In the RP 1169 escalation sequence for a recurring spec violation, which step comes immediately before stop work?

Issuing a request for information

Verbal discussion with the foreman

Verbal warning with notification

The contractor's coating-thickness gauge has a calibration sticker that expired last month. The inspector should:

Reject its readings until recalibrated

Correct its readings using a spare gauge

Allow its use until the end of the week

Accept readings if they look reasonable

A tie-in requires torch-cutting an old pipe whose coating contains lead, and no exposure assessment has been done. According to OSHA, the employer must:

Provide interim respirators and protection

Allow cutting until air sampling shows exposure

Skip protection outdoors, where fumes disperse

Require protection only if workers feel symptoms

According to OSHA, a protective system for an excavation more than 20 ft deep must be:

Approved by the competent person

Sloped at 1½H:1V in all soil types

Selected from the Appendix B slope tables

An inspector whose experience is only in welding is assigned to monitor an HDD crossing. Before starting, the inspector should:

Tell the chief inspector about the gap

Rely on the drilling contractor's guidance

Decline the assignment and leave the site

Monitor it and learn on the job quietly

Who is responsible for deciding whether a nonconforming item is used as is, repaired or rejected?

The owner's designated engineer

The inspector who wrote the NCR

The contractor's quality control manager

The supplier that furnished the item

Three joints in a delivery have illegible heat numbers and cannot be matched to an MTR. The inspector should:

Mark and segregate them until identified

Accept them since the grade stencil is legible

Have them re-stenciled from adjacent joints

Install them in a low-pressure segment

Owner-furnished pipe stored at the contractor's yard is found with damaged coating. Under API Q1 control of customer-supplied property, the contractor must:

Report it to the owner and keep a record

Repair it and use it without telling the owner

Return it to the pipe mill for replacement

Record it only if the damage is severe

The contractor asks the inspector to approve a field-joint coating product other than the one specified. The inspector should:

Forward the request to the owner's engineer

Approve a trial on a few joints first

Approve it if the data sheet looks equivalent

Reject it as a permanent project decision

After corrective action for a non-conformance is implemented, API Q1 requires the organization to:

Verify the action was effective

Notify the regulator of the change

Close the NCR on implementation

Repeat the correction on each item

According to OSHA, after lockout devices are applied and before work begins, the authorized employee must:

Verify the equipment is isolated

Notify the equipment's manufacturer

Add a tag to each lockout device

Wait for the next shift to begin

According to INGAA CS-S-9, the relief valve on a hydrostatic test manifold should be set:

Just above the maximum test pressure

At 125% of the maximum test pressure

A welder switches to a filler metal from a different group than the qualified procedure lists. Under API 1104, this:

Requires a requalified procedure

Is acceptable if noted in the daily report

Is acceptable if the new rod is stronger

During lowering-in, who normally performs the holiday (jeep) test of the pipe coating?

The contractor's qualified operator

The coating manufacturer's representative

The owner company's coating inspector

The cathodic protection engineer

Pipe strung at a road crossing is stenciled with a lighter wall thickness than the alignment sheet requires there. The inspector should:

Hold installation; notify the chief inspector

Allow it and note it on the as-built redlines

Allow it if its grade is higher than specified

Allow it once the contractor signs a waiver

A laborer is badly cut by a falling skid while the inspector is nearby. What should the inspector do FIRST?

Make sure first aid and help are summoned

Notify the chief inspector by phone

Stop all work on the spread until investigated

Photograph the scene for the incident report

Where topsoil is stripped by the 'ditch and spoil' method, which part of the ROW keeps its topsoil in place?

No part; the full ROW is stripped

A landowner insists the staked ROW edge is on the wrong side of the property line. What should the inspector do?

Refer it to the land agent through supervision

Negotiate a temporary work area with the owner

Have the surveyors move the stakes to the owner's line

Tell the landowner the stakes are final

A clearing crew reaches wet ground with wetland vegetation that is not flagged or shown on the drawings. What should the inspector do?

