CSCS Ductwork Specialist Test
DUCTDuctwork installers and sheet-metal workers.
Sitting the DUCT test soon? Practise under exam conditions on our timed paper: 50 questions in 45 minutes, 20 on Ductwork and 30 from the core.
50
questions
45
minutes
45/50
to pass (90%)
£23.50
test fee
What the Ductwork test covers
The Specialist test combines the five core Operatives knowledge areas with questions specific to HVACR: ductwork, which is what CITB calls this specialism. Expect the specialist section to focus on:
- Manual handling of ductwork sections
- Sharp edges and hand injury prevention
- Working at height for ceiling voids
- Lifting and supporting heavy runs
- Noise and power-tool safety
Practise Ductwork questions
A practice quiz of 20, drawn fresh each time from 101 exam-style questions with worked explanations, written for the DUCT specialist section from the regulations and HSE guidance that govern this work.
Ductwork (DUCT): 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 101 in this bank.
- About 90 seconds a question, against about 54 in the real test, so there is time to think.
10 sample Ductwork questions and answers
These 10 come from the 101 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. Your employer is planning the installation of a run of heavy ductwork sections. Under the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992, what must they do FIRST?
Answer: So far as is reasonably practicable, avoid the need for the work to involve manual handling that risks injury
- A) So far as is reasonably practicable, avoid the need for the work to involve manual handling that risks injury (correct answer)
- B) Decide which of the fitters are strong enough to carry the duct sections, and pair the heaviest sections with the biggest men on the gang
- C) Weigh the duct sections as they come off the lorry, so that a maximum lifting weight could be set for the whole gang
- D) Choose the gloves and the boots the fitters will be issued with for handling the cut edges of the sheet metal
Why: Regulation 4(1)(a) of the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 puts avoidance first. Only where it is not reasonably practicable to avoid the handling does the duty to assess the risk and then reduce it, under regulation 4(1)(b), come into play. Prefabricating duct runs off site or using a mechanical aid are common ways of avoiding the handling.
2. You are cutting ductwork with a power tool and wearing the hearing protectors your employer provided. Under the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, when is the protection those hearing protectors give taken into account?
Answer: When applying the exposure limit values, but not the lower and upper exposure action values
- A) When applying the lower and upper exposure action values only, since those are the values that trigger your employer's duties
- B) When applying the exposure limit values, but not the lower and upper exposure action values (correct answer)
- C) At all times, for every value set out in the Regulations, because that is the whole point of wearing them
- D) Never, for any value set out in the Regulations, because the law looks only at the noise the tool itself makes at the cutting head
Why: Regulation 4(5) states that account shall be taken of the protection given by personal hearing protectors when applying the exposure limit values, but not when applying the lower and upper exposure action values. So the action values that trigger your employer's duties are judged on the noise reaching you before hearing protection is counted, which is why protectors alone do not remove the need to control noise at source.
3. A rectangular opening has been left in a floor slab so that a duct riser can be built up through it. Under regulation 11 of the Work at Height Regulations 2005, what must the employer do about that opening?
Answer: So far as is reasonably practicable equip the area with devices preventing unauthorised persons from entering it, and clearly indicate the area
- A) Nothing, as long as the duct riser is due to be built up through the opening the same day and the slab around it is kept clear of other trades until the riser goes in
- B) Paint the edges of the opening in a bright colour and run a line of hazard tape right round it at waist height, so that nobody walks into the opening by accident while the riser is being built
- C) Mention the opening at the morning briefing and rely on the duct fitters and the other trades on the slab to keep well clear of it
- D) So far as is reasonably practicable equip the area with devices preventing unauthorised persons from entering it, and clearly indicate the area (correct answer)
Why: Regulation 11 applies where a workplace contains an area in which, because of the nature of the work, someone is at risk of falling a distance or being struck by a falling object liable to cause injury. The employer must so far as is reasonably practicable equip the workplace with devices preventing unauthorised persons entering, and the area must be clearly indicated. Marking alone does not meet the first half of that duty.
