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Code Administration — ICC B1 Practice Questions

40 questions · 6% of the ICC B1 exam

Worked questions

1. There is an active permit on file for a kitchen remodel, and it describes no structural work of any kind. What is the appropriate action, and what must accompany it?

  • Issue a written stop work order to the owner or to the person doing the work, stating the conditions under which the work will be permitted to resume
  • BIssue a verbal warning only, because a written stop work order requires an order from a court before it may be served on the owner of the property here

    The building official issues the order directly and no court involvement is required. Treating it as a judicial remedy leaves dangerous work running while paperwork moves through another agency.

  • CRevoke the permit immediately, because a stop work order reaches only work that is being performed with no permit on file at all for the job

    A stop work order applies to work performed contrary to the code or in a dangerous manner, whether or not a permit exists. Revocation is a separate action carrying its own grounds and its own process.

  • DTake no action until the next scheduled inspection, because the permit on file for the kitchen remodel is still active and has not expired

    The active permit covers a kitchen remodel and describes no structural work, so the demolition falls outside its scope. Waiting for the next inspection leaves an unsafe condition standing in the meantime.

Why A is correct

A stop work order is authorized where work regulated by the code is being performed contrary to the code or in a dangerous or unsafe manner. It is issued in writing to the owner, the owner's authorized agent or the person doing the work, and it must state both the reason for the order and the conditions under which work may resume. Here the unshored removal of a bearing wall is unsafe and falls outside the scope of the permit on file.

What this question is testing

The item tests whether the candidate selects the correct enforcement instrument for unsafe work, knows who the order is served on, and knows that the order must state the conditions under which work may resume.

On the job

Structural work sneaking onto a cosmetic permit is one of the most common serious findings in residential remodeling, because opening up a kitchen almost always means taking out a wall and the contractor decides on the spot whether it is bearing. What makes a stop work order stick is the writing: the reason stated plainly, the conditions for resuming stated plainly, and service on someone with authority rather than on whoever is holding the sledgehammer. Photograph the condition before you leave.

Memory technique

Stop the work, put it in writing, and say what has to happen before it restarts.

Exam tip

A stop work order is written, served, and states how to get moving again. If an answer leaves out any of those, it is incomplete.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 1, Section R114 for stop work orders, with Section R113 covering notices of violation.

2. The owner asks that the stairway in the existing portion, which cannot be reframed without taking down a structural masonry wall, be permitted to keep its present riser height where the new addition ties into it. He is not offering a different product or an equivalent assembly; he is asking for relief from one requirement in this one building. Which action matches what he is requesting?

  • AApproval of an alternative material, method or design, supported by evidence that what is proposed is at least equivalent to the code requirement in quality, strength, durability and safety, with the approval and the evidence behind it recorded in the permit file kept for the job

    An alternative approval turns on the equivalency of something proposed in place of the requirement. The owner is proposing nothing new; he is asking to leave an existing condition alone, which the code answers with a modification.

  • BA variance from the board of appeals, which is the only body with authority to relieve a requirement of the code, granted where compliance would impose an unreasonable hardship on the owner of an existing building, with the decision entered in the department's record

    The board of appeals hears appeals of the code official's decisions and does not issue variances or weigh hardship. The authority to modify a requirement in an individual case sits with the code official in the first instance.

  • A modification granted by the code official for this individual case, available where practical difficulties make the strict letter of the code impractical, provided the intent is met and health and life safety are not lessened, with the action recorded in the department's files
  • DA stop work order, since existing construction that does not comply with the current code may not be incorporated into new work, so the addition may not proceed until the stairway in the existing portion of the house has been reframed and then reinspected

    Nothing described is unsafe or unpermitted work in progress, which is what a stop work order answers. Reaching for the strongest enforcement tool against a request for relief is a serious misuse of authority.

Why C is correct

A modification is relief for an individual case where a practical difficulty makes strict compliance impractical. That is precisely the request, and the code conditions it on meeting the intent, not lessening health and life safety, and recording the action in the files.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate can distinguish a modification from an alternative approval and from a board appeal, and knows the conditions and recordkeeping the code attaches to a modification.

On the job

Old houses generate these requests constantly: stairs, ceiling heights, window sizes and landing dimensions that were legal when built and cannot be changed without gutting the building. Inspectors do not grant modifications themselves; they identify the condition, tell the owner the path exists, and route the request to the code official. Where a modification is granted, the inspector needs the written record in the file before signing off the work it touches.

Memory technique

Alternative is a substitute; modification is relief.

Exam tip

Something new proposed means alternative; nothing new but a real difficulty means modification.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 1 administration, duties and powers of the code official, modifications, read alongside the alternative materials provision that follows it.

3. The builder intends to use those joists in the new floor, points out that they are the same size and species, and notes that most still carry a readable grade stamp. How should the inspector respond?

