CSCS HVACR heating & plumbing Specialist Test
HAPSHeating and plumbing services engineers in the HVACR sector.
Sitting the HAPS test soon? Practise under exam conditions on our timed paper: 50 questions in 45 minutes, 20 on HVACR heating & plumbing and 30 from the core.
50
questions
45
minutes
45/50
to pass (90%)
£23.50
test fee
What the HVACR heating & plumbing test covers
The Specialist test combines the five core Operatives knowledge areas with questions specific to HVACR: heating and plumbing services, which is what CITB calls this specialism. Expect the specialist section to focus on:
- Gas and pressurised system safety
- Hot works and flame-free jointing
- Legionella awareness
- Working in occupied buildings
- Safe isolation of services
Practise HVACR heating & plumbing questions
A practice quiz of 20, drawn fresh each time from 101 exam-style questions with worked explanations, written for the HAPS specialist section from the regulations and HSE guidance that govern this work.
HVACR heating & plumbing (HAPS): 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 HVACR heating & plumbing 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. A building services firm is sending an engineer to replace a gas boiler in an occupied office. Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, what must the firm be before it lets an employee carry out that gas work?
Answer: A member of a class of persons approved for the time being by the Health and Safety Executive
- A) Registered with the building control department at the local authority where the occupied office stands
- B) A member of a class of persons approved for the time being by the Health and Safety Executive (correct answer)
- C) A member of any recognised trade association covering building services, with its annual fee paid up
- D) Accredited by the manufacturer of the boiler being fitted, having been trained on that model of appliance
Why: Regulation 3(3) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 says no employer shall allow an employee to work on a gas fitting or service pipework unless the employer is a member of a class of persons approved by the Health and Safety Executive. In practice HSE approves the Gas Safe Register, so the business must be Gas Safe registered.
2. You have made a circulating pump dead so you can work on it in the plant room of a live, occupied building. What does the law require while the work goes on?
Answer: Adequate precautions must be taken to stop the pump becoming live again during the work
- A) Adequate precautions must be taken to stop the pump becoming live again during the work (correct answer)
- B) A second engineer must stand at the distribution board for the whole job
- C) The building must be emptied of occupants until the pump is back in service
- D) The pump must be tested for continuity at 30 minute intervals during the work
Why: Regulation 13 of the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 requires adequate precautions to prevent equipment that has been made dead from becoming electrically charged during the work, where danger could arise. In an occupied building someone else may reasonably try to restore the heating, so locking off and warning notices are what stop that.
3. Gas is already supplied to the building. You have just tested new installation pipework feeding the plant room boilers for gas tightness and examined it. What must be done next?
Answer: The pipework must be purged throughout, so that all air and any gas other than the gas to be supplied is removed safely
- A) The boilers must be run at full rate for 30 minutes to prove the supply holds its pressure
- B) The pipework must be left open ended for an hour so that any air in it can drift out of the plant room
- C) The gas supplier must be asked to attend and witness a second test before the boilers are lit
- D) The pipework must be purged throughout, so that all air and any gas other than the gas to be supplied is removed safely (correct answer)
Why: Regulation 22(2)(a) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 requires purging throughout all installation pipework through which gas can then flow, immediately after the gas tightness test and examination, to remove air and any other gas safely. Regulation 22(2)(b) then requires the pipework to be sealed off at every outlet with an appropriate fitting if it is not going straight into use.
4. You are fitting an automatic damper to serve a gas appliance. What do the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 require?
Answer: Interlock the damper with the gas supply to the burner so burner operation is prevented if the damper fails when it is not in the open position, then examine the appliance and damper immediately after installation to verify they work together safely
- A) Set the damper to close whenever the appliance shuts down so that standing heat loss up the flue is cut, record the closed position on the commissioning sheet you leave with the boiler, and check the setting again at the first annual service in the plant room
- B) Interlock the damper with the gas supply to the burner so burner operation is prevented if the damper fails when it is not in the open position, then examine the appliance and damper immediately after installation to verify they work together safely (correct answer)
- C) Provide a hand crank so that the damper can be wound open from the plant room floor, and label the crank with the open and shut positions so anyone can see at a glance which way the damper is set
- D) Label the damper with the date it was last adjusted, the name of the engineer who set it and the firing rate the boiler was on at the time, and enter the same details in the plant room log book
Why: Regulation 32(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 requires anyone installing an automatic damper to serve a gas appliance to interlock it with the gas supply to the burner so that burner operation is prevented if the damper fails when not in the open position, and immediately after installation to examine the appliance and damper to verify they can be used together safely. A burner that can fire into a shut damper pushes combustion products back into the building.