Hold clearing and alert the environmental inspector

Clear it with wetland methods without reporting

Flag it themselves and continue at a 50-ft offset

Clear it as upland because it is not on the drawings

Radiography shows a crack 3% of the weld length in a gas girth weld. According to 49 CFR 192, how may it be handled?

Repaired under a qualified weld repair procedure

Repaired by any qualified welder without a procedure

Accepted, since it is below the 8% cut-out limit

It must be cut out, since any crack is rejectable

According to 49 CFR 195, outside the locations requiring 100%, what minimum NDT sampling applies to girth welds?

10% of each welder's welds each day

5% of each welder's welds each week

10% of all welds in each Class 1 area

15% of each day's welds in Class 2 areas

Which observation on a completed heat-shrink sleeve should the inspector reject?

Wrinkles and voids near the weld cap

Overlap onto mainline coating per spec

Sleeve conforming tightly to the weld cap

Adhesive bead showing at both edges

On gas pipe to operate at 20% SMYS or more, a shallow dent is found that contains a gouge. According to 49 CFR 192, what applies?

It must be removed regardless of depth

It may stay if under 2% of the OD

It may stay if the gouge is ground out

It may stay if under ¼ in deep

The drawings call for rock shield in a rocky ditch, but the backfill crew is ready to push native rock onto bare coated pipe. What should the inspector do?

Hold backfill until rock shield is in place

Allow backfill and note it on the as-builts

Allow backfill if the rocks are pushed slowly

Allow backfill, then holiday test the pipe

A section is ready to lower in, but two repaired girth welds still await NDT results and field-joint coating. What should the inspector do?

Hold it until both pass and are coated

Lower it if the welders sign for the repairs

Lower it and coat the joints in the ditch

Lower it and bell-hole those welds later

Unfissured clay beside a busy highway tests at 2.0 tsf unconfined compressive strength. According to OSHA, how is it classified?

Type B, due to traffic vibration

Type A, since it exceeds 1.5 tsf

Type A, as vibration affects only sand

Type C, since it lies beside a road

During lowering-in, a laborer steps into the ditch under the suspended pipe to guide it. What should the inspector do?

Stop the lift; get the worker out

Allow it if the worker wears a hard hat

Note it for the next safety meeting

Tell the worker to keep clear of slings

Drill

Free API 1169 practice test

This free API 1169 practice test is 60 written practice questions in the exam's style, grouped by the five Body of Knowledge categories, and every pick opens the verdict plus a note on each of the four options. The exam itself is 115 multiple-choice questions, of which 100 are scored and 15 are unscored pretest items, and it reports a scaled score from 200 to 500, with 400 needed to pass; the raw cut can differ between exam forms. Use your run here to find the categories that cost you points, not to predict that number.

Built on the API 1169 Body of Knowledge and effectivity sheet API publishes · checked October 2026

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Sixty questions, five categories

API's Body of Knowledge names five main categories: inspection and management knowledge areas, front-end construction, installation construction, back-end construction and post-construction; at least one question comes from each, and API publishes no weights. The feed below spreads its 60 questions across all five in rough proportion to our estimate of each category's share, so the first category is the longest group and post-construction the shortest. Use the chips to drill one category, or run the whole set top to bottom.

0 of 60 answered · 0 right

Cat 10/0
Cat 20/0
Cat 30/0
Cat 40/0
Cat 50/0

Press × to strike an answer you have ruled out, then pick from what is left. Keys: A–D or 1–4 pick, Shift+1–4 strikes. The verdict, the reasoning and a note on every option open in place.