  • AAccept them; a grade stamp travels with the piece, so stamped material may be reused wherever new material could be used

    A grade stamp describes the piece as it left the mill. Reuse turns on the present condition of the member, which is what the approval requirement is designed to examine.

  • BReject them outright; salvaged structural material may never be reused in new residential construction

    Reuse is contemplated by the code and happens on many projects. A blanket prohibition would be wrong and would be reversed on appeal.

  • CAccept them; the code regulates new materials, and reused material is a matter between the builder and the owner

    Materials in a permitted building are squarely within the code's scope, whether new or salvaged, and the approval requirement applies specifically to used material.

  • Withhold acceptance; used materials may be reused only where the building official approves them for the purpose

Why D is correct

Used materials may not be reused unless approved by the building official. The stamp records the original grading and says nothing about damage since, so the department reviews the actual condition, including notches, bores, splits, decay and insect damage, before deciding.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate knows used materials require the building official's approval rather than being either automatically acceptable or prohibited, and understands what that approval is meant to examine.

On the job

Salvage is increasingly common, driven by cost and by deconstruction programs, and timbers from older buildings are often better material than anything available new. Inspectors who handle it well set expectations early: how the material will be sorted, what defects disqualify a piece, and whether a design professional will be involved. The conversation is much easier before the lumber is in the floor.

Memory technique

Old wood needs new approval.

Exam tip

Used material is neither banned nor automatic. It is approved case by case.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 1, duties and powers of the building official, the approved materials and used materials paragraphs.

4. The permit was issued seven months ago, no work of any kind has been started on the lot, no inspection has ever been requested, and nothing has been submitted to the department in writing since issuance. The owner now wants his excavator on the site next week. The jurisdiction adopted the administrative provisions without local amendment. What is the correct determination?

  • AThe permit stays valid for one full year from the date it was issued, because the expiration period runs from the last approved inspection rather than from the day of issuance

    A permit does not carry a flat one-year life, and an expiration measured from the last inspection cannot apply where no inspection ever happened. This reading would keep a permit alive forever on a lot nobody ever touched.

  • The permit has become invalid, because the authorized work was never commenced within 180 days of issuance and no written extension was requested before that ran out
  • CThe permit stays valid for as long as the fee remains on deposit, because the expiration provisions reach only work that was started and then left standing for a season

    Paying the fee buys review and inspection, not an open-ended authorization. The code sets two separate 180-day triggers, and failure to commence the work is one of them, entirely apart from abandonment after a start.

  • DThe permit lapsed 30 days after issuance and can be reinstated at the counter for half the original permit fee, because no inspection was ever performed against it

    Thirty days is not the period the code sets, and there is no counter reinstatement on a half fee. Inventing a shorter clock and a cheaper cure both miss the written extension the code actually provides.

Why B is correct

The 180-day clock runs from issuance where work never starts, and separately from the last activity where work stops. Seven idle months with no written extension request leaves the permit invalid, and the owner must obtain a new permit before the excavator arrives.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate knows both triggers for permit invalidity, keeps the commencement clock separate from the abandonment clock, and knows the written-extension relief and when it has to be asked for.

On the job

Permits go stale constantly on speculative lots where financing falls through. The counter conversation is always the same, and the inspector is usually the one who has it: the owner wants to treat the card on the stake as permission. Departments do issue extensions freely for justifiable cause, which is exactly why the code puts the request in writing before the period runs, and why the file, not the card, is the record that decides it.

Memory technique

A permit never started still dies at 180 days.

Exam tip

Two clocks, one number: 180 days to start, 180 days of idleness after starting.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 1 administration, the permit sections covering validity and expiration.

5. The slab has cured, the framer has his walls stacked on the deck and intends to stand them tomorrow, and the builder asks you to release the site so framing can begin. What does the code require before vertical construction continues at this site?

  • AA measurement taken by the inspector from the top of the slab down to the crown of the nearest street, recorded on the inspection card, which then serves as the department's elevation record

    An inspector's tape measurement to a street crown is not a survey and does not establish an elevation against a datum. The code names who prepares and certifies this document, and it is not the inspector.

  • Documentation of the elevation of the lowest floor, including any basement, prepared and certified by a registered design professional or by a licensed land surveyor
  • CAn elevation certificate at the final inspection only, before the certificate of occupancy is issued and before the flood insurance policy on the finished dwelling is written

    Waiting until final defeats the purpose. The point of taking the elevation when the floor is placed is that the house can still be corrected; a certificate produced at closing only records how far off it ended up.

  • DA signed statement from the general contractor that the lowest floor was placed at the elevation shown on the approved plans, retained with the construction documents on the job site

    A contractor's statement that he built it as drawn is not certified documentation, and it is exactly the assurance that surveys exist to test. Keeping the paper on the job site also fails the requirement to submit it to the building official.

