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BICSI · Last updated November 2026

Technician (TECH): free practice test

TECH is BICSI's technician-level installation credential, covering complex copper and optical fiber systems, diagnostic testing, troubleshooting and field coordination. Candidates pass a 12-task hands-on exam first, then a 100-question written exam drawn from the ITSIMM, 8th edition. This prep covers only the written part.

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About the BICSI Technician (TECH) exam

TECH is BICSI's technician-level installation credential, covering complex copper and optical fiber systems, diagnostic testing, troubleshooting and field coordination. Candidates pass a 12-task hands-on exam first, then a 100-question written exam drawn from the ITSIMM, 8th edition. This prep covers only the written part.

What's on the exam

BICSI Technician (TECH)
Field Planning, Implementation and Design
8 key facts
Pathways and Spaces
8 key facts
Pulling Copper and Fiber Cable
8 key facts
Terminating and Splicing
8 key facts
Testing Copper and Fiber
8 key facts
Troubleshooting Copper and Fiber
8 key facts
Retrofits, Integration and Convergence
8 key facts
Codes and Standards
7 key facts

Each branch is a topic in the official outline. Members see every key fact on the full mind map. Read the free study guide →

How to pass the BICSI Technician (TECH) exam

  • Field planning and pathways are 20% each, 40% of the written exam together. Study outlets, sleeves, supports, bonding and firestop as hard as you study testing.
  • TECH is the one installation exam here that uses multiple response and enhanced matching items. Read each stem for how many answers it wants.
  • 100 questions in 2 hours is 72 seconds each. Calculate loss budgets and drawing scales on the whiteboard, then check the units before you answer.
  • You have one year from your first hands-on attempt to pass both parts, with a 30-day wait after each failed attempt and 90 days after a third, so book the written exam early.

Save your results and get your Readiness Score

Create a free account after the test: your score by topic, a mistakes bank, the complete study notes for the first topic, flashcards and the RCDD Numbers & Formulas Sheet.

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What's in the premium BICSI Technician (TECH) prep

Premium BICSI Technician (TECH) prep is studied one topic at a time. Each step starts with that topic's key notes and flashcard deck, then its own question sets of 25, so you master one topic before you move to the next. When every topic is strong, the 6 full mock exams show you're ready.

3,000practice questions, every answer explained
6full-length mock exams, 100 questions each, timed
800flashcards with spaced repetition, sorted by topic
60comprehensive key notes across 8 topics

Your step-by-step study path

  1. 1
    Field Planning, Implementation and Design8 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Notes free with an account
  2. 2
    Pathways and Spaces8 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  3. 3
    Pulling Copper and Fiber Cable8 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  4. 4
    Terminating and Splicing8 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  5. 5
    Testing Copper and Fiber7 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  6. 6
    Troubleshooting Copper and Fiber7 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  7. 7
    Retrofits, Integration and Convergence7 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  8. 8
    Codes and Standards7 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  9. Final step: 6 full mock exams100 questions each, timed like test day. Pass them, then book your exam.
    Premium
Free with an account

Read the complete BICSI Technician (TECH) study notes for “Field Planning, Implementation and Design”

Our first full set of comprehensive notes, about 14 minutes of reading: Copper and fiber properties · Surveys, drawings and job plans · Materials and inventory · Safety, labeling and closeout, a worked exam example, the traps examiners use and a one-minute recap. Create a free account to read it and see how premium notes work before you decide.

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Study tools included

3,000 practice questions

3,000 exam-style questions per exam, organized topic by topic in sets of 25. Every answer explained, with the rule it comes from.

6 full mock exams

6 full-length timed mock exams per exam, with real question counts and time limits, so test day feels like practice day.

Exam Readiness Score

One 0 to 100 number that tells you when you're ready to book. Reach 80 and you're covered by our Pass Guarantee.

800 flashcards + spaced repetition

800 flashcards per exam, in a deck for each topic, that come back right before you'd forget them. Five minutes a day keeps every number fresh.

60 comprehensive key notes

60 key notes per exam, split across its topics and each explained in full: the concepts, worked exam examples, the traps examiners use and a quick recap. Your first set is free with an account.

Mind maps

See the whole exam on one screen: every topic and the facts under it.

Sample questions with answers

These are the questions in the free test above, with answers. Try the test first. You'll learn more by getting some wrong.

