I passed my ICC Contractors Exam this morning thanks to InterNACHI.

[Nick Gromicko]

I did it by first going through InterNACHI's Residential Code Inspector Exam Prep Tool.

The ICC Prep Tool worked great.

I'm now off to get my Colorado contractor's license.

Thanks InterNACHI!

[Brian C. Hoagland]

What is that worth where you are? I know that florida regards my B5 Inspector certification as worthless.

[Nick Gromicko]

I only did it to test out our new, free, online ICC Exam Prep Tool while it was still in my head. It worked great.

Last week, after taking InterNACHI's free, online Septic System course I took the county test and got a Septic Installers license.

Mainly I'm just making sure, by taking outside exams and looking for surprises, that our training courses leave nothing to be desired.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by gromicko

I only did it to test out our new, free, online ICC Exam Prep Tool while it was still in my head. It worked great.

Last week, after taking InterNACHI's free, online Septic System course I took the county test and got a Septic Installers license.

Mainly I'm just making sure, by taking outside exams and looking for surprises, that our training courses leave nothing to be desired.

And here I thought you were going to start doing inpsections with Mike Holmes.

[Frank M. Carrio, CMI]

Originally Posted by gromicko

I did it by first going through InterNACHI's Residential Code Inspector Exam Prep Tool.

The ICC Prep Tool worked great.

I'm now off to get my Colorado contractor's license.

Thanks InterNACHI!

Hi Nick!
I just took and passed all 40-tests and I found them to be a lot of fun!

I found them to be worthwhile and I hope that this valuable learning tool and I am happy to see that it is for "Dues Paying NACHI Members only!

Anyone who has just joined NACHI or wants to join NACHI will see that the 40 "Quizzes & Tests" are worth far more than our annual dues of $289.00

Keep up the Great Work!

[Marcel R. Cyr]

Originally Posted by fcarrio

Hi Nick!
I just took and passed all 40-tests and I found them to be a lot of fun!

I found them to be worthwhile and I hope that this valuable learning tool is for "Dues Paying NACHI Members only!


Keep up the Great Work!

Hey Frank, was that with or without the Book?

[Frank M. Carrio, CMI]

Originally Posted by mcyr

Hey Frank, was that with or without the Book?

Without!

I LOVE Codes! It took me about 1 to 1-1/2 hours but it was worth it!


Like I said.... I had a lot of fun!

[Marcel R. Cyr]

I see that Frank, I will have to give it a shot.

[Nick Gromicko]

Like InterNACHI's exams, ICC exams are open-book.

[Marcel R. Cyr]

I think Frank has us beat Nick due to all his experience with Code.
I am falling behind on Code Books, but will give it a shot tomorrow.

Thanks again for all you do.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by gromicko

Like InterNACHI's exams, ICC exams are open-book.

Most real Code exams are open book, something the NHIE does not realise.

[Nick Gromicko]

I invented a way to pass:

Most of these exams are 4 hours long (timed) and 80 questions long. The test center gives you pencil and paper. When the exam begins, write down numbers on the paper, 1 through 80. You might have to make 4 columns of 20 or whatever.

The exam system permits you to move about the questions with BACK and NEXT buttons.

Go through all 80 questions answering only the ones you know for sure (committed to memory) or a can look up quickly (know where in the book to look).... and those questions you think you know the answer to but aren't 100% sure and haven't confirmed by looking up. Don't answer the tough ones that you don't know or will have to look up in a table that you have to find.

That divides every question in to 1 of 3 categories:

• The ones you know or can look up quickly and confirm. Over top of those question's corresponding question number, mark an "X." You are done with those questions.
• The ones you think you know the answer to but aren't 100% sure and haven't confirmed by looking up. Over top of those question's corresponding question numbers, mark a diagonal line "/" (1/2 and "X").
• The ones you don't know or will have to look up. For those, don't mark anything over the number.

Now, you've just made the exam shorter by the number of question numbers you have an "X" over.

Of the remaining two categories, leave the one's you guessed "/" alone for last.

.. and instead work only on the tough ones. Take them from unmarked, to a full "X" by looking these ones up and confirming that you found the correct answer. This is where you are going to spend most of your time. Yes, I know, most people will advise you to leave the tough ones for last. That is bad advice.

When you have converted all the unmarked to "X"s, and if you are like me, at this point, you will be running out of time. But that's OK. You have an "X" over most of the questions and a "/" over the remaining. You've likely already passed the exam at this point.

Now your exam is really short. All you have left are the "/" questions. Use the rest of the time looking up the answers to the "/" questions until you run out of time. Your paper should be covered with only "X"s and "/"s.

Let me explain why this system works well:

Most of the questions have 4 possible answers. By "X"ing out the ones you know or can quickly look up, you don't spend any time reading that question again in review. Do NOT use the computer exam system's MARKing feature and never ever re-read a question that you answered correctly once to see if it is one you should review. Your paper will prevent you from wasting such time.

Of the ones that are left, it is better to spend your time looking up the answers questions that you don't know the answer to (unmarked), than the ones you think you might possibly know the answer to ("/"), because:

That expenditure of time, takes a question that you had a 25% chance of guessing correctly, and moving it to one that you answered correctly. That increases your odds of getting it correct by 400%. It is an efficient use of time with regards to increasing your odds.

If you were to waste time answering questions you think you might know the answer to ("/"), you are increasing your odds of getting it correct by less than 400%. Less efficient.

And if you were to waste time re-reading questions you know the answer to or have once confirmed by looking up, you are increasing your odds of getting it correct by 0%.... you've already answered it correctly.

If the ICC gave you 1-year to take the test, everyone would get a perfect score because you could take the time to look up the answer to every question. This is a proof-by-extremes that the ICC exams are testing something in addition to codes... they are testing your time-management skills.

[Jeffrey R. Jonas]

Similar to a system I occassionally use in Vegas !

[Brian C. Hoagland]

The ICC testing protocol is two fold and they don't keep it a secret#1 is to establish your knowledge of the code, #2 is to establish your ability to find and understand the pertinent code given any situation. I think Nick's system has merit but the first and most important thing in passing these exams is understanding the question. So read it twice.