CSCS Demolition (Specialist) Questions
Specialist demolition test topic questions.
These questions cover demolition (specialist) for the CITB Health, Safety and Environment (HS&E) test, the exam UK construction workers pass to get a CSCS card.
Demolition (Specialist): practice quiz
- 20 questions · 30 minutes · pass mark 90%
- Answers and explanations are shown at the end, with every question to review.
- A fresh 20 questions every time, drawn from all 117 in this topic's bank. Includes 2 select-two questions, as in the real test.
- About 90 seconds a question, against about 54 in the real test, so there is time to think.
10 sample Demolition (Specialist) questions and answers
These 10 come from the 117 questions the practice quiz above draws from, written out with the correct answer and the reasoning behind it. Read them through when you want to revise rather than test yourself.
1. Under CDM 2015, when must the arrangements for demolishing or dismantling a structure be recorded in writing?
Answer: Before the demolition or dismantling work begins
- A) Before the demolition or dismantling work begins (correct answer)
- B) Within seven days of the demolition work starting
- C) Once the structure has been reduced to ground level
- D) At the point the local authority asks to see them
Why: Regulation 20(2) of CDM 2015 says the arrangements for carrying out the demolition or dismantling must be recorded in writing before the work begins. Writing it down afterwards is no use, because the point of the record is that the sequence has been thought through and agreed before anyone starts pulling the structure apart.
2. After an explosive demolition blast, when may the public be let back inside the exclusion zone?
Answer: Once the all clear has been given for the exclusion zone
- A) Once the dust cloud from the collapse has visibly settled down
- B) Once the shotfirer has left the firing point and stood down
- C) Once thirty minutes have passed since the charges were fired
- D) Once the all clear has been given for the exclusion zone (correct answer)
Why: CIS45 says the public must be kept outside the exclusion zone until the all clear is given. Settled dust proves nothing, because unfired charges, unstable remnants and hanging debris can all still be present after a blast looks finished.
3. A scaffold is erected around a building being demolished. What does it do to the exclusion zone?
Answer: Nothing that reduces it, and it may make the zone larger
- A) It removes the zone on the sides where the scaffold stands
- B) It cuts the zone to the width of the scaffold plus one metre
- C) Nothing that reduces it, and it may make the zone larger (correct answer)
- D) It may halve the zone, because debris is caught by the boards
Why: HSE guidance on structural stability says a scaffold will not allow a reduction in the size of an exclusion zone and may increase it, because in a collapse the presence of the scaffold widens the area over which debris could fall.
4. How much notice must the enforcing authority be given before licensable asbestos work starts on a demolition site?
Answer: At least 14 days before the licensable work is undertaken
- A) At least 48 hours before the licensable work is undertaken
- B) At least six weeks before the licensable work is undertaken
- C) At least 14 days before the licensable work is undertaken (correct answer)
- D) At least 28 days before the licensable work is undertaken
Why: Regulation 9(1)(a) of the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 requires the particulars in Schedule 1 to be notified in writing at least 14 days before licensable work with asbestos is undertaken, unless the enforcing authority agrees a shorter time. The 28 days is the lead time for applying for the licence itself.
5. Demolition rubble is being put through a mobile crusher. What engineering control does HSE sheet CN4 call for?
Answer: Water suppression jets at the crushing and transfer points
- A) A sealed cab on the loading shovel that feeds the crusher
- B) Water suppression jets at the crushing and transfer points (correct answer)
- C) Local exhaust ventilation ducted away from the crusher jaws
- D) A dust curtain hung around the crusher discharge conveyor belt
Why: HSE COSHH essentials sheet CN4 on crushing and screening demolition material says to provide water suppression jets at crushing and transfer points, ensure there is enough water, and confirm it is working and flowing at the right rate before starting. The dust can contain respirable crystalline silica.
6. There is very little space around a building to be demolished, but the contractor wants to use a method other than top-down. What does HSE say they must be able to show?
Answer: A suitable and sufficient engineering analysis that it controls the collapse risk
- A) That the machine operator has used the technique on at least one earlier job
- B) A suitable and sufficient engineering analysis that it controls the collapse risk (correct answer)
- C) That the alternative is quicker and cheaper than top-down demolition on that site
- D) That the neighbours have agreed in writing to accept the extra risk of collapse
Why: HSE says top-down is likely to be the safest method on a tight site, but another method can be chosen if a suitable and sufficient engineering analysis shows it can control the risks of collapse.
7. How does CIS45 suggest the local topography can help when setting the boundary of an exclusion zone for an explosive demolition?
Answer: Features such as footpaths, canals, rivers and bridges can form convenient barriers
- A) Features such as footpaths, canals, rivers and bridges can form convenient barriers (correct answer)
- B) Rivers and canals should be left out of the zone so that the water can soak up any debris
- C) Hills around the site mean that no exclusion zone is needed on that side of it
- D) Roads should be kept inside the zone and left open so traffic can keep flowing
Why: CIS45 says to use the topography to define the boundary: footpaths, canals, rivers, buildings and bridges can form convenient barriers, and the zone can be enlarged to include them so the perimeter can be policed.