1. On a floor plan drawn at 1/8 in. = 1 ft, a horizontal route measures 11 in. The job plan adds 10 ft of slack in the telecommunications room and 1 ft at the outlet. Ignoring vertical drops, how much cable should be budgeted for this run?
Answer: 99 ft. At 1/8 in. = 1 ft, each drawing inch is 8 ft, so 11 in. is 88 ft; adding 10 ft and 1 ft gives 99 ft. Using 1/4-in. scale gives only 44 ft of route, and leaving out either slack allowance under-orders the run. Convert the scale first, then add every allowance in the job plan.
2. A job plan calls for a 10GBASE-SR link over a 340 m multimode backbone. What is the lowest fiber grade that supports this reach?
Answer: OM4. IEEE 10GBASE-SR reaches 300 m on OM3 and 400 m on OM4, so 340 m needs OM4. OM2 reaches only 82 m and OM1 only 33 m. OM3 is the tempting choice because it is laser-optimized, but it stops at 300 m.
3. A project covers one building with one equipment room and telecommunications rooms on four floors, with no campus links. Which ANSI/TIA-606 administration class fits?
Answer: Class 2. Class 2 covers a single building served by multiple telecommunications spaces. Class 1 is a single space, Class 3 adds campus links and Class 4 covers multiple sites. Count the spaces and the buildings before choosing the labeling scheme.
4. A new riser sleeve must be cored through a post-tensioned concrete slab. What should happen before drilling starts?
Answer: Get structural approval and locate tendons by scanning the slab. Cutting a tendon in a post-tensioned slab is dangerous and weakens the structure, so the location needs approval from the structural engineer or owner, and the slab is scanned (for example by ground-penetrating radar). A pilot hole can already strike a tendon, and slow coring gives no protection. Approval and scanning come first.
5. A firestop system listed for a 2-hour wall was installed around a sleeve. Two weeks later, added cables take the fill beyond the amount the listing allows. What is the correct action?
Answer: Reinstall to a listed system that covers it, or get an accepted engineering judgment. A firestop system is only rated as tested, including cable type and fill, so a change outside the listing voids it. The fix is a listed system that matches the new conditions or an engineering judgment accepted by the AHJ. Adding material that is not part of the listing does not restore the rating.
6. A telecommunications bonding conductor must pass through a section of steel conduit. How should the installation be completed?
Answer: Bond the conductor to the conduit at both ends of the section. A conductor inside unbonded ferrous conduit sees a choke effect that raises its impedance during surges, so TIA-607 practice bonds the conduit to the conductor at both ends. Bonding at one end leaves the choke in place. Isolating the conduit makes the problem worse.
7. A 144-fiber backbone will run from the 12th floor to the basement in a vertical sleeve shaft, and the reel can be staged on the 12th floor. Which approach best protects the cable?
Answer: Pull from the top down with a controlled brake on the reel. Top-down pulling lets gravity do the work, so tension stays low if the reel is braked and the cable is secured as it descends. Bottom-up pulling has to lift the whole cable weight. A free-running reel loses control of speed and tension.
8. A long fiber pull will reach its tension limit before the far end, but there is a large mid-point pull box. What is the recommended method?
Answer: Pull to the mid-point, lay the remaining cable in a figure-8, then feed it on. Pulling the cable to an intermediate point cuts the tension, and a figure-8 lay lets the remaining length pay out without adding twist. Coiling in one direction builds twist that can damage fibers. A breakaway limit is set by the cable rating and is never raised to finish a pull.
9. An F/UTP Category 6A channel is being terminated with shielded jacks and panels. Which practice maintains the shield correctly?
Answer: Terminate the foil 360 degrees at each connector and bond the panel to the rack. A screened system needs continuous, low-impedance shielding: 360-degree shield termination at each connector and a bonded panel in the telecommunications room. Clipping the shield at the outlet leaves it unterminated. Floating shields can act as antennas and lose their noise benefit.
10. During a pre-polished mechanical connector termination, a visual fault locator shows a strong red glow at the connector after the cam is closed. What should the technician do?
Answer: Open it, re-cleave the fiber and re-terminate or replace the connector. A bright glow at the internal joint means light is escaping because the field fiber is not seated properly against the factory stub, usually a poor cleave. Re-cleaving and re-terminating is the fix. A pre-polished ferrule is not polished in the field, and gel at the end face does nothing for the internal joint.
11. While splicing a 100-pair copper cable, the technician needs pair 33. Where is it found?
Answer: Orange binder, red/green pair. Each binder holds 25 pairs: blue is 1 to 25, orange is 26 to 50. Pair 33 is position 8 in the orange binder, and positions 6 to 10 are the red group (blue, orange, green, brown, slate), so position 8 is red/green. Find the binder first, then the position within it.
12. After setting a one-jumper reference for a Tier 1 fiber test, a technician disconnects the reference cord from the light source to reach another port. What must be done next?
Answer: Reconnect the cord and set a new reference before more testing. The reference captures the source output through that exact connection, so breaking it at the source changes the baseline and makes later loss readings invalid. Set a new reference after reconnecting. A fixed correction cannot stand in for a measured reference.
13. An OTDR test shows a non-reflective event at 640 m with 0.10 dB loss at 1310 nm and 0.90 dB loss at 1550 nm. What is the most likely cause?
Answer: A tight bend or crushing force on the cable at that point. Bend-related loss rises sharply at longer wavelengths, so a non-reflective event much worse at 1550 nm than at 1310 nm points to macrobending. A mechanical splice or connector would normally show a reflection. Check the cable path at 640 m for tight bends, ties or crushing.
14. A passive optical network link has these allowances: 1x32 splitter 17.5 dB, three connector pairs at 0.75 dB each, two splices at 0.3 dB each and 2 km of singlemode fiber at 0.5 dB/km. If the available optical budget is 28 dB, how much margin remains?
Answer: 6.65 dB. Connectors are 3 x 0.75 = 2.25 dB, splices 2 x 0.3 = 0.6 dB and fiber 2 x 0.5 = 1.0 dB. With the 17.5 dB splitter the loss is 21.35 dB, so margin is 28 minus 21.35 = 6.65 dB. Leaving out splices gives 7.25 dB and leaving out connectors gives 8.90 dB. The splitter dominates, so include every small loss too.
15. During a retrofit, a technician finds accessible communications cables that are not terminated at either end and have no tag marking them for future use. Under the NEC, how should they be treated?
Answer: Treat them as abandoned and remove the accessible portion. The NEC treats accessible cable that is not terminated at equipment and not identified for future use as abandoned, and requires its removal because it adds fuel load. Recording it or cutting it back does not satisfy the rule. Tagging is only valid for cable actually reserved for reuse, and the local AHJ has the final say.

