NPPE Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield NPPE facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Which of the following best states the elements that a plaintiff must prove in a negligence action against a professional engineer in Canada? → Duty of care, breach, causation, and damages
2. Which risk response strategy involves transferring a project risk to a third party, such as through insurance or a fixed-price contract? → Transfer
3. Which principle in risk management holds that it is better to prevent failures than to detect and correct them after they occur? → The prevention over detection principle (or 'prevention is better than cure')
4. Which of the following is an example of an activity that falls under the reserved "scope of practice" for professional engineering and requires a licence? → Designing the structural support system for a public observation deck.
5. What document does an expert witness typically prepare to summarize their findings and opinions before trial? → An expert report
6. For a contract to be legally enforceable in Canada, several essential elements must be present. Which of the following is a required element? → An intention by the parties to create a legal relationship.
7. Under which doctrine can a licensed professional engineer be held personally liable even when acting as an employee of a corporation? → Personal professional liability
8. Under Canadian provincial engineering acts, which body typically has jurisdiction to investigate complaints against licensed engineers? → The provincial engineering regulator's complaints or investigation committee
9. What is the standard of proof applied in professional engineering discipline hearings in Canada? → Balance of probabilities (civil standard)
10. Which remedy is available to a provincial engineering regulator if an individual is continuing to practise engineering unlawfully despite warnings? → An injunction from the superior court to restrain unlicensed practice
11. Which of the following best describes 'adjudication' as a dispute resolution method in construction engineering contracts? → A rapid, interim binding decision by a neutral adjudicator, allowing work to continue
12. What abilities do mediators possess that arbitrators do not? → Meet with each party separately to talk about the disagreement
13. A Canadian engineering firm uses a confidential process that gives it a competitive advantage. The firm has not patented it. Which IP protection is available? → Trade secret protection, which requires reasonable efforts to maintain confidentiality
14. In a qualitative risk assessment for an engineering project, risks are typically evaluated based on which two dimensions? → Probability of occurrence and severity of impact
15. Risky/Utility Analysis: What Is It? → Aims to ascertain whether the product's usefulness justifies its predicted hazards.
16. Which Canadian legislation governs international commercial arbitration and is modeled on the UNCITRAL Model Law? → The Commercial Arbitration Act (federal)
17. What is the Competition Act's common conviction? → Misleading advertising
18. Which principle underlies the prohibition against an engineer practising in an area outside their competence? → The duty to maintain and apply competence for the protection of the public
19. Which contract delivery model transfers the greatest design and construction risk to a single entity? → Design-build
20. An engineering consulting firm delivers design drawings to a client. Who owns the copyright in those drawings, absent any contract provision? → The engineering firm, as the author of the drawings
21. A professional engineer is retained by a law firm as an expert witness in a complex product liability case. What is the engineer's primary duty in this role? → To provide a fair, objective, and non-partisan opinion to the court.
22. What is the primary duty of an engineer acting as an expert witness in a legal proceeding? → To provide independent, objective opinion to the court
23. Which of the following sanctions can a provincial engineering discipline committee impose after finding a member guilty of professional misconduct? → Revocation, suspension, conditions on the licence, reprimand, and/or fine
24. Which contractual remedy is most appropriate when monetary damages are inadequate to compensate for a breach of contract involving unique property or services? → Specific performance
25. Under Canadian contract law, which of the following is required for a contract modification to be binding? → Mutual consent and consideration, or execution under seal
26. Under the Canadian law of torts, which remedy is specifically designed to prevent future wrongful conduct rather than to compensate for past harm? → Injunction
27. Under the CCDC 2 Stipulated Price Contract, which party bears the risk of unforeseen subsurface conditions that materially differ from the contract documents? → The owner, with the contractor entitled to a change order for extra costs and time
28. What is the primary and overarching purpose of the disciplinary process conducted by a professional engineering or geoscience association? → To protect the public from unskilled practice and professional misconduct.
29. Which of the following engineering outputs is protected by copyright in Canada? → Technical drawings and engineering reports prepared by an engineer
30. Under Canadian tort law, which type of liability does not require proof of negligence or fault? → Strict liability