8. Who does HSE say must plan the demolition or dismantling of a lift?
Answer: Competent persons who know the principles and operating modes of that specific lift
- A) Any demolition operative, since a lift is removed the same way as any other steelwork
- B) The building's caretaker, who knows how the lift has been used over the years
- C) The scrap metal dealer who will buy the lift parts once they have been removed
- D) Competent persons who know the principles and operating modes of that specific lift (correct answer)
Why: HSE says the work must be planned by competent persons with knowledge of the principles and operating modes of the specific lift machine, its safety features and how it is built into the structure.
9. A contractor is stripping out the inside of an office block that stays occupied throughout. Does section 80 of the Building Act 1984 require notice of demolition to the local authority?
Answer: No, internal demolition of a building that stays occupied is exempt
- A) Yes, an internal strip-out counts as demolition and needs notice served
- B) Yes, and the building must be emptied before any notice is accepted
- C) No, because section 80 applies to buildings put up after 1984
- D) No, internal demolition of a building that stays occupied is exempt (correct answer)
Why: Section 80(1)(b)(i) excludes demolition of an internal part of a building where the building is occupied and is intended to continue to be occupied.
10. A bat survey finds bats roosting in a building due for demolition and harm cannot be avoided. What does GOV.UK guidance say the developer can do?
Answer: Apply to Natural England for a mitigation licence
- A) Seal up the roost entrances so the bats leave alone
- B) Ask the local council to give planning permission
- C) Apply to Natural England for a mitigation licence (correct answer)
- D) Carry on, as bats are only protected in the summer
Why: Natural England guidance says all bat species, their breeding sites and resting places are fully protected, and if you cannot avoid harming bats or their habitats you can apply for a mitigation licence from Natural England.
What this topic covers in the CSCS test
Demolition is one of CITB's specialist tests, adding demolition questions to the five core Operatives knowledge areas. In law demolition is treated the same as any other construction work, so CDM 2015 applies in full, with the extra requirement that the arrangements are written down first. Most marks come from what you must find out about a structure, and what must come out of it, before the first bite.
- Surveys done first: the structural survey and the asbestos refurbishment and demolition (R&D) survey
- Pre-construction information: asbestos, stability, past alterations and buried live services
- Written arrangements and the demolition method statement
- Method and sequence, including top-down demolition and high-reach machines
- Exclusion and debris zones, and keeping any collapse inside the site boundary
- Notifying the local authority and protecting the public and neighbouring structures
- Controlling dust, noise and vibration, and segregating waste
Key facts worth memorising
- Written down first
- CDM 2015 regulation 20 requires demolition to be planned so as to prevent danger, and the arrangements recorded in writing before work begins.
- R&D survey, not a management survey
- The client must give the contractor a refurbishment or demolition asbestos survey by a competent surveyor, and asbestos must be removed so far as is reasonably practicable before demolition.
- 14 days for licensed asbestos work
- Licensable work with asbestos must be notified to the enforcing authority on form ASB5 at least 14 days before it starts.
- Six weeks to building control
- You must give notice to the local authority, usually building control, at least six weeks before you intend to start demolition.
- Debris must stay in the zone
- Exclusion and debris zones are sized on the technique, the space around the structure and how far debris can fall. If a collapse could breach the site boundary, the technique is wrong.
- Dust is a killer, not a nuisance
- HSE believes over 500 construction workers die every year from silica dust, so water suppression, on-tool extraction and RPE belong in the method statement.
What people get wrong
An asbestos management survey is enough before demolition.
It is not. A management survey covers a building in normal occupation. Before demolition you need an R&D survey, which is intrusive and looks for asbestos hidden in the fabric.
A scaffold round the building lets you shrink the exclusion zone.
HSE says the opposite. A scaffold does not allow a smaller exclusion zone, and must not be used to support a structure unless designed as a support.
The structural survey can be done as the job goes along.
The structure must be understood before the sequence is chosen: load paths, floor loadings, shear walls, lift shafts, overhangs and past alterations. Surveying later is guessing.
The site manager alone carries responsibility.
Site managers supervise and enforce safe working, but duties run through the whole chain, from the client who appoints competent people and supplies pre-construction information to the worker who must follow the plan.
Answering these questions in the test
The demolition test rewards a strict order of events: find out what is there, write down how it will come down, remove the asbestos and isolate the services, set the zones, then demolish. Any option that has work starting before a survey, a written method statement or a notification is wrong. Where a question names a document, match it to its job: the structural survey tells you how the building stands up, the R&D survey tells you where the asbestos is, and the method statement tells the gang the sequence and the precautions.
Sources
Written from the following. Where a figure could not be verified against one of these, it has been left out rather than approximated. Our sources and methodology explains how we date and re-check them. Spotted something wrong? Report an error and we will fix it.
- hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/demolition.htm
- hse.gov.uk/construction/safetytopics/admin.htm
- legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/51/regulation/20/made
- hse.gov.uk/asbestos/duty/arrange-asbestos-survey.htm
- hse.gov.uk/asbestos/licensing/licensed-contractor.htm
- hse.gov.uk/construction/healthrisks/hazardous-substances/construction-dust.htm
- hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/hsg150.htm
- citb.co.uk/courses-tests/health-safety-and-environment-hse-test/specialist-test
Topics that come up alongside demolition (specialist)
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