Category 1 · Inspection & management23 questions

Q 01Cat 1 · Inspection & management
In the RP 1169 escalation sequence for a recurring spec violation, which step comes immediately before stop work?
Q 02Cat 1 · Inspection & management
The contractor's coating-thickness gauge has a calibration sticker that expired last month. The inspector should:
Q 03Cat 1 · Inspection & management
A tie-in requires torch-cutting an old pipe whose coating contains lead, and no exposure assessment has been done. According to OSHA, the employer must:
Q 04Cat 1 · Inspection & management
According to OSHA, a protective system for an excavation more than 20 ft deep must be:
Q 05Cat 1 · Inspection & management
An inspector whose experience is only in welding is assigned to monitor an HDD crossing. Before starting, the inspector should:
Q 06Cat 1 · Inspection & management
The same coating crew has been cited three times this week for surface profile below specification. This is BEST classified as a:
Q 07Cat 1 · Inspection & management
Who is responsible for deciding whether a nonconforming item is used as is, repaired or rejected?
Q 08Cat 1 · Inspection & management
Three joints in a delivery have illegible heat numbers and cannot be matched to an MTR. The inspector should:
Q 09Cat 1 · Inspection & management
Owner-furnished pipe stored at the contractor's yard is found with damaged coating. Under API Q1 control of customer-supplied property, the contractor must:
Q 10Cat 1 · Inspection & management
When reviewing a mill test report, which data confirm that the pipe meets its specified grade (e.g., X65)?
Q 11Cat 1 · Inspection & management
The contractor asks the inspector to approve a field-joint coating product other than the one specified. The inspector should:
Q 12Cat 1 · Inspection & management
After corrective action for a non-conformance is implemented, API Q1 requires the organization to:
Q 13Cat 1 · Inspection & management
According to INGAA CS-S-9, the minimum exclusion zone around a hydrostatic test is:
Q 14Cat 1 · Inspection & management
According to OSHA, after lockout devices are applied and before work begins, the authorized employee must:
Q 15Cat 1 · Inspection & management
Under OSHA's permit-required confined space rule, an oxygen concentration above ___ is a hazardous atmosphere.
Q 16Cat 1 · Inspection & management
According to OSHA's general-industry sling standard (1910.184), a wire rope sling must be removed from service when one rope lay has ___ randomly distributed broken wires.
Q 17Cat 1 · Inspection & management
If soil has not been classified by a competent person, OSHA allows sloping no steeper than:
Q 18Cat 1 · Inspection & management
According to INGAA CS-S-9, the relief valve on a hydrostatic test manifold should be set:
Q 19Cat 1 · Inspection & management
Under the FERC Procedures, at an open-cut crossing, waterbody banks must be stabilized and sediment barriers installed within ___ of completing in-stream work.
Q 20Cat 1 · Inspection & management
A welder switches to a filler metal from a different group than the qualified procedure lists. Under API 1104, this:
Q 21Cat 1 · Inspection & management
During lowering-in, who normally performs the holiday (jeep) test of the pipe coating?
Q 22Cat 1 · Inspection & management
Pipe strung at a road crossing is stenciled with a lighter wall thickness than the alignment sheet requires there. The inspector should:
Q 23Cat 1 · Inspection & management
A laborer is badly cut by a falling skid while the inspector is nearby. What should the inspector do FIRST?

Category 2 · Front-end construction6 questions

Q 24Cat 2 · Front-end construction
Pipe is to be strung from station 20+00 to station 32+40 using nominal 40-ft joints. About how many joints are needed?
Q 25Cat 2 · Front-end construction
Where topsoil is stripped by the 'ditch and spoil' method, which part of the ROW keeps its topsoil in place?
Q 26Cat 2 · Front-end construction
A landowner insists the staked ROW edge is on the wrong side of the property line. What should the inspector do?
Q 27Cat 2 · Front-end construction
A clearing crew reaches wet ground with wetland vegetation that is not flagged or shown on the drawings. What should the inspector do?
Q 28Cat 2 · Front-end construction
Where a new loop line is built through a wetland beside an existing pipeline, how far from it may the loop be under the FERC Procedures?
Q 29Cat 2 · Front-end construction
Grade rock must be blasted near homes on the route. Which record must the inspector confirm is completed before the first shot?

