CDT Exam Dumps - Construction Documents Technologist

CSI identifies several types of specifications, including:

Descriptive specifications – describe materials and methods in detail.

Performance specifications – describe required results and performance criteria.

Proprietary specifications – designate specific products or manufacturers.

Reference standard specifications – define requirements by citing recognized industry standards rather than repeating all technical details.

A reference standard specification works by referring to standards issued by organizations such as:

Trade associations (e.g., industry associations),

Standards organizations (e.g., ASTM, ANSI, ISO),

Other recognized bodies that publish consensus technical standards.

The specification then simply states that materials, products, or work must comply with the named standard. This reduces repetition and promotes consistency and clarity.

Therefore, a proper basis for a reference standard specification is a trade association standard, which is Option C.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. Project manual for similar projectPrevious project manuals may be informal references for the specifier, but they are not recognized standards. A reference standard specification must refer to a published technical standard, not another project’s contract documents.

B. Design intentDesign intent is expressed more directly in performance or descriptive specifications, not in reference standard form. Reference standards rely on external, recognized standards, not internal design intent statements alone.

D. Manufacturer's specification sectionReferring to a specific manufacturer’s literature or section is characteristic of a proprietary specification, not a reference standard specification. Reference standards must be based on independent, consensus-based standards, not one manufacturer’s materials.

Key CSI Reference Titles (no links):

CSI Construction Specifications Practice Guide – Types of specifications, including reference standard specifications and their proper use.

CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide – Relationship of specifications to industry standards.

CDT Body of Knowledge – “Specification Types and Methods of Specifying.”

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation From Exact Extract (CSI-aligned, paraphrased)

CSI’s project delivery framework places the owner at the center of the facility life cycle. The owner:

Initiates the project by defining needs and project goals.

Selects the project delivery method and engages the design and construction teams.

Participates in planning, design decisions, funding, and approvals.

During construction, the owner is responsible for payments, change decisions, and acceptance of the work.

After construction and closeout, the owner (often through a facility management group) is responsible for operation, maintenance, and long-term performance of the facility.

CSI repeatedly highlights that only the owner is engaged from the earliest concept through long-term operation and eventual renovation or disposal. All other parties (designers, contractors, manufacturers) participate for limited phases.

Therefore, the party “actively involved and interested in all phases of the project” is clearly:

B. Owners

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. ContractorsContractors typically become formally involved at procurement/bidding and remain through construction and closeout. They usually have no role in early planning (except in some delivery methods like CM-at-Risk or IPD where they join during design) and no long-term responsibility for operations beyond warranty obligations.

C. Architects/engineersThe A/E’s primary involvement is during planning and design, and then construction administration during construction and closeout. After the project is turned over, their involvement often ends unless separately engaged for post-occupancy evaluations or future work. They do not normally manage day-to-day operations and maintenance.

D. Manufacturers/suppliersManufacturers and suppliers participate mainly in product selection, submittals, and furnishing materials and equipment during design-assist and construction phases. They may have continuing obligations for warranties or support, but they are not engaged in every phase of the project’s life cycle as the owner is.

Key CSI-Related References (titles only):

CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide – roles and responsibilities of the owner, design professional, contractor, and others.

CSI Facility Management Practice Guide – owner’s role during operations and the extended facility life cycle.

CSI CDT Study Materials – diagrams and explanations of project participants over the facility life cycle.

In CSI-based project cost planning, contingency is defined as an amount added to an estimate or budget to cover uncertainties and unknowns that cannot yet be clearly defined at the current level of design development.

CSI’s practice guides and CDT materials explain (paraphrased):

In early design phases, such as schematic design, the design is only partially developed. Important elements are still undecided, and system configurations may change. Because of this, the cost estimate is inherently less precise.

A contingency line item is therefore included to cover:

Incomplete design information,

Potential scope refinement,

Normal estimating uncertainties, and

Other unknown factors at that stage.

As the project moves into design development and later into the construction documents phase, the design becomes more complete and the uncertainty decreases, so contingency percentages typically decrease.

By contrast, CSI differentiates contingency from other estimating tools:

Allowances: Specific sums in the contract for known-but-not-fully-defined items (e.g., “flooring allowance of X per m²”). These are identified items with placeholder values, not general unknowns.

Unit prices: Agreed rates for measuring work (e.g., $/m³ of rock excavation) used when quantities are uncertain, but scope categories are known and clearly described in the documents.

