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Exam Information
Official specifications published by ASQ
Exam Format
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Skills this practice test covers
- Compare project delivery methods and contract types for the quality risks they carry.
- Write a project Quality Management Plan that covers both quality assurance and quality control.
- Check design outputs through verification, validation and constructability reviews.
- Plan risk-based inspections and choose between destructive and nondestructive tests.
- Close out a project with verified deliverables, warranties and turnover records.
- Use the ASQ Code of Ethics, Tuckman's team stages and Cost of Quality analysis.
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CCQM exam content
8 domains · 27 topics · 135 questions
Pre-contract Phase12 questions
Quality work starts before the contract is signed. Candidates compare project delivery methods, contract types and payment models, and build quality requirements into prequalification and bid criteria.
Skills tested
- Compare delivery methods such as Design-Bid-Build, Design-Build and Construction Manager at Risk.
- Identify the quality risks that come with each contract type and payment model.
- Build quality requirements and critical to quality (CTQ) concepts into bid criteria.
- Use prequalification and audits to screen bidders.
Questions by topic
- Project delivery methods2
- Payment models and methods3
- Contractual requirements3
- Bid evaluation and finalization3
- Project delivery, contract, and payment models1
Planning Phase27 questions
This domain builds the project's quality plan. Candidates set a quality strategy, write a project-specific Quality Management Plan, plan quality resources and training, and prepare quality audits.
Skills tested
- Write a project quality strategy that reflects stakeholder requirements and ESG practices.
- Create a Quality Management Plan that meets ISO and industry standards and fits the other project plans.
- Separate quality assurance tasks from quality control tasks in the plan.
- Decide when third-party inspection is needed and set criteria to select a provider.
- Plan quality audits with SMART tactics and record the nonconformances found.
Questions by topic
- Strategic quality planning6
- Quality management systems (QMS)5
- Resource planning and analysis11
- Quality audits5
Design Phase18 questions
Quality managers support the design team before anything is built. Candidates align design inputs with quality objectives, join functionality and constructability reviews, and check design outputs through verification and validation.
Skills tested
- Align design inputs with the owner's quality objectives and lessons from past projects.
- Bring quality input to functionality and constructability reviews.
- Tell design verification from design validation and apply each to design outputs.
- Rate the criticality of design elements and choose inspection methods to match.
- Assess how a design change affects quality and record the decision.
Questions by topic
- Design outputs and quality controls9
- Design inputs4
- Design process3
- Measurement and monitoring in design2
Procurement14 questions
Procurement sets the quality terms for suppliers and trade partners. Candidates write quality requirements for purchases, control materials and traceability, manage procurement risk, and judge vendor performance.
Skills tested
- Write quality requirements for procurement together with the engineering team.
- Align trade partner inspection plans with the project's quality requirements.
- Track materials with traceability and vendor requirements.
- Identify procurement risks with FMEA, FTA and SWOT, then plan how to treat them.
- Review inspection reports and manufacturer data books, and score vendors with quality KPIs.
Questions by topic
- Quality requirements for procurement3
- Risk management5
- Quality reporting2
- Resource management in procurement4
Construction30 questions
The largest domain puts the quality plan to work on site. Candidates review submittals, set a risk-based inspection and testing strategy, manage nonconformances, check laboratory accreditation and regulatory compliance, and define acceptance criteria.
Skills tested
- Review construction submittals and requests for information against the plans and specifications.
- Build a risk-based inspection and testing strategy for the project.
- Run a nonconformance process with corrective and preventive action (CAPA).
- Choose destructive or nondestructive tests and confirm the test performers are accredited.
- Set acceptance criteria and plan the levels of commissioning.
Questions by topic
- Process management9
- Quality plan deployment5
- Quality monitoring, reporting, and commissioning10
- Testing and compliance6
Project Turnover and Closeout10 questions
At closeout the owner receives a finished, documented project. Candidates confirm that punch list items and nonconforming work are closed, verify quality deliverables, and assemble the final certification, warranties and turnover records.
Skills tested
- Close every punch list item and open nonconformance before turnover.
- Verify that all quality deliverables are complete.
- Assemble the final turnover documents, including as-built drawings and warranties.
- Assess how releasing quality staff affects the work that remains.
Questions by topic
- Documentation management10
Operations and Maintenance4 questions
The smallest domain covers the facility in use. Candidates set quality objectives for operations and maintenance, support warranty maintenance programs, and align quality plans with business continuity plans.
Skills tested
- Prepare operations and maintenance quality objectives from customer expectations.
- Report future inspection strategies back to the design team.
- Give input to shutdown plans and test them with drills and simulations.
Questions by topic
- Sustaining quality and business continuity4
Quality Manager Skills20 questions
This domain covers the quality manager's own conduct and leadership. Candidates apply the ASQ Code of Ethics, align stakeholders, build teams, manage change, analyze the cost of quality and use the classic quality tools.
Skills tested
- Apply the ASQ Code of Ethics to a workplace dilemma.