Category 3 · Installation construction17 questions

Q 30Cat 3 · Installation construction
According to 49 CFR 192, what share of each day's girth welds must be nondestructively tested in a Class 3 location, unless impracticable?
Q 31Cat 3 · Installation construction
At fit-up of two pipe ends of the same nominal wall thickness, API 1104 says the high-low offset should normally not exceed:
Q 32Cat 3 · Installation construction
Radiography shows a crack 3% of the weld length in a gas girth weld. According to 49 CFR 192, how may it be handled?
Q 33Cat 3 · Installation construction
According to 49 CFR 195, outside the locations requiring 100%, what minimum NDT sampling applies to girth welds?
Q 34Cat 3 · Installation construction
Under API 1104 §9, an accumulation of imperfections is unacceptable when it exceeds 8% of the weld length or, in any continuous 12 in of weld:
Q 35Cat 3 · Installation construction
Under API 1104, before an external line-up clamp is removed, root bead segments must total at least what share of the circumference?
Q 36Cat 3 · Installation construction
Under 49 CFR 192, a welder may not weld with a process unless they have welded with it within the preceding:
Q 37Cat 3 · Installation construction
Which observation on a completed heat-shrink sleeve should the inspector reject?
Q 38Cat 3 · Installation construction
On gas pipe to operate at 20% SMYS or more, a shallow dent is found that contains a gouge. According to 49 CFR 192, what applies?
Q 39Cat 3 · Installation construction
According to 49 CFR 192, what is the maximum miter deflection for pipe operating above 10% but below 30% of SMYS?
Q 40Cat 3 · Installation construction
The drawings call for rock shield in a rocky ditch, but the backfill crew is ready to push native rock onto bare coated pipe. What should the inspector do?
Q 41Cat 3 · Installation construction
A section is ready to lower in, but two repaired girth welds still await NDT results and field-joint coating. What should the inspector do?
Q 42Cat 3 · Installation construction
According to OSHA, how far below the bottom of a trench shield may the excavation extend, if the shield is rated for the full depth?
Q 43Cat 3 · Installation construction
Unfissured clay beside a busy highway tests at 2.0 tsf unconfined compressive strength. According to OSHA, how is it classified?
Q 44Cat 3 · Installation construction
During lowering-in, a laborer steps into the ditch under the suspended pipe to guide it. What should the inspector do?
Q 45Cat 3 · Installation construction
Under the FERC Wetland and Waterbody Procedures, concrete coating activities must be kept at least how far from a wetland boundary?
Q 46Cat 3 · Installation construction
Under the FERC Wetland and Waterbody Procedures, an intermediate waterbody is one whose width at the crossing is:

Category 4 · Back-end construction10 questions

Q 47Cat 4 · Back-end construction
According to 49 CFR 192, a Class 1 steel line installed in 2026 is hydrotested to 1,500 psig. What is the highest MAOP the test supports?
Q 48Cat 4 · Back-end construction
In a water-filled test section, the low point is 230 ft below the high point. About how much higher is the pressure at the low point?
Q 49Cat 4 · Back-end construction
Overnight the hydrotest pressure falls steadily as the ground and test water cool, and no leak is found. What should the inspector do?
Q 50Cat 4 · Back-end construction
Where are CP test stations installed on a new pipeline?
Q 51Cat 4 · Back-end construction
Why is a new natural gas pipeline dried after hydrostatic testing and dewatering?
Q 52Cat 4 · Back-end construction
Per INGAA CS-S-9, how is the exclusion zone for a pneumatic (air or nitrogen) pressure test determined?
Q 53Cat 4 · Back-end construction
Per INGAA CS-S-9, a flexible hose assembly used in the test set-up must be:
Q 54Cat 4 · Back-end construction
After a hydrostatic test failure has been repaired, what is required before the section is accepted?
Q 55Cat 4 · Back-end construction
How is the end of a pipeline drying operation normally confirmed?
Q 56Cat 4 · Back-end construction
A test section contains both standard-wall and heavy-wall pipe. What governs the gauging plate diameter?

