How the drill works
Each set serves all 30 questions in a shuffled order, with the four options shuffled too. Each question shows the sheet it is about, and every sheet has a text description with all of its values, so you can work it without seeing the drawing. Check your answer and the explanation shows where on the sheet to look, the arithmetic worked twice, and the slip behind each wrong option.
Your score is one point per question, out of 30. At the end you see your misses by skill: scale and dimensions, quantity takeoff, schedules and keynotes, layers in section, grades and earthwork. Hit New shuffle for a fresh order. Use the set number if you report an error.
Worked examples
Example 1: the area of Office 101
Step 1: find the room's width. Office 101 is the first room in the north row, and the north dimension string starts with 18'-0". Step 2: find its depth. The west string starts with 16'-0", the depth of the north row. Step 3: multiply, 18 x 16 = 288 square feet. Check it another way: 16 x 18 = 160 + 128 = 288. The dimensions are to wall centerlines, as the sheet note says, so this is a centerline area.
Example 2: cut or fill at the southeast corner
Step 1: read the existing grade at the corner, EG 98.90. Step 2: read the finished grade. The note puts the building pad at FG 99.50 at all four corners. Step 3: subtract existing from finished, 99.50 - 98.90 = +0.60. A positive result means the finished surface is higher than the ground, so the corner needs 0.60 ft of fill. Check: 98.90 + 0.60 = 99.50. Do not use the finished floor, FF 100.00, for this; it is the top of the slab, not the pad grade.
The three practice sheets
Every sheet is invented for study and labeled as a practice drawing. The scale notes hold on a full-size print only, so use the written dimensions. On a phone, tap a sheet or its zoom button to read it at twice the size, then drag to move around it. Every value is also in its text description.
A-101: Floor plan and door schedule
Text description of sheet A-101
Practice sheet A-101, floor plan, scale 1/8 in = 1 ft on a full-size print. Walls are drawn as single lines and dimensions are to wall centerlines; the slab edge is the exterior wall line and the slab is 4 in concrete. The building is 60'-0" east to west and 40'-0" north to south. The north dimension string reads 18'-0", 18'-0" and 24'-0"; the south string reads 24'-0", 9'-0", 9'-0" and 18'-0"; the west string, from north to south, reads 16'-0", 6'-0" and 18'-0". The north row holds Office 101, Office 102 and Conference 103, west to east. Corridor 104 runs the full length between two partitions. The south row holds Reception 105, Restroom 106, Restroom 107 and Storage 108, west to east. Door tags: 1 in the south wall of Reception 105; 2 in the east wall at the end of Corridor 104; 3, 4 and 5 from the corridor into Offices 101 and 102 and Conference 103; 6, 7, 8 and 9 from the corridor into Reception 105, Restrooms 106 and 107 and Storage 108. Door schedule: door 1, 3'-0" wide by 8'-0" high, type C, door ALUM./GLASS, frame ALUM., hardware set 1; door 2, 3'-0" wide by 7'-0" high, type B, door H.M., frame H.M., hardware set 2; door 3, 3'-0" wide by 7'-0" high, type A, door WD, frame H.M., hardware set 3; door 4, 3'-0" wide by 7'-0" high, type A, door WD, frame H.M., hardware set 3; door 5, 3'-6" wide by 7'-0" high, type A, door WD, frame H.M., hardware set 3; door 6, 3'-0" wide by 7'-0" high, type A, door WD, frame H.M., hardware set 3; door 7, 3'-0" wide by 7'-0" high, type A, door WD, frame H.M., hardware set 4; door 8, 3'-0" wide by 7'-0" high, type A, door WD, frame H.M., hardware set 4; door 9, 3'-0" wide by 7'-0" high, type B, door H.M., frame H.M., hardware set 5. Door types: A flush wood, B flush hollow metal, C aluminum full glass. Abbreviations: ALUM. aluminum, H.M. hollow metal, WD wood.
A-501: Exterior wall section
Text description of sheet A-501
Practice sheet A-501, exterior wall section, scale 3/4 in = 1 ft on a full-size print, with the wall height broken. Wall layers from the outside face in: keynote 1, brick veneer, 3 5/8 in; keynote 2, air space, 1 in; keynote 3, weather-resistive barrier; keynote 4, exterior sheathing, 1/2 in; keynote 5, 6 in metal studs at 16 in o.c., batt insulation; keynote 6, gypsum board, 5/8 in. Other keynotes: 7, through-wall flashing and weeps; 8, concrete slab on grade, 4 in; 9, vapor retarder; 10, compacted granular base, 4 in; 11, concrete foundation wall, 12 in; 12, concrete footing, 24 in wide x 12 in deep; 13, steel joist; 14, metal roof deck; 15, rigid insulation and membrane roofing. The slab sits on the vapor retarder, which sits on the granular base. The foundation wall sits on the footing, and the brick starts at the flashing at the top of slab. The metal deck sits on the steel joists, and the insulation and membrane sit on the deck. Elevations: top of parapet 116'-0", joist bearing 112'-0", top of slab 100'-0", finished grade outside 99'-6", top of footing 98'-0", bottom of footing 97'-0".
C-101: Site plan with grades
Text description of sheet C-101
Practice sheet C-101, site plan, scale 1 in = 20 ft on a full-size print, with a graphic scale marked 0, 10, 20 and 40 feet and a north arrow pointing up. The lot is 120'-0" along the street on the south side and 100'-0" deep. The 60'-0" by 40'-0" building sits 20'-0" from the west property line and 30'-0" from the street property line; finished floor 100.00. Asphalt parking, 30'-0" wide east to west and 60'-0" deep, runs north from the street 5'-0" from the east property line; the strip between it and the building is not dimensioned. A 5'-0" walk runs from the street to the building entrance; finished grade at its street end is 98.00. Note: building pad finished grade 99.50 at all four building corners. Existing grade at the corners: southwest 98.30, southeast 98.90, northeast 99.70, northwest 99.10. Existing contours 98, 99 and 100 run as straight dashed lines from northwest to southeast across the lot, rising toward the northeast; the 98 contour crosses the southwest corner area and the 100 contour crosses the northeast area.
Practice the arithmetic behind the takeoffs with the concrete yardage calculator, and for the books you bring, try the NASCLA reference finder. The NASCLA exam outline shows how the twelve subject areas are weighted.
Ready for more? The second plan-reading drill has three more sheets for one building, a foundation plan, a roof framing plan and a reflected ceiling plan, with 30 questions on takeoffs, schedules and the conflicts between sheets.
The third plan-reading drill adds a building section, a site utility plan and an electrical and fire protection plan, with 30 questions on elevations, pipe slopes and inverts, panel and finish schedules and the conflicts between them.
NASCLA plan-reading drill FAQ
Are these sheets like the packet handed out at the test center?
We cannot say, and we do not claim they are. PSI's bulletin lists a physical diagram/blueprint packet to be handed out onsite at the testing center and says nothing about what is in it. We have not seen it. These three sheets are our own invented practice drawings, built to practice reading drawings in general.
Should I measure the drawing on my screen?
No. A scale note such as 1/8 in = 1 ft holds only on a full-size print, and a screen or a reduced copy changes the size. Questions that need a measurement give it to you as if taken off a full-size print. Where the drawing gives a written dimension, use the written dimension.
Why do the answers show the arithmetic twice?
Each answer is worked one way and then checked another way, for example the slab area from the overall dimensions and again from the dimension string. That habit catches the slips the wrong options are built from: square feet called yards, a sign flipped on cut and fill, or a stud count that forgets the last stud.