⚠ Expert Level · No Multiple-Guess Gimmes

Free NWSA Practice Test

Think you know towers?

8 questions pulled from the hardest sections of the NWSA exams. Not climbing-experience questions — standards questions. The kind that fail experienced hands who never cracked the handbook.

Most veteran climbers score 4 out of 8. Prove us wrong.

8
Hard Questions
~50%
Avg Score
$274
Cost To Fail Real Exam

Here's the deal: experience doesn't equal exam-ready. The NWSA tests the standards — ANSI, OSHA, TIA, ASME — not how many towers you've climbed. Tap an answer to lock it in. We'll show you the truth with the reference.

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What the real NWSA exams look like

Every NWSA certification is a written exam taken by online remote proctoring — NWSA retired the TTT-1 and TTT-2 practical exams on January 1, 2024. The formats, from the Candidate Handbook (REV 10/25): TTT-1 85 questions / 90 min · TTT-2 100 / 2 h · A&L 70 / 2 h · ARC 95 / 150 min · Foreman 70 / 90 min. Each attempt is $274 with no discounted retake and a 30-day wait after a fail. NWSA publishes no passing score and no pass rate, so the only way to know you are ready is to test yourself against the outline.

Three sample questions, worked

Same style as the eight in the quiz above, with the answer and the standard behind it. The paid guides do this for every question.

Rigging plans (A10.48). Per ANSI/ASSP A10.48, who can authorize a Class IV rigging plan?

  1. A Competent Rigger with 5+ years experience
  2. A Qualified Person with a Qualified Engineer engaged
  3. The Competent Person on site
  4. Any Competent Rigger

Answer: B. A Class IV plan (for example, a gross lift load over 2,000 lb on an attached lift system, removal of structural members, or a special engineered lift) is the only class that requires a Qualified Engineer — a registered PE engaged to assess the structure under the construction loads. Class III plans are prepared by a Qualified Person working with the on-site Competent Rigger; Class II plans (up to 500 lb, no gin pole) may be prepared by a Competent Rigger. Experience alone (even decades) does not make someone a Qualified Person or a Qualified Engineer. (ANSI/ASSP A10.48-2023)

Wire rope inspection. Wire rope sling must be removed from service when how many randomly distributed broken wires are present in one rope lay?

  1. 3 broken wires
  2. 6 broken wires
  3. 10 broken wires
  4. When any single wire breaks

Answer: C. Per ANSI/ASME B30.9, a wire rope sling is retired at 10 randomly distributed broken wires in one rope lay, OR 5 broken wires in one strand of one lay. People confuse this with running wire rope on hoists and cranes (ASME B30.30 and the equipment standards such as B30.5), which use different, tighter numbers — typically 6 broken wires in one lay or 3 in one strand in one lay. The strand-level number (5) and the lay-level number (10) trip up even experienced riggers. (ANSI/ASME B30.9 (Slings))

RF exposure (MPE). During an authorized RF "controlled environment" exposure, what is the averaging time for Maximum Permissible Exposure?

  1. 30 minutes
  2. 15 minutes
  3. 6 minutes
  4. 1 minute

Answer: C. Controlled (occupational) environments use a 6-minute averaging time under 47 CFR 1.1310. Uncontrolled (general public) environments use 30 minutes. It is easy to remember there are "two numbers" and still flip which applies to whom. Workers = 6 min. Public = 30 min. (47 CFR 1.1310)

Want the full set? TTT-1 guide — 50-question timed exam · TTT-2 guide — 90 questions · all five guides from $39. Independent prep; not affiliated with or endorsed by NWSA.