Category 5 · Post-construction4 questions

Q 57Cat 5 · Post-construction
Who formally accepts the completed work from the construction contractor?
Q 58Cat 5 · Post-construction
On the punch walk, the inspector notes four items. Which needs action FIRST?
Q 59Cat 5 · Post-construction
At line list close-out, a tree the line list required to be protected has died from root damage. What should the inspector do?
Q 60Cat 5 · Post-construction
At close-out, the as-built crew is found marking up an alignment sheet revision that was superseded months ago. Which API Q1 control has failed?

How to work each question

Every item in the feed has four options and one key. The fastest route to it starts with the options, because they tell you which document the question lives in before the stem does. That matters more on API 1169 than on most exams: the regulations you are allowed to consult appear as on-screen PDFs you cannot search, so you want to know whether to open one before you spend time scrolling.

Name the document from the options
Four depths in inches or four test durations in hours point to a CFR part you can open on screen. Four actions an inspector might take point to RP 1169, which you carry in your head. Decide which kind you are looking at first.
Strike on scope, not on feel
Cross out anything from the wrong part (a liquid rule from 195 on a gas question), the wrong party (the contractor performing, the inspector directing) or the wrong phase. Press × in the feed to strike; the struck option stays visible so you can check yourself.
Split the last pair on one difference
The two survivors usually share most of their words or sit one step apart on the same scale. Find the single word or number that breaks one of them and pick the other.
Read every note, not only the verdict
The note on the option you nearly picked is the lesson. If you got the item right by guessing between two, mark it wrong in your own count.

Method

Format

How the practice test compares with the exam

The feed copies the exam where copying helps you, the four-option format and the five-way split, and departs from it where a practice tool should: no clock, and an explanation after every pick. Format facts come from API 1169 Body of Knowledge (PDF) and API ICP: scheduling exams.

Exam format against the practice feed
What	API 1169 exam	This practice test
Questions	115 multiple-choice questions	60, grouped by category, every one counted
Time	3 hours	Untimed: take as long as the notes need
Item format	Mostly single-answer multiple choice; API says alternative item types (drag-and-drop, ordered response, multiple response, matching) are being introduced gradually across its certification exams	Four options, one answer
References	Closed book (no personal notes or books), with the listed parts of 49 CFR 192 and 195, 29 CFR 1910 and 1926, 50 CFR 21 Subpart B and the FERC Wetland and Waterbody Procedures (May 2013), or the Canadian equivalents, shown as on-screen PDFs without Ctrl+F search; a calculator and scratch paper are provided	Explanations name the clause; open it yourself to practise finding it
Scoring	A scaled score from 200 to 500, with 400 needed to pass	Right out of answered, per category
Where	In person, on computer, at a Prometric test center; API 1169 is not offered with remote proctoring	This page, in any browser, or the app

API 1169 exam questions by category

Each category tests a different kind of reasoning, and the distractors follow from it. The table pairs our estimated share of the exam with what the questions in that category turn on. API publishes no weights, so the share column is an estimate built from the Body of Knowledge, not API's figure.

1. Inspection & management35–45%
2. Front-end construction8–12%
3. Installation construction25–36%
4. Back-end construction15–22%
5. Post-construction3–10%

Estimated share of the exam, not API's weighting: API publishes no category weights. Track runs 0–50%; the tick is the midpoint.

