong to one activity.

How to practice

Work two or three CPM networks a week by hand, checking each with the path method. For the field administration topics, write a one-line definition of each document in your own words, then find the topic in your tabbed books and time the lookup. The NASCLA study guide gives General Requirements its own week, and the exam outline shows how it compares with the other eleven areas. For the other big area, see Procurement and Contracting Requirements.

Practice it

Check a schedule network with the free CPM float calculator. Injury records are covered in the OSHA 300 log, and closeout in substantial completion and punch lists.

Take the free 10-question check and see your score by subject area in minutes. It needs no signup and explains every answer, so you see whether General Requirements is costing you points.

The NASCLA Commercial course has a lesson for each of the 12 subject areas that shows which listed reference to open and how to apply it, original practice questions with every answer worked, and four timed practice exams of 115 questions on a 330-minute clock. Your scores come back by subject area, so you know where the next study hour goes. See the course.

Not affiliated with or endorsed by NASCLA or PSI. NASCLA and PSI are named only to identify the exam and its test vendor.

Sources

Show the list

• PSI Candidate Information Bulletin 1458, content outline and reference list, updated 7 Jul 2026. Retrieved 5 Nov 2026.
• 29 CFR 1926, Safety and Health Regulations for Construction, eCFR, current to 4 Nov 2026. Read 5 Nov 2026.