4. You are stripping out redundant ductwork in the plant room of a building put up in the 1970s. The asbestos register lists the lagging on the ducts and pipes as asbestos insulation, and all of it has to come off. Under the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012, who may take that lagging off?
Answer: Only an employer holding a licence granted by the Health and Safety Executive, because work on asbestos insulation is licensable work with asbestos
- A) Any duct fitter holding an in date asbestos awareness certificate, provided a disposable dust mask and coveralls are worn and the lagging is damped down before it is pulled off the duct
- B) Anyone on the strip out gang, provided the lagging is lifted off in whole sections rather than broken up, and the sections go straight into a skip kept for that plant room and taken away the same day
- C) Only an employer holding a licence granted by the Health and Safety Executive, because work on asbestos insulation is licensable work with asbestos (correct answer)
- D) The ductwork subcontractor's own labour, provided the plant room door is kept shut, the debris is double bagged, and the bags go down in the hoist at the end of the shift
Why: Regulation 8(1) says an employer must hold a licence granted by the Health and Safety Executive before undertaking any licensable work with asbestos. Regulation 2(1) defines licensable work to include work on asbestos insulation, which is what pipe and duct lagging is, unless the risk assessment shows the work is sporadic and of low intensity, of short duration, and will not take exposure over the control limit. Stripping a whole plant room out cannot show that. Asbestos awareness training tells a duct fitter to stop and get help; it does not allow the fitter to do the work.
5. Your employer has provided hearing protectors because the duct cutting area is above the upper exposure action value. Under regulation 8 of the Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005, what must you do as an employee?
Answer: Make full and proper use of them and of any other control measures your employer has provided, and report any defect in them to your employer as soon as practicable
- A) Wear them only while a machine is actually running in the duct cutting area, and take them off in between so that you can hear what is going on around you in the plant room
- B) Make full and proper use of them and of any other control measures your employer has provided, and report any defect in them to your employer as soon as practicable (correct answer)
- C) Buy your own set out of your own wages if you would rather use a different type from the ones being handed out on site by the storeman
- D) Nothing at all, because controlling the noise in the duct cutting area is entirely your employer's responsibility and none of yours as the employee who has to work in that area
Why: Regulation 8(2) places two duties on every employee: to make full and proper use of personal hearing protectors provided under regulation 7(2) and of any other control measures provided under the Regulations, and to report any defect in them to the employer as soon as practicable. Regulation 8(1) separately requires the employer to ensure those things are used and kept in efficient working order.
6. A ventilation duct has to pass through a fire-separating wall. Which of these is one of the four methods Approved Document B gives for keeping that wall's fire performance?
Answer: Protecting the duct with fire resisting ductwork
- A) Painting the duct with a heat reflective coating
- B) Making the duct from a thicker gauge of steel sheet
- C) Protecting the duct with fire resisting ductwork (correct answer)
- D) Lagging the duct with mineral wool insulation
Why: Approved Document B para 10.12 lists four methods where air handling ducts pass through fire-separating elements: thermally activated fire dampers, fire resisting enclosures, fire resisting ductwork, and fire and smoke dampers triggered by smoke detectors.
7. What minimum fire performance does Approved Document B give for a fire damper?
Answer: An E classification of 60 minutes, or the integrity rating of the wall or floor if that is higher
- A) An E classification of 60 minutes, or the integrity rating of the wall or floor if that is higher (correct answer)
- B) An E classification of 30 minutes, set without reference to the rating of the wall or floor it sits in
- C) An E classification of 15 minutes, as the damper closes before the fire reaches full heat
- D) No set classification, provided the damper is made of galvanised steel at least 1 mm thick
Why: Approved Document B para 10.19 says fire dampers should conform to BS EN 15650 and have a minimum E classification of 60 minutes or match the integrity rating of the fire resisting elements, whichever is higher.
8. What does HSG258 say should be provided in LEV ductwork, as a minimum, to monitor the system and diagnose partial blockages?
