I've been in design-build contracting for 6 years and my firm is encouraging the whole project management team to get certified. I started studying for the DBIA about 3 weeks ago and I'm working through the Body of Knowledge. The exam is 120 questions and I've seen passing scores around 68–72% mentioned in a few places, though I haven't found an official published cutoff anywhere.
The procurement and contracting section is where I feel sharpest since it's closest to my day-to-day work. Where I'm struggling is the design management module — specifically the design progression framework and owner vs. contractor design responsibility at different project phases. The line between preliminary design and bridging documents isn't always clear to me in practice, and the exam seems to test that distinction precisely.
I'm doing about 90 minutes a day and planning to sit in 5 weeks. Anyone who's been through it recently — how representative are the practice questions compared to the actual exam? I want to make sure I'm not drilling a format that doesn't match what shows up on test day.
I passed on my first attempt with a 74%. The procurement section was easy points for me too — qualifications-based selection, best value, request for proposals formats. Make sure you know the differences between all three delivery methods cold because comparison questions show up regularly.
The design management and risk allocation modules were hardest for me too. Particularly questions around GMP contracts and where design risk sits when you're doing a bridging approach. If you can get clear on that distinction you'll handle those questions much better.
5 weeks at 90 minutes a day is solid if you're coming in with real design-build experience. The exam rewards practical understanding over memorization. When I was unsure about an answer I'd think through what would best serve the integrated team and the owner's goals, and that framing got me through most of the gray-area questions.
The official DBIA practice exam is pretty representative of the real thing in terms of difficulty and question style. I found the actual exam slightly more scenario-based than the practice questions but the content areas were consistent. Don't neglect the project execution and team integration module — it's worth more weight than it looks.