You can know the material cold and still hand marks back. The ExAC is written by hand, marked to fixed rules, and run on a strict clock. Those rules are published every year in the Preparation Guide, and they are easy to skim past.
Read them now instead. Here are ten ways marks get lost, in the order you will meet them: months before the exam, the week before, and in the room.
Months before the exam
1. Watching only the exam date
The dates that can end a 2026 plan early are not in November. They are June 30, the deadline for having 2,800 experience hours approved or submitted with both signatures, and July 10 at noon, when registration closes. Hours submitted late are still reviewed, but not in time to count.
The fix: put the experience deadline and the registration window in your calendar as soon as exac.ca publishes them, and ask your supervising architect and mentor for sign-off weeks ahead.
2. Treating a skipped year as a pause
You have three consecutive attempts to pass all four sections. If you fail a section and do not register the following year, that year counts as a failed attempt anyway. After the third attempt, you rewrite all four sections.
The fix: once you have written, plan to write again at the very next sitting until you are done.
3. Studying from memory of school
The ExAC is built to assess what you learned during your internship. Its questions are written to a published list of objectives, and those objectives follow the IAP experience categories. A plan built on old studio notes misses most of it.
The fix: work from Appendix 1 of the Preparation Guide. Our 12-week study plan shows how to turn the objectives into a calendar.
The week before
4. Preparing the wrong code book
Section 2 is written to the National Building Code of Canada 2020, without provincial adaptations, and the NECB 2020. If you bring the provincial code you use at work, the guide says you do so at your own risk.
The fix: practise in the national edition from the start.
5. Building a code copy that gets taken apart
Tabs, highlighting and handwritten notes in your code are allowed. Added pages are not. An index, a table or a summary sheet slipped inside can be confiscated at the door. A printout of the PDF edition also needs the appropriate licence.
The fix: write your cross-references in the margins. Our NBC 2020 guide has a tabbing sequence.
6. Packing the wrong things
Only HB pencil may be used on the answer sheet. Use anything else and the guide warns that scoring may not be possible. Your calculator must be basic: no programming, no stored text or formulas, no communication. Pencil cases and tissue packs must be transparent.
The fix: pack the night before. HB pencils or a mechanical pencil with HB leads, eraser, small sharpener, small ruler, basic calculator, photo ID, letter of authorization.
In the room
7. Writing past the lines
Each written question gives you a set number of lines. Anything beyond them, in the margins, or on scratch paper is not read and not marked. Two lines squeezed into one line's space is rejected too.
The fix: decide your answer before you write it. Practise short answers by hand until you can fit them. If you need to change something, erase it. Do not cross it out.
8. Giving three answers when two were asked for
If a question asks for two points and you write four, only the first two are read. A strong third answer cannot rescue a weak first one.
The fix: lead with your best points, give exactly the number asked, and keep them clearly separate. Watch for words in bold.
9. Hiding your arithmetic
Where a question needs a calculation, points are awarded for each step toward the answer. The guide tells candidates to show every step, even simple addition. Show the working, and a slip at the end can still leave you the points for the steps before it.
The fix: write each step on its own line, inside the answer space.
10. Leaving blanks and losing the clock
A blank multiple-choice answer is marked incorrect. Spend ten minutes on one stubborn question in the middle and you can finish the session with a row of blanks at the end.
The fix: answer every multiple-choice question. Skip what is too hard and come back. Give priority to the questions worth more points, which are identified in the booklet.
Arrive 30 minutes early, because late entry closes 30 minutes after the start and no time is added. Turn your phone off and put it in your bag under the desk. Leave food at home unless an accommodation request has been approved.
The night-before checklist
| Bring | Leave behind |
|---|---|
| Photo ID with signature | Notes, books and reference sheets |
| Letter of authorization | Dictionaries and translation devices |
| HB pencils, eraser, sharpener, small ruler | Your own scratch paper |
| Basic calculator | Headphones and earbuds |
| Water, coffee or tea in a sealable container | Food and candy |
| NBC 2020 and NECB 2020 on paper, for Section 2 | Loose pages inside your code |
If a section goes wrong anyway
Results arrive around mid-February as Pass or Fail for each section. A fail on one section does not undo the others. You rewrite only what you failed, at the next sitting.
If something outside your control affected your exam, such as illness or a death in the family, you have 30 days after the sitting to report exceptional circumstances in writing to your licensing authority. Our overview of the ExAC in 2026 covers the attempt rules in full.
Interns for ExAC is an independent, unofficial study tool. Every practice question runs with a clock and explains the reasoning behind the answer, so pacing becomes routine before November. Try twelve questions free, no account needed.
Quick answers
What pencil do I need for the ExAC?
Only HB pencils may be used on the ExAC answer sheet. Mechanical pencils are allowed as long as they use HB lead refills. If another grade is used, scoring of the exam may not be possible.
Is there a penalty for wrong answers on the ExAC?
The Preparation Guide says a blank multiple-choice answer is considered incorrect and advises candidates to answer all multiple-choice questions. It does not describe any additional deduction for a wrong answer.
What happens if I write outside the answer lines on the ExAC?
Answers that extend beyond the lines provided, into the margins, or onto scratch paper are not read or marked. If a question asks for a set number of points, only that number is read, starting from the first.
What happens if I skip a year after failing an ExAC section?
It counts as a missed and therefore failed attempt. Candidates have three consecutive attempts to pass all four sections and must rewrite failed sections at the next sitting.
What can I bring into the ExAC exam room?
Photo ID with a signature, your letter of authorization, HB pencils, an eraser, a small sharpener, a small ruler, a basic non-programmable calculator, and water, coffee or tea in a sealable container. For Section 2 you may also bring paper copies of the NBC 2020 and NECB 2020.
The short version
- Know the June and July deadlines as well as you know the exam date.
- Use the national code, tab it, and add no pages.
- HB pencil only. Stay inside the lines. Give exactly the number of points asked.
- Show every calculation step, and never leave a multiple-choice answer blank.