Answer: Static pressure tappings after each hood, at key points in the duct and across parts such as fans and filters
- A) A smoke detector in each branch, wired to stop the fan if the airflow drops below the design value
- B) A thermometer at the fan inlet, because a rise in temperature is the first sign of a partial blockage
- C) Static pressure tappings after each hood, at key points in the duct and across parts such as fans and filters (correct answer)
- D) Clear inspection windows along the length of the duct, so that the airflow inside can be seen from the floor below
Why: HSG258 para 174 says to provide test points, as a minimum static pressure tappings, after each hood, at key points in the duct system and across components such as fans and filters. Para 175 adds that the ducts should be marked to show where they are.
9. Kitchen extract is being discharged at high level. What does CAIS10 say about fittings on the discharge?
Answer: Never use devices that direct the discharge downward, as they cause down draught and fumes re-entering the building
- A) Never use devices that direct the discharge downward, as they cause down draught and fumes re-entering the building (correct answer)
- B) Fit a rain cap that turns the air downward, to stop rain running back down the duct and into the extract fan motor below
- C) Fit a downward cowl so that the extracted air is sent towards the ground, away from neighbouring windows
- D) Any cowl will do, because the pressure from the extract fan stops fumes coming back into the building
Why: CAIS10 says to avoid rain caps and devices that impede upward vertical velocity, and never to use devices that direct the discharge downward, as they encourage down draught and re-entry of fumes into the building.
10. Ductwork is being fixed from a mobile tower scaffold. Under Schedule 3 to the Work at Height Regulations 2005, what applies to the tower as a wheeled structure?
Answer: It must be prevented by appropriate devices from moving inadvertently during work at height
- A) Its wheels must come off before use, as a wheeled tower is not allowed for work at height
- B) It needs no device to stop it moving, because its own weight holds it in place on a floor
- C) It must be prevented by appropriate devices from moving inadvertently during work at height (correct answer)
- D) It can be moved with people on the platform, provided they hold on to the guard rails firmly
Why: WAHR Schedule 3 Part 1 para 3(b) says a wheeled supporting structure must be prevented by appropriate devices from moving inadvertently during work at height.
How the Ductwork test is structured
CITB builds every Specialist test the same way: the five core knowledge areas from the Operatives test, plus questions specific to your specialism. Those core areas are working environment, occupational health, safety, high risk activities and specialist, and they account for the larger share of the 50 questions. The practical consequence is that most of your revision for the DUCT test is the same revision every operative on site does, so start there and add the specialist material on top.
Same format as every HS&E test
50 questions in 45 minutes with a 45 out of 50 pass mark. Five wrong answers are allowed and a sixth fails you.
Booked as one exam
The core and specialist questions come in one 45-minute appointment costing £23.50, not as two separate sittings.
Your card decides it
The specialism follows from the CSCS card you are applying for. Confirm with the official Card Finder before booking.
Revising for Ductwork: fix the core first
Because the core is shared, the fastest way to raise your score on any specialist test is to fix weaknesses in the core knowledge first. Sit a full CSCS mock test for Operatives cold, read the per-topic breakdown, then drill whichever of the CSCS test questions and answers cost you the most marks. Come back to the specialist material once the core is reliable, because a specialist section cannot rescue a weak core: the core is simply the bigger half of the paper.
When you are clearing 45 out of 50 consistently rather than once, read what ID to bring and how to book the CSCS test. Turning up without the right identification means no test and no refund, which is the commonest avoidable way to lose the £23.50.
Related specialist tests
These sit closest to Ductwork in trade and in hazard. If you are unsure which specialism your card requires, compare them before you book.
Next steps
Confirm this is the right test with the official CSCS Card Finder, then book your Specialist test. Compare the other 11 specialist tests if you are unsure.
Sit a timed 50-question DUCT paper, 20 Ductwork questions and 30 from the core, on the CSCS Specialist mock test.
Topic name and code verified against citb.co.uk, July 2026.