Alternates: Defined options requested by the owner (additive or deductive) for comparison and selection—again, specifically described items, not “unknowns.”

Because the question specifically references the schematic design phase and asks what the contingency line item covers, the CSI-aligned answer is “Unknown factors” – Option C.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. Allowances – These are separate, explicit line items in the estimate or specifications and are not what contingency is intended to cover.

B. Unit prices – These deal with agreed rates for work whose quantities may vary, not with broad early-phase uncertainty.

D. Alternates – Alternates are specifically described choices requested for comparison; they are priced individually, not absorbed into contingency.

Key CSI-aligned references (no links):

CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide – sections on cost planning and contingencies by phase.

CSI CDT Body of Knowledge – definitions and uses of contingency, allowances, unit prices, and alternates in estimating.

In CSI-based drawing conventions, a scaled view is one drawn at a stated scale so that actual dimensions can be measured directly from the drawing (e.g., 1:100, 1/4" = 1'-0"). CSI’s Uniform Drawing System (UDS) treats floor plans, roof plans, and foundation plans as primary orthographic views prepared at a defined scale for dimensioning and coordination between disciplines. These are the standard “working drawings” for construction.

Foundation plan (Option B)A foundation plan is an orthographic plan view drawn to a specific scale showing footings, slabs, and foundations with dimensions and notes. It is intended for measurement and layout, and CSI references it as one of the basic scaled plan views of the project drawings.

Why the other options are not correct:

A. Perspective – Perspectives are pictorial views used for visualization and presentation. CSI notes that such views are typically not used for taking dimensions and may not be drawn to a true working scale.

C. Riser diagram – Riser diagrams (for plumbing, fire protection, electrical, etc.) are diagrammatic, showing relationships and routing, not physical locations at scale. They are expressly identified as “not to scale” in most construction document standards.

D. Isometric – Isometric drawings are a type of pictorial/axonometric view used to show three-dimensional relationships. While they can sometimes be constructed proportionally, CSI’s guidance treats them as diagrammatic/pictorial views rather than the primary scaled working views used for dimensioning work in the field.

CSI References (no links):

CSI Uniform Drawing System (UDS) modules on drawing types and views (plan, elevation, section, diagrammatic views).

CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide – discussion of scaled plan views as part of the construction documents set.

Comprehensive and Detailed Explanation (CSI-aligned, paraphrased)

CSI guidance and typical Division 01 “Project Record Documents” or “Record Drawing” sections assign the responsibility for maintaining record documents at the project site to the Contractor.

These record documents (often called “as-builts” when finalized) include:

A set of contract drawings marked up to show actual installed conditions.

Notations of changes made by Change Orders, Construction Change Directives, and field orders.

Markups of routing of concealed utilities, changes in locations, and deviations from the original design that were approved during construction.

Key CSI-aligned principles:

The Contractor is the party actually performing and coordinating the Work, and is in the best position to record day-to-day deviations and field changes.

Division 01 typically states that the Contractor must:

Keep a current set of record documents on site, up to date as changes occur.

Turn over the completed record documents to the A/E and/or Owner at Substantial or Final Completion as part of closeout.

Therefore, responsibility for maintaining the record documents at the project site rests with:

A. Contractor

Why the other options are not correct:

B. A/E’s consultant – Consultants (e.g., structural, mechanical) prepare and may later review record documentation, but they are not on site continuously and are not responsible for maintaining daily-updated record sets at the site.

C. A/E’s project representative – The A/E’s representative may review the record documents or check that they are being maintained, but the contract language typically assigns the duty itself to the Contractor.

D. Owner’s project representative – The Owner’s representative monitors the project on the Owner’s behalf but does not usually maintain the working record set. That would be duplicative and impractical compared to the Contractor’s role.

Key CSI-Related Reference Titles (no links):

CSI Construction Specifications Practice Guide – Division 01 sections on Project Record Documents / As-Builts.

CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide – Construction Phase responsibilities of the Contractor and A/E.

CSI CDT Study Materials – contractor responsibilities for record documents and closeout submittals.

CSI distinguishes between project delivery methods (e.g., Design-Bid-Build, Construction Management at Risk, Design-Build) and methods of compensation / basis of payment for the construction contract.

Lump sum, unit price, and cost-plus-fee are classic examples of basis of payment (sometimes called pricing or compensation methods):

Lump sum – A single fixed price for the entire work, based on the contract documents.

