Based on the Red Seal Roofer exam blueprint: safety, tools, roof and deck preparation, low slope and steep slope roofing, waterproofing and repairs
Practice on the go and jump straight back to where you left off.
About the certification
In Ontario, Roofer is a non-compulsory trade administered by Skilled Trades Ontario. The apprenticeship is 4,000 hours: 3,520 on the job and 480 in school. Across Canada it is the Red Seal trade Roofer, so passing the Certificate of Qualification exam also earns the interprovincial Red Seal endorsement.
The Red Seal exam has 125 multiple-choice questions in 6 blocks: common occupational skills (23 questions), prepares roof and deck (18), installs low slope roofing (38), installs steep slope roofing (17), waterproofs and damp-proofs surfaces (12) and assesses, maintains and repairs roof (17). Applying low slope membranes is the heaviest task with 20 questions. Between 60 and 70% of the questions test procedural knowledge and application, 15 to 25% knowledge and recall, and 10 to 20% critical thinking. The Red Seal self-assessment guide gives the pass mark as 70%.
ExamHub's free 449A practice quiz has 190 original questions weighted to the real exam blocks and tasks, with an explanation and a source for every answer. Safety questions use Ontario's Construction Projects regulation (O. Reg. 213/91) and the Ontario Building Code (O. Reg. 332/12), with the Red Seal Roofer standard as the blueprint.
What's covered
Categories group the 17 Red Seal exam tasks, weighted like the real exam.
Try a few
Five sample questions from the question bank, with the answer and explanation.
Why: When a guardrail is not practicable, s. 26.1(2) requires the highest ranked practicable method: travel restraint first, then fall restricting, then fall arrest, then a safety net. Travel restraint keeps the worker from reaching the edge at all, so a fall never starts.
Why: Counterweights must be suitable for the purpose, must not be roofing or other construction material, must be securely attached, and must give a safety factor against overturning of not less than three. Each wrong option breaks one of those conditions.
Why: CRCA Vol. 43a says asphalt should be as hot as safely possible in winter, but in no case should the maximum temperature exceed the bitumen's flash point, where vapours can ignite. The softening point is far lower than normal mopping temperature.
Why: OBC 9.26.7.4(1) calls for at least four nails or staples per 1 000 mm shingle, but 9.26.7.4(2) raises this to at least six when staples with an 11 mm crown are used.
Why: Section 207 requires a barrier in the immediate work area at least two metres from the perimeter when a built-up roof is constructed, repaired or resurfaced. It must be portable weighted posts supporting a taut chain, cable or rope 1.1 m above the roof.
FAQ
The Red Seal Roofer exam has 125 multiple-choice questions. ExamHub's bank has 190 questions, and Test Mode draws a 125-question timed simulation.
The Red Seal self-assessment guide for this trade gives the pass mark as 70%. The Red Seal exam page does not state a time limit, and ExamHub's Test Mode allows up to 4 hours.
6 blocks: common occupational skills (23 questions), prepares roof and deck (18), installs low slope roofing (38), installs steep slope roofing (17), waterproofs and damp-proofs surfaces (12), and assesses, maintains and repairs roof (17). Applying low slope membranes is the heaviest task with 20 questions.
No. Roofer is a non-compulsory trade in Ontario. Skilled Trades Ontario issues the Certificate of Qualification when the exam is passed, and the trade is part of the Red Seal program.
No. These are original practice questions written from the Red Seal standard and free public sources. They are not copies of exam questions.