Our estimated shares and the question pattern in each category
Category	Est. share	In this feed	What the questions turn on	Go deeper
1. Inspection & management	35⁠–⁠45%	23	Who does what. The right option uses an inspector's verb (verify, witness, document, escalate); the distractors have you perform the work, direct the crew or approve money. Items worded according to OSHA are answered from 29 CFR 1910/1926 on screen.	Depth guide
2. Front-end construction	8⁠–⁠12%	6	Locating and staking numbers that sit close together, and landowner or permit conflicts where the convenient fix is the wrong answer and the right one routes the problem up.	Study guide
3. Installation construction	25⁠–⁠36%	17	Gas against liquid. 49 CFR 192 and 195 set different NDT shares, bend rules and cover depths, and the distractor is often the right value from the other part.	Depth guide
4. Back-end construction	15⁠–⁠22%	10	Hydrotest holds, CS-S-9 exclusion zones and drying or gauging checks. The contractor runs the test; the inspector witnesses it, checks calibration and records it.	Study guide
5. Post-construction	3⁠–⁠10%	4	Order and ownership at close-out: which punch item comes first, which drawing revision is current, who accepts the finished work.	Study guide

Categories 1 and 3 have their own depth pages: safety, quality and environmental inspection and welding, coating and installation, each with a further 12 questions not repeated here. The other three are covered on the API 1169 study guide for now.

5 cats

Score

Reading your score

The exam reports a scaled score from 200 to 500, with 400 needed to pass. No percentage here converts to that 400, and nobody outside API can tell you what raw count passes a given form. 15 of the 115 exam questions are unscored pretest items you cannot pick out, which is one more reason a raw count does not translate. What the tally can tell you is where the points leak.

Turning the per-category tally into a plan
What you see	What it means	Next move
Wrong answers cluster in one category	A content gap, not a method gap	Chip that category, read every note, then the depth guide or study guide
You keep picking the near-miss number	You know the topic but not the rule's exact value	Find each cited clause in the CFR yourself and note the neighbouring values
You pick the contractor's job	Role confusion, the most common category 1 slip	Reread the notes on role questions; the inspector verifies and reports
Restart and almost everything is right	You have learned these 60 items	Move to fresh questions: the depth pages or the app's bank

Name the rule the stem asks about first; after that the four numbers stop looking alike.

Practice test, flashcards or a PDF

Flashcard sets, Quizlet's included, drill a term against its definition. That helps with vocabulary such as deficiency against non-conformance, but the exam never shows you a term and asks for its card: it shows four options that share most of their words. A PDF of sample questions with an answer key gives you the letter and nothing on why the other three fail, which is the part that transfers to a question you have not seen.

Use flashcards for the numbers you keep missing, and use this feed to practise the striking. If you want the exam's logistics before you book, the API 1169 exam page covers format and references, and exam dates and fees has the testing windows. Everything else on the site starts from the Spreadcheck home page.

Before you move on

Read the options before the stem and name the document they come from.
Strike the wrong part (192 against 195), the wrong party and the wrong phase first.
A guess between two that lands right still goes in your notes as a miss.
The share figures are estimates: API publishes no category weights.

Compare

FAQ

Practice test questions people ask

Is there a free API 1169 practice test?

Yes, this page: 60 practice questions across all five Body of Knowledge categories, with a verdict and a note on every option, free in your browser. The inspection and management and installation construction guides carry 12 more questions each.

Are these real API 1169 exam questions?

No. API does not release exam questions. These are practice questions we wrote and checked against the references on API's effectivity sheet, in the exam's four-option style.

What does API 1169 cover?

Five main categories: inspection and management knowledge areas, front-end construction, installation construction, back-end construction and post-construction; at least one question comes from each, and API publishes no weights. The study guide lays out the sub-topics in each.

Does a high score on this practice test mean I will pass API 1169?

No score here converts to the exam's 400: API scales each form, and 15 unscored pretest items sit among the ones that count. Read the tally by category instead. Where your misses cluster is where the study time goes.

How often should I run the practice test?

Run it once cold, work through the notes, then run it again about a week later. When a restart comes back almost all right, you have learned these 60 items: move to the 12 on each depth page or to the app's larger bank.

End of the spread: run the feed again in a week

END