Unit price – Payment based on measured quantities of work items at agreed unit rates.

Cost-plus-fee – The owner reimburses actual costs of the work plus a fee (which may be fixed or a percentage).

These are not delivery methods or bonding systems; they describe how the contractor is paid under the construction contract, so Option C is correct.

Why the others are incorrect:

A. Delivery method – Delivery methods describe the organizational and contractual structure (who holds contracts with whom and when they are engaged), not how payment is calculated.

B. Bonding system – Bonds (bid, performance, payment) are surety instruments, not pricing arrangements.

D. Cost estimate – An estimate is a forecast of probable cost, not the contractual method of payment.

CSI-aligned references (no URLs):

CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide – distinctions between delivery methods and compensation methods.

CSI CDT Body of Knowledge – lump sum, unit price, and cost-plus as bases of payment within procurement and contracting.

Under CSI’s project delivery and contract administration framework, once the owner–contractor agreement is executed, the contract documents can only be modified through specific instruments defined in the Conditions of the Contract (General and Supplementary Conditions). These recognized formal modifications include:

Change Orders – Written instruments signed by owner, contractor, and usually the architect/engineer (A/E) that change the contract sum, contract time, or both, and possibly scope.

Construction Change Directives (CCD) (sometimes called Work Change Directives) – Written orders issued typically by the owner or A/E directing a change in the work before agreement has been reached on an adjustment in contract sum or time. They are later converted into a change order once costs/time are agreed.

Minor changes in the work – Often issued by the A/E as field orders or supplemental instructions, used for small changes that do not affect contract time or sum.

Different standard forms use different names (“Architect’s Supplemental Instructions,” “Field Order,” “Work Change Directive”), but CSI’s CDT content treats these as the recognized post-execution modification mechanisms to the contract documents.

Now, look at the choices:

Addendum is used to modify the bidding documents before the owner–contractor agreement is signed, not after.

Requests for Information (RFIs) are used to clarify contract documents, not to modify them; an RFI alone does not change the contract.

Option A is the only one that contains the combination of change order and construction change directive, plus a commonly used term (field order) for a minor change in the work. These three together align with the CSI-recognized instruments for modifying the contract documents after execution.

Why the other options are incorrect:

B. Field order, construction change directive, and request for information – Missing a change order, which is the primary and most formal method of modification. An RFI is not a modification instrument.

C. Addendum, change order, and request for information – Addendum is pre-contract; RFI is not a modification instrument; only the change order is correct here.

D. Supplemental instructions, work change directive, and addendum – While “supplemental instructions” and “work change directive” can be instruments of modification, combining them with addendum (pre-contract) means this set does not correctly describe modifications after execution.

Therefore, A. Change order, construction change directive, and field order best matches the CSI-defined post-execution modification tools.

CSI describes the facility manager as a key stakeholder during project closeout and turnover. Their role is to receive the information, materials, and training needed to operate the completed facility in accordance with the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR).

Typical responsibilities for the facility manager at closeout, as outlined in CSI’s Project Delivery Practice Guide, include (paraphrased):

Participating in commissioning and training sessions.

Verifying receipt of operation and maintenance (O&M) manuals, warranties, and record documents.

Confirming that required spare parts, attic stock/excess materials, and special tools have been delivered.

Ensuring staff have sufficient training to operate building systems during the initial occupancy period.

This is captured best by Option A, which aligns closely with CSI’s description of closeout responsibilities for the facility manager.

Why the other options are not correct:

B. Coordinate with the architect a final clean-up and site restoration – Final cleaning and site restoration are responsibilities of the contractor, overseen by the A/E and owner. The facility manager may observe but is not normally the one coordinating this work in the contract documents.

C. Hire a new security company – Selecting or changing service vendors (like security firms) is an owner/facility operations business decision, not specifically identified in CSI’s project closeout procedures. It is not a standard closeout task defined in the construction documents.

D. Draft the final changes on the as-built documents – CSI differentiates between “project record documents” maintained by the contractor during construction and record drawings/specifications produced by the A/E (when required). The facility manager receives these but does not normally draft or edit them.

CSI References (no links):

CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide – chapters on Construction Phase and Facility Management/Closeout.

CSI Construction Specifications Practice Guide – sections on project closeout, O&M data, and attic stock.