1. Determine the specific type of construction supervisor license you need: Unrestricted, Restricted (One and Two Family Dwellings), or Specialty (Masonry, Roof Covering, etc.). Read below to learn more about the various MA CSL types.
2. Verify that you meet the Massachusetts CSL requirements, outlined below.
3. Enroll in a Mass. CSL Exam Prep course. Read on to learn what you should look for in a preparatory course.
4. Make sure you have all of the reference books.
5. Submit an exam registration form and schedule your exam.
6. Take the exam and mail your score report to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards.
We'll dive into each of these in more detail below:
1. Determine the specific type of construction supervisor license you need.
There are three main types of MA CSL:
- Unrestricted Construction Supervisor License
- Restricted Construction Supervisor License (One and Two Family Dwellings), and
- Specialty Construction Supervisor License
An unrestricted CSL is for the construction, reconstruction, alteration repair, removal, or demolition of:
- buildings of any use containing less than 35,000 cubic feet
- 1- and 2-family dwellings with any additional accessory
- Buildings or structures for agricultural use
- Walls less than 10 ft.
A restricted CSL is for the construction, reconstruction, alteration repair, removal, or demolition of one and two family dwellings with any additional accessory.
There are several types of specialty CSL, such as:
- Masonry
- Roof Covering
- Window Doors Sliding
- Solid Fuel-Burning Appliance
- Demolition
- Insulation
To learn more about the various MA Construction Supervisor License types, click here.
2. Verify that you meet the Massachusetts Construction Supervisor requirements.
In order to be eligible to take the MA Construction Supervisor exam, you must:
- Be 18+ years old (at the time of the exam)
- Be able to provide documentation of at least three years of experience in building construction or design in the field in which you wish to be licensed.
- Be able to list duties as they relate directly to the field of building construction or design.
- Be up-to-date on all state tax returns and have paid all state tax payments, and provide a notarized signature indicating this.
To view all pre-exam CSL requirements, click here to view the Prometrics exam bulletin (see page 3).
3. Enroll in a Mass. CSL Exam Prep course.
You may have heard that the Massachusetts Construction Supervisor License exam is open-book. If you're thinking, "Why do I need to take a preparatory course for an open-book exam?" all you need to do is look at the sheer number of pages in the reference books you're allowed to bring into the exam. The International Residential Code (IRC) alone has over 900 pages, and there are a total of seven reference books you'll be lugging into the testing center.
There are 75 questions on the Unrestricted Construction Supervisor License Massachusetts exam, and you have a time limit of three hours to complete the entire exam. That leaves less than 2.5 minutes per question to find your answer. If you don't have any direction of where to look in the thousands of pages of code, your chances of failing are likely quite high.
Not all Mass. CSL Exam Prep courses are created equal. When shopping around, you should look for a course that teaches you how to set up your reference books for success, and how to navigate those reference books in an exam setting. You'll find that some courses focus on simply reading/showing you the contents of the code books, which is not the best way to study for this type of exam. It's unrealistic to expect that you could learn or memorize the information covered in these reference books, because of the sheer volume of content contained in them.
At Leisure's video-based Mass. CSL Exam Prep course is set up differently:
- First, we teach you how to set your code books up for easy reference. This includes adding descriptive section tabs (provided if you purchase books through us), and highlighting techniques that will point you in the right direction come exam time.
- We then briefly go through all of the reference books with you, section by section. Rather than subjecting you to lengthy recordings of someone reading the code to you (our goal is not to put you to sleep), our course features short 5-15 minute video modules that explain the significance of each section.
- After watching each section video, we recommend you spend a minimum of one hour reviewing the material that was just covered. This will build on the video module by increasing your familiarity with what is covered and where to find it within the material.
- Once you've spent time reviewing the section, we quiz you on topics covered specifically in that section. This will give you practice on how to handle questions that cover topics where you have a general idea of where to look. Baby steps.
- Once you've gone through all videos covering all of the various reference books and taken the section practice quizzes, it's time to test what you've learned. Our final 75-question practice quiz mimics the real exam so you can gauge where you're at and determine which topics you may need to take a closer look at. Before you begin the final practice quiz, we'll guide you through some tips and tricks on how to dissect the question for direction on where to look in the code books.
Register for At Leisure's Unrestricted MA Construction Supervisor Exam Prep course today and get started on obtaining your Mass. CSL!
4. Make sure you have all of the reference books.
As we've covered above, the MA CSL exam is open book, so you definitely want to make sure you have your own copy of all the reference books:
- 2015 International Building Code (Includes Turbo Tabs)
- 2015 International Residential Code (Includes Turbo Tabs)
- 2018 International Energy Conservation Code (Includes Turbo Tabs)
- MA State Building Code Amendments (780 CMR) - Ninth Edition
- OSHA 29 CFR 1926 - Construction Industry Standards
- Architectural Access Board Rules & Regulations (521 CMR)
If you purchase your MA CSL Exam Prep course with At Leisure, you have the option of adding all of the code books onto your order for a discounted package rate. Otherwise, you can order through https://shop.iccsafe.org.
5. Submit an exam registration form and schedule your exam.
We recommend reading the Prometrics Exam Bulletin in detail for full details on how to register for and schedule your exam.
6. Take the exam and mail your score report to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards.
After completing your exam, you'll receive a score report. If you passed, congratulations! You'll need to provide this to the Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) to proceed with obtaining your license.