Why B is correct

The elevation documentation is due upon placement of the lowest floor and before further vertical construction, and it must be prepared and certified by a registered design professional or a licensed surveyor. Basement floors count as the lowest floor for this purpose.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate knows the flood hazard inspection hold, its timing relative to vertical construction, and who the code requires to prepare and certify the elevation documentation.

On the job

Flood elevation is the item most often missed on a first house in a mapped area, because the builder's schedule has framing following the slab by a day. Departments that enforce it well hold the framing inspection request until the certified elevation is in the file. When the number comes back low, the honest conversations are about lifting a floor system or abandoning a slab, which is why the code stops the job at that particular moment.

Memory technique

Survey the slab before you stack the walls.

Exam tip

Lowest floor placed, elevation certified, then walls. In that order.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 1 administration, required inspections, the flood hazard documentation paragraph.

6. The order was in writing, was given to the permit holder and posted at the site, and it stated the conditions under which work would be permitted to resume. Nothing has been submitted since. On Wednesday you find the same crew framing the opening. What does the code provide?

  • Continuing work after a stop work order has been served is itself a violation, and the persons doing the work are subject to the penalties the jurisdiction has adopted
  • BThe order lapses after 48 hours unless the department renews it in writing, so the crew may lawfully resume work until a fresh order has been served on them

    No expiration period attaches to a stop work order. An order that dissolved every two days would be unenforceable on any project where the crew was willing to wait out the weekend.

  • CThe order takes effect only once the code official has countersigned it, so the permit holder may keep working until the department confirms it at its next business day

    The order is issued under the authority of the code official; it does not sit dormant awaiting a second signature. Treating it as provisional invites exactly the continuance the provision forbids.

  • DThe department's only remedy at this stage is revocation of the permit, because a stop work order carries no independent force once work on the site has resumed

    Revocation addresses the permit; the penalty provisions address the conduct. The two remedies run alongside one another, and neither displaces the force the order already has.

Why A is correct

Work continued after service of a stop work order is unlawful in its own right and carries the jurisdiction's penalties. The only work permitted while the order stands is work directed toward removing the violation or an unsafe condition.

What this question is testing

Whether the candidate understands that continuing work after service is an independent violation, and knows the narrow exception for work performed to remove the violation or an unsafe condition.

On the job

Crews test stop work orders, particularly where a subcontractor is on a fixed price and losing days. What makes the second visit stick is documentation of service: who was handed the order, when, where it was posted, and photographs of the posting. Once the file shows service and shows continued work, most jurisdictions can move to citations and fines quickly, and that is usually the point at which the general contractor becomes reachable by telephone.

Memory technique

The order stops the job until the department says otherwise, not until Wednesday.

Exam tip

Only one kind of work is legal under a stop order: the work that cures it.

Where to look it up

IRC Chapter 1 administration, stop work orders, the unlawful continuance paragraph.

34 more in the bank

Answers and explanations for these are in the app.

