CCM Project and Program Management 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The Estimate to Complete (ETC) for a project is best defined as:
- The original budget for remaining work
- The expected cost needed to finish all remaining project work from the current point (Correct answer)
- The difference between the BAC and the ACWP
- The total budget minus contingency reserves
Correct answer: The expected cost needed to finish all remaining project work from the current point
ETC represents the expected cost to complete the remaining project work and is used with ACWP to forecast the final cost (EAC).
Question 2: A construction manager identifies that a key subcontractor has become financially distressed mid-project. The BEST risk response strategy is:
- Ignore the issue until the subcontractor defaults
- Transfer all remaining work to the owner
- Activate pre-identified contingency plans such as backup subcontractors or performance bonds (Correct answer)
- Immediately terminate the subcontract without notice
Correct answer: Activate pre-identified contingency plans such as backup subcontractors or performance bonds
Activating contingency plans (backup vendors, performance bonds) is the appropriate risk response when a known risk event materializes.
Question 3: Which scheduling relationship type states that a successor activity cannot START until a predecessor activity FINISHES?
- Start-to-Start (SS)
- Finish-to-Finish (FF)
- Finish-to-Start (FS) (Correct answer)
- Start-to-Finish (SF)
Correct answer: Finish-to-Start (FS)
Finish-to-Start is the most common dependency type: the predecessor must finish before the successor can begin.
Question 4: When managing a design-build project, the construction manager's primary advantage is:
- Separating design responsibility from construction responsibility to reduce risk
- Single-point responsibility for both design and construction, streamlining coordination (Correct answer)
- Eliminating the need for a construction manager altogether
- Requiring the owner to manage all design changes
Correct answer: Single-point responsibility for both design and construction, streamlining coordination
Design-build provides a single contract with unified accountability for design and construction, reducing owner coordination burden and claims.
Question 5: The process of decomposing project deliverables into smaller, manageable components is used to create the:
- Risk breakdown structure (RBS)
- Organizational breakdown structure (OBS)
- Work breakdown structure (WBS) (Correct answer)
- Resource breakdown structure
Correct answer: Work breakdown structure (WBS)
The WBS hierarchically decomposes project scope into work packages that can be scheduled, cost-estimated, and assigned.
Question 6: A project manager receives a scope change request that would increase the project cost by 15% but is within the contingency reserve. The CORRECT action is to:
- Approve the change immediately without documentation since reserves cover it
- Reject the change to protect the contingency reserve
- Process the change through the formal change control process before approving (Correct answer)
- Escalate to the owner without reviewing the impact
Correct answer: Process the change through the formal change control process before approving
All scope changes must go through the formal change control process regardless of whether reserves are available to fund them.
Question 7: Which quality management tool is used to distinguish the 'vital few' causes from the 'trivial many' to prioritize corrective action?
- Control chart
- Scatter diagram
- Pareto chart (Correct answer)
- Fishbone (Ishikawa) diagram
Correct answer: Pareto chart
A Pareto chart applies the 80/20 rule to rank defect causes by frequency, helping teams focus on the most impactful issues first.
CCM Project and Program Management 5
The Estimate to Complete (ETC) for a project is best defined as: