CSCS Plumbing (JIB) Specialist Test
PLUMPlumbers registered through the JIB (Joint Industry Board) route.
Sitting the PLUM test soon? Practise under exam conditions on our timed paper: 50 questions in 45 minutes, 20 on Plumbing (JIB) and 30 from the core.
50
questions
45
minutes
45/50
to pass (90%)
£23.50
test fee
What the Plumbing (JIB) test covers
The Plumbing (JIB) specialist section tests hot works and soldering safety, pressurised systems, Legionella and water hygiene, confined spaces and under-floor working, and manual handling of pipework and boilers. Those questions sit alongside the five core Operatives knowledge areas, and CITB calls this specialism Plumbing (JIB). In detail:
- Hot works and soldering safety
- Working with pressurised systems
- Legionella and water hygiene awareness
- Confined spaces and under-floor working
- Manual handling of pipework and boilers
Practise Plumbing (JIB) questions
A practice quiz of 20, drawn fresh each time from 101 exam-style questions with worked explanations, written for the PLUM specialist section from the regulations and HSE guidance that govern this work.
Plumbing (JIB) (PLUM): 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 Plumbing (JIB) 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 plumber is about to work in an underground meter chamber. Which of these hazards, if reasonably foreseeable there, would make it a confined space under the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997?
Answer: Drowning of a person at work because the level of a liquid rises
- A) Slipping on a wet floor where a joint has been dripping into the chamber
- B) Drowning of a person at work because the level of a liquid rises (correct answer)
- C) Hand-arm vibration from using a breaker to chase out the floor
- D) Hearing damage from noisy plant running in the same space as you
Why: Regulation 1(2) of the Confined Spaces Regulations 1997 defines a confined space by a reasonably foreseeable specified risk, and a specified risk as serious injury from fire or explosion, loss of consciousness from a rise in body temperature, loss of consciousness or asphyxiation from gas, fume, vapour or lack of oxygen, drowning from a rise in the level of a liquid, or asphyxiation from a free flowing solid. Slips, vibration and noise are real hazards but they are not specified risks.
2. Schedule 1 to the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 lists the tasks, the loads, the working environment and individual capability. What is the fifth group of factors?
Answer: Other factors, such as movement or posture being hindered by personal protective equipment or clothing
- A) The tools being used, and whether the right lifting aids have been provided for them
- B) The time of day the work is done, because a night shift tires people out faster
- C) Other factors, such as movement or posture being hindered by personal protective equipment or clothing (correct answer)
- D) The worker's training record, and whether they have sat a manual handling refresher in the last three years
Why: Schedule 1 to the Manual Handling Operations Regulations 1992 sets out five groups of factors, not four: the tasks, the loads, the working environment, individual capability, and other factors. The fifth group asks whether movement or posture is hindered by personal protective equipment or by clothing, which matters when carrying pipework or a boiler in gloves, kneepads and a harness.
3. A four storey building is fed by a gas service pipe of 50 mm internal diameter or more. Under the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998, what must go in with the incoming installation pipework?
Answer: A valve in a conspicuous and readily accessible position, plus a permanent line diagram fixed near the meter
- A) A gas detector on every floor of the building, wired back to the plant room panel
- B) A second emergency control on the top floor, so the riser can be dropped from above
- C) A pressure test point at every appliance in the building, so each one can be checked without dropping the riser
- D) A valve in a conspicuous and readily accessible position, plus a permanent line diagram fixed near the meter (correct answer)
Why: Regulation 24(1) of the Gas Safety (Installation and Use) Regulations 1998 applies where the service pipe to a building of two or more floors has an internal diameter of 50 mm or more. It requires a valve installed in the pipe in a conspicuous and readily accessible position, and a line diagram in permanent form attached to the building near the primary meter, the emergency control or the gas storage vessel. The diagram has to show all installation pipework of 25 mm internal diameter or more, meters, emergency controls, valves and pressure test points.
4. Under the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, which fluid category covers a fluid that is a serious health hazard, such as one containing faecal material?
Answer: Fluid category 5
- A) Fluid category 2
- B) Fluid category 3
- C) Fluid category 4
- D) Fluid category 5 (correct answer)
Why: Schedule 1 to the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999 sets five fluid categories. Category 5 is fluid representing a serious health hazard because of the concentration of pathogenic organisms, radioactive or very toxic substances, and it expressly names faecal material or other human waste. Category 4 is a significant health hazard from toxic substances, category 3 a slight health hazard from substances of low toxicity such as central heating additives, and category 2 is water whose taste, odour, appearance or temperature has changed.
5. You are jointing plastic soil pipe with a solvent cement that gives off strong fumes. Under the COSHH Regulations 2002, what should the employer settle before deciding what protective equipment to issue?