- Name Tuckman's stages of team development and assign roles with a RACI matrix.
- Collect and report Cost of Quality (CoQ) data and link it to improvement plans.
- Select one of the seven classic quality tools, such as a check sheet or a control chart, for a problem.
- Run after-action reviews and root cause analysis to capture lessons learned.
Questions by topic
- Team building and change management6
- Cost of Quality (CoQ) and improvement3
- Customer satisfaction and quality tools8
- Ethics and stakeholder management3
Requirements
- Required: eight years of work in the CCQM Body of Knowledge areas, with at least three in a decision-making position.
- Education can reduce the experience needed. For example, a bachelor's degree waives four years, and only one waiver applies.
- Recommended: construction quality management experience and familiarity with quality management systems based on ISO standards.
About the CCQM exam
CCQM tests quality managers on every phase of a construction project, from the bid to operation after handover. Each phase has its own domain, and a final domain covers the quality manager's own skills, from ethics to team building. ASQ asks for eight years of work in its Body of Knowledge areas, three of them in a decision-making position. Passing earns the Certified Construction Quality Manager (CCQM) certification.
The PlanetCert practice test puts the most questions on Construction and the Planning Phase, the two largest domains. Every answer has an explanation, which helps with close pairs such as quality assurance and quality control, or verification and validation. Flashcard mode suits the delivery-method acronyms, such as DBB and CMAR. The exam is open book, and Brainy AI Assistant can help turn a weak topic into a page of notes for the binder.
How to earn the certification
- Earns
- Certified Construction Quality Manager (CCQM)Professional
The certification stays valid for three years and is renewed with recertification units or by retaking the exam.
- After
- CMQ-OE Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence
ASQ's exam for managers who lead quality across a whole organization.
- CMQ-OE Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence
How to prepare for CCQM
- 1
Build an open-book binder
The exam is open book, and bound references with tabs are allowed. Build one binder that follows the domains, with forms such as an inspection plan, a RACI matrix and a closeout checklist.
- 2
List quality tasks for each phase
Take a project from past work and write down what quality did in each phase, from bid evaluation to warranties. Gaps in the list show which domains need study.
- 3
Put Construction and Planning first
Construction and the Planning Phase are the two largest domains. Study submittal review, risk-based inspection, CAPA and the Quality Management Plan before the smaller domains.
- 4
Drill delivery methods and contracts
Use Flashcard mode for each delivery method, such as Design-Bid-Build and Construction Manager at Risk, and for each contract type and payment model. The pre-contract objectives ask which party carries the risk in each model.
- 5
Rehearse with the binder under time
Take the CCQM practice test in Timed mode with the binder at hand, as on exam day. Note every lookup that took too long and add a tab for it.
Start a timed CCQMrun
Who CCQM is for
- Quality managers who run quality programs on construction projects.
- Quality control and quality assurance staff at contractors, owners or design firms.
- Project and construction managers who are responsible for a project's quality plan.
Typical job titles: Construction quality manager · Quality control manager · Quality assurance manager · Project quality engineer · Construction project manager
CCQM glossary
19 terms from the exam objectives and the vendor's official material, each defined in a sentence.
- As-built drawings
- Drawings updated to show the project as it was actually built, including every change made on site.
- Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ)
- The official body, such as a building department, that enforces codes and approves work in its area.
- Constructability assessment
- A review of a design that judges how easily and safely it can be built.
- Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR)
- A delivery method in which a construction manager advises during design, then builds the project and carries the cost risk.
- Construction submittals
- Shop drawings, product data and samples that a contractor sends for review before it uses a material or method.
- Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA)
- A process that removes the cause of a problem that has happened and prevents likely problems before they occur.
- Cost of Quality (CoQ)
- The total of prevention, appraisal and failure costs, used to show where spending on quality saves money.
- Critical to Quality (CTQ)
- The few measurable features that matter most to the customer and must be met for the work to be accepted.
- Delegated design
- Design work that the contract passes to a contractor or supplier, such as a specialty engineer who designs one building component.
- Design verification and validation
- Verification checks that design outputs meet the design inputs; validation checks that the result meets the user's real needs.
- Design-Bid-Build (DBB)
- A delivery method in which the owner hires a designer first, then puts the finished design out to bid for a separate builder.
- Design-Build (DB)
- A delivery method in which one contract covers both design and construction, so one firm is responsible for both.
- Levels of commissioning
- Staged checks that confirm building systems are installed and work as designed, from single parts up to the whole facility.
- Punch list
- A list of unfinished or faulty items that must be fixed before the owner accepts the work.
- Quality assurance (QA)
- The planned activities that make sure work processes will produce the required quality.
- Quality control (QC)
- The inspections and tests that check whether finished work meets its requirements.
- Quality Management Plan
- The document that sets one project's quality objectives, roles, procedures, inspections and records.
- RACI Matrix
- A chart that shows who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted and Informed for each task.
- Third-party inspection
- Inspection by an independent firm, which gives the owner a check that does not depend on the contractor.