  • The shed is a one-story detached storage building with a floor area of 180 square feet. The contractor has run a new branch circuit to it from the house panel and has set it 18 inches off the side lot line. Which statement describes the correct position for the building department?
  • The builder explains that the drywall crew had an unexpected opening in its schedule, and states that the framing, mechanical and electrical work behind the board are all correct and were done by licensed trades. How should the inspector proceed?
  • He has an evaluation report from a testing agency showing the product's capacities and wants to use it in place of a prescriptive connection detail on a house already under permit. Under the IRC, how is this handled?
  • The structure, the required egress, the alarms and every building system are complete and have been inspected and approved. Under the IRC, what may the building official do?
  • The owner's designer asks whether the existing house has to be brought up to current requirements for wall bracing and insulation because an addition is being built. What does the IRC require?
  • The cut trusses were not part of any application, they are outside the scope of the roofing permit, and the sag in the ceiling below is already visible. What is the inspector's duty under the IRC?
  • The work is a new deck measuring 180 square feet with its walking surface 22 inches above the grade below, fastened to the house with a ledger. It does not serve the door required for egress from the dwelling. The owner cites the exemption for small, low decks and says no permit was needed. What is the correct determination?
  • The owner has replaced carpet, retiled a bathroom floor and rehung the kitchen cabinets, all of which is exempt finish work. While doing the tile he also cut out a section of a bearing wall to widen a doorway and headed the opening himself. He tells you no permit was needed for any of it because the whole job was interior finish. How should the inspector answer?
  • The permit for this house was issued 14 months ago and you approved the framing inspection 10 months ago. Nothing has been done on the site since that day, and the owner has now called for the next inspection. The jurisdiction adopted the code's administrative provisions without local amendment. What is the correct determination about the permit?
  • The permit application described the project as a single-family dwelling with an accessory storage room. The building actually under construction is plainly a two-family dwelling: two kitchens roughed in, two electrical services, and a separation wall between the halves. The plan review and the permit fee were both based on the application as it was submitted. What authority does the code give the code official in this situation?
  • The builder proposes that a private firm perform the required inspections on the remaining lots and submit written reports to the department, so that his framing crews are not held up waiting for the schedule to catch up. What does the code permit the code official to do with reports of that kind?
  • The product is not covered by any standard referenced in the code, and the manufacturer's literature the builder hands you contains marketing claims but no test data and no evaluation report. The builder asks you to approve it on the strength of that literature and photographs of other completed projects. What does the code allow the code official to require, and who bears the cost?
  • He produces a set of drawings marked up in red with several field revisions, explains that the office made those changes after the permit was issued, and says the approved set is back at the office. The revisions include relocating a bearing wall and changing a beam size. What is the correct inspection response?
  • The code official reviewed your finding and upheld it, and the builder has taken the matter to the board of appeals. His written appeal does not dispute how the bracing provisions read and proposes nothing in their place; it asks the board to let the house be completed as framed because correcting the bracing would be expensive at this stage. Which statement describes the board's authority over that request?
  • You arrive to find the concrete already placed and the forms stripped, and the contractor says the finished wall is easier to look at than a trench full of forms and steel. How should the inspector handle the request?
  • The builder produces the approved plan set, which shows the same riser dimension the plan reviewer stamped and issued a permit for, and argues that he built exactly what was approved. How should the inspector respond?
  • The superintendent tells you the only approved set is at the company office 40 minutes away, and offers to text a photograph of the sheet you want. What does the code require?
  • The electrician has asked the serving utility to energize the permanent service so the crews can run tools and heaters, and the utility is waiting on the department. How should the department respond?
  • He states that he will sue you personally for the delay and the rework, and demands that you withdraw the notice. What does the code provide on this point?
  • One is a general requirement stated broadly for a class of construction, and the other is a specific requirement written for the exact assembly he is building, and the two do not lead to the same result. Which governs?
  • The structure is 900 square feet, is intended to stand through the build-out of the subdivision, and no permit of any kind has been obtained for it. How should the department treat it?
  • The owner explains that his application is in review and he started early because the excavator had an opening in his schedule. How should the department handle the work already performed?
  • The clerk proposes to destroy the applications, permits, inspection records and notices for houses that were completed and certificated more than three years ago, to free storage space for current work. What does the code direct with respect to those records?
  • You have credible information that an interior bearing wall was removed to open the kitchen into the living room. The owner meets you at the door, tells you the work is his own business, and refuses to let you inside. How does the code direct the inspector to proceed?
  • The foundation drawings and the soils information have been reviewed and approved, but the framing plans and the truss submittals are still with the plan reviewer. The builder asks for something that lets him excavate and place footings and foundation walls now. What does the code allow, and on what terms?
  • You want to check the hanger nailing and the fastener type against what the manufacturer calls for. The superintendent tells you the instructions came in the box, were thrown away with the packaging, and can be looked up on somebody's phone later in the week. What does the code require here?
  • The walls are now housewrapped, the siding is on over most of two elevations, and the builder tells you he will pull the nailing back apart and fix it when his framer is next free. What does the code provide about work carried past a point that was not approved?
  • The framing subcontractor is doing the work on site, the general contractor holds the permit, and the owner lives in another state. What does the code direct the department to do about the violation, and against whom?
  • The certificate was issued on the strength of a final inspection report describing an emergency escape and rescue opening in that bedroom. You now find no such opening exists and the report was written from the builder's assurance rather than from an observation. What does the code allow the building official to do?
  • The two-car garage has been finished into a family room and a bedroom, with no permit applied for and no inspection performed. The owner points out that the space was always inside the walls of the house and that the walls, the slab and the roof over it are unchanged. What is the correct position for the department?
  • A framing nail was driven through the energized service entrance conductors, the sheathing around it is charred, the service is still live, and no one from the serving utility is on site. The general contractor is not answering his telephone and the crew wants to keep working. What authority does the code give the building official?
  • He asks who actually sits on the board that will hear him, and whether the plan reviewer and the inspectors from this department are the ones who will decide it. What does the code provide about the makeup of that board?
  • The concrete masonry retaining wall measures 3 feet 8 inches from the bottom of its footing to the top of the wall, and the paved driveway it retains runs along the ground directly above it and carries vehicles. The contractor cites the exemption for small retaining walls and says he needs no permit. What is the correct determination?
  • The plan reviewer found the submittal short of what the code requires and will not issue the permit. All the applicant has received is a voice message saying the plans do not work. He asks what he is entitled to from the department. What does the code require of the department here?

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