I've got about 15 years in residential remodeling — ran my own crew for the last 6 years — and I'm finally sitting down to get my CR. I keep seeing people say their experience carried them through, but I also see a fair number of posts from people with similar backgrounds who underestimated the exam and failed. I don't want to be that person. Currently planning on 6 weeks of prep at about 90 minutes a day, but I'm not sure if that's enough or overkill.
The NARI study materials cover a lot of business management content I don't work with day-to-day — financial ratios, contract law specifics, HR stuff. On the job site I'm solid, but I'll be honest, I haven't thought about liquidity ratios since I took a business class 10 years ago. That's probably my biggest gap going in.
If you've passed recently, how was the split between business/management questions and technical remodeling content? I've seen estimates ranging from 40/60 to 60/40 and that makes a pretty big difference in where I should be spending my time. Also wondering whether the construction code questions are tied to a specific IRC edition or if it's more general principles.
18 years of experience here and I still needed 7 weeks to feel confident. The financial ratios section specifically — current ratio, debt-to-equity, gross margin calculations — is something you absolutely have to study. I scored 81% overall but only about 65% on the financial questions.
Studied 2 hours a day for 8 weeks and passed with 82%. The safety and OSHA questions were more numerous than I anticipated — maybe 10–12% of the exam. If you've got solid field experience those should be easier points to pick up.
The code questions on my exam were based on general IRC principles rather than tied to a specific edition. Knowing the reasoning behind code requirements mattered more than memorizing specific code numbers.
I passed on first attempt with 78% after 5 weeks of prep. The business management side was roughly 50% of my exam — heavier than I expected. Financial analysis, contracts, and project management concepts were all tested pretty specifically, not just in broad strokes.
Don't go in assuming field experience covers the business content. It really doesn't map cleanly.
Just passed mine last month, 12 years in the field. Honestly the experience helps a ton with the practical stuff, but what actually got me over the line was sitting down with the study guide and treating the business and project management sections like I'd never seen them before. That's where I was losing points — I knew how to run a job, but the way they want you to think about contracts, change orders, and client communication on paper is way more formal than how most of us actually operate day to day.
Give yourself 6-8 weeks minimum even with your background. I did about an hour a night after work and took a full practice exam on weekends. The practice exams are what really locked it in for me — not because the questions are identical, but because they train you to spot what the "CR answer" is versus what you'd actually do on site. Those two things aren't always the same.