5. A chemical cleaner is being used to flush a heating system from the plant room of an occupied building. Under COSHH, where does personal protective equipment sit among the control measures?
Answer: Last, after work processes and engineering controls and control of exposure at source, used only where those cannot achieve adequate control, and then in addition to them
- A) First, because it protects the individual engineer directly, and the other control measures only come into play if the protective equipment issued turns out not to be enough
- B) It is not needed once the plant room door is propped open, because the flushing chemical is already diluted in the system water
- C) It removes the need to ventilate the plant room, so the door can stay shut while the system is being flushed and drained down
- D) Last, after work processes and engineering controls and control of exposure at source, used only where those cannot achieve adequate control, and then in addition to them (correct answer)
Why: Regulation 7(3) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 sets the protection measures in order of priority: the design and use of appropriate work processes, systems, engineering controls and suitable equipment first, then control of exposure at source including adequate ventilation, and only where adequate control cannot be achieved by other means, suitable PPE in addition to those measures. Regulation 7(1) puts preventing exposure ahead of controlling it.
6. Which of these counts as 'work' in relation to a gas fitting under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998?
Answer: Purging the fitting of air or gas, or permanently adjusting it
- A) Purging the fitting of air or gas, or permanently adjusting it (correct answer)
- B) Connecting or disconnecting a bayonet fitting or self-sealing connector
- C) Reading the gas meter to record how many units have been used
- D) Turning an appliance on and off using its own user controls
Why: Regulation 2(1) defines work on a gas fitting to include maintaining, servicing, permanently adjusting, disconnecting, repairing, altering, renewing or purging it of air or gas, and expressly excludes connecting or disconnecting a bayonet fitting or other self-sealing connector.
7. A primary meter has been taken out of an empty shop and is not being reinstalled or replaced straight away. Under regulation 16 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, what must be done with the outlet of the emergency control?
Answer: Seal it with an appropriate fitting
- A) Seal it with an appropriate fitting (correct answer)
- B) Leave it open so the line can vent
- C) Wrap it in tape and label it 'off'
- D) Turn it on to keep the pipe pressurised
Why: Regulation 16(3)(a) requires the person who last supplied gas through a removed primary meter that is not forthwith replaced to close any service valve controlling only that meter, seal the outlet of the emergency control with an appropriate fitting and mark any live gas pipe.
8. A legionella risk assessment is being done on an office's heating and hot water plant. What does L8 say the water system being assessed includes?
Answer: All associated plant and components, such as pipework, pumps, feed tanks, valves, showers and heat exchangers
- A) The outlets that people actually use, such as taps and showers, leaving out the plant room itself
- B) The cold water storage tank alone, because the hot side is kept too hot for any bacteria to survive
- C) All associated plant and components, such as pipework, pumps, feed tanks, valves, showers and heat exchangers (correct answer)
- D) The hot water calorifier on its own, because that is where legionella grows in a hot water system
Why: L8 para 26 says a water system includes all plant, equipment and components associated with it, such as pipework, pumps, feed tanks, valves, showers and heat exchangers, and that the system should be considered as a whole, including deadlegs.
9. Heating pipes and radiators in a care home could burn vulnerable residents. What is the highest surface temperature HSE says they should reach with the system at maximum design output?
Answer: 43 degrees C
- A) 43 degrees C (correct answer)
- B) 50 degrees C
- C) 55 degrees C
- D) 60 degrees C
Why: HSE says that where a vulnerable person could be burned by a hot surface, the surface should not exceed 43 degrees C when the system is running at maximum design output, and that precautions may include insulation or suitable covers.
10. How often must a landlord make sure each gas appliance and flue in a rented home is checked for safety under regulation 36 of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998?
Answer: Within 12 months of installation, then at intervals of not more than 12 months
- A) At a change of tenant, with no check in between however long the tenancy runs
- B) Once a tenant has reported a fault or a smell of gas to the landlord
- C) Within 12 months of installation, then at intervals of not more than 12 months (correct answer)
- D) Within 24 months of installation, then at intervals of not more than 24 months
Why: Regulation 36(3)(a) requires each appliance and flue covered by the landlord's duty to be checked for safety within 12 months of being installed and at intervals of not more than 12 months since the last check.
How the HVACR heating & plumbing 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 HAPS 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 HVACR heating & plumbing: 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 HVACR heating & plumbing 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 HAPS paper, 20 HVACR heating & plumbing questions and 30 from the core, on the CSCS Specialist mock test.
Topic name and code verified against citb.co.uk, July 2026.