Answer: Whether exposure can be prevented at all, and in particular whether that product can be replaced with a substance or process that removes or reduces the risk
- A) Whether a helmet visor and a pair of gloves would be enough to cover the job, since it is only a few joints on the soil stack
- B) Whether exposure can be prevented at all, and in particular whether that product can be replaced with a substance or process that removes or reduces the risk (correct answer)
- C) Whether the operatives are up to date with their toolbox talks, so the fumes have at least been covered with them
- D) Whether the fumes are strong enough for anyone to notice them, because a smell you cannot detect is not doing you any harm
Why: Regulation 7(1) of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 requires exposure to be prevented, or where that is not reasonably practicable, adequately controlled. Regulation 7(2) says that in complying with the duty of prevention, substitution shall by preference be undertaken, replacing the substance with one that eliminates or reduces the risk. Prevention and substitution therefore come before any question of what to issue the operative to wear.
6. You are fitting a booster pump on the supply pipe to a house to lift the shower pressure. Under the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, when must you notify the water undertaker and get its consent before starting?
Answer: When the pump or booster draws more than 12 litres per minute
- A) When the pump or booster draws more than 12 litres per minute (correct answer)
- B) Only when the pump or booster draws more than 30 litres per minute
- C) Only when the pump is fitted to a building with three or more floors
- D) Only when the pump is fed from a cold water storage cistern instead
Why: The Table in regulation 5 lists the installation of a pump or booster drawing more than 12 litres per minute, connected directly or indirectly to a supply pipe, as notifiable work that needs the undertaker's consent first.
7. A new cold water installation made entirely of copper is pumped up to its test pressure. Under Schedule 2 to the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, what result shows it has passed?
Answer: The test runs for one hour with no further pumping, the pressure is maintained and there is no visible leakage
- A) The test runs for one hour with no further pumping, the pressure is maintained and there is no visible leakage (correct answer)
- B) After 30 minutes the pressure is cut to one third of the test pressure, and it then holds at that level for 90 minutes
- C) The pressure is held for ten minutes and any drop in that time is less than 1 bar, with no visible leakage
- D) The system holds pressure overnight with the stopvalve left open so it stays connected to the main
Why: For a system with no plastics pipe, paragraph 12(2)(a) treats the test as satisfied when it continues for one hour without further pumping, the pressure is maintained for that hour and there is no visible leakage. The one third reduction is Test A, which is for systems that include plastics pipe.
8. A kitchen needs a tap for drinking water. Under Schedule 2 to the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999, which of these may feed it?
Answer: A supply pipe, or a pump delivery pipe that draws its water from a supply pipe
- A) The secondary hot water circuit, once the water in it has cooled down enough
- B) A branch taken off the combined feed and expansion cistern for the heating
- C) A supply pipe, or a pump delivery pipe that draws its water from a supply pipe (correct answer)
- D) A distributing pipe from a cistern that also collects rainwater from the roof
Why: Paragraph 27 says a drinking water tap must be supplied from a supply pipe, a pump delivery pipe drawing water from a supply pipe, or a distributing pipe drawing water exclusively from a storage cistern supplying wholesome water.
9. You are planning a new WC in a refurbished flat. Under Part G of the Building Regulations 2010, what must the room containing the WC be separated from?
Answer: Any kitchen or any area where food is prepared
- A) Any kitchen or any area where food is prepared (correct answer)
- B) Any bedroom in the same dwelling as the WC
- C) The cupboard holding the hot water cylinder
- D) Any room with an open flued gas appliance
Why: Requirement G4(3) says any room containing a sanitary convenience, a bidet or hand washing facilities provided under G4(2)(b) must be separated from any kitchen or any area where food is prepared.
10. There will be a long gap between water pressure testing and full occupation of a new development. What does HSE say should be done in the meantime?
Answer: Flush weekly to cut stagnation, keep temperatures below 20 degrees C and keep up the chlorine residual
- A) Raise the hot water temperature to 80 degrees C and leave the cold water system isolated until handover
- B) Turn off the incoming main at the boundary so that no water can enter the building until handover
- C) Flush weekly to cut stagnation, keep temperatures below 20 degrees C and keep up the chlorine residual (correct answer)
- D) Flush the sentinel outlets once a month and leave the rest of the system standing until handover
Why: HSG274 Part 2 para 2.47 says weekly flushing should be implemented to reduce stagnation and microbial growth, keep temperatures below 20 degrees C and maintain residual chemical treatment such as the low chlorine level in the incoming supply.
How the Plumbing (JIB) 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 PLUM 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 Plumbing (JIB): 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 Plumbing (JIB) 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 PLUM paper, 20 Plumbing (JIB) questions and 30 from the core, on the CSCS Specialist mock test.
Topic name and code verified against citb.co.uk, July 2026.