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BICSI Technician (TECH) exam FAQ

How many questions are on the BICSI Technician (TECH) exam?

100 written questions (multiple choice, multiple response and enhanced matching, 3 to 5 options each), after a separate 12-task hands-on exam, with a time limit of 2 hours for the written exam (no scheduled breaks; any break counts toward the time). hands-on exam: 20 minutes per task. Format: no personal items or references in the test room; a calculator and a whiteboard are provided. the real written exam mixes multiple choice, multiple response and enhanced matching; this practice uses 4-option single-best-answer items. this prep covers only the written part, and the hands-on exam must be passed first.

What is the passing score for BICSI Technician (TECH)?

Not published. BICSI sets the written passing score by standard setting (Angoff method) and reports pass or fail, with a section-level report if you fail. Aim for 75% or higher in practice (our suggestion, not a BICSI figure).

How much does the BICSI Technician (TECH) exam cost?

US$335 for BICSI members, US$400 for nonmembers (application incl. first hands-on and first written attempt); retest US$135 members, US$200 nonmembers per attempt. Walk-in hands-on options: contact BICSI Credentialing. BICSI fees can change without notice, so confirm on bicsi.org before you apply.

Which languages is the BICSI Technician (TECH) exam offered in?

Not stated in the 2026 TECH handbook; confirm with BICSI Credentialing.

Where do I take the BICSI Technician (TECH) exam?

Written exam: Pearson Professional Assessments (Pearson VUE) test centers. Hands-on exam: administered through BICSI, usually on the last day of TE350 Technician Training.

Is this BICSI Technician (TECH) practice test free?

Yes. The 15-question practice test on this page is free, with an explanation for every answer and no signup. A free account also unlocks the complete study notes for the first topic. The full BICSI Technician (TECH) prep is Premium at $147 a month for this exam.

What's in the premium BICSI Technician (TECH) prep?

3,000 practice questions organized topic by topic (Field Planning, Implementation and Design: 375; Pathways and Spaces: 375; Pulling Copper and Fiber Cable: 375; Terminating and Splicing: 375; Testing Copper and Fiber: 375; Troubleshooting Copper and Fiber: 375; Retrofits, Integration and Convergence: 375; Codes and Standards: 375), 6 full-length timed mock exams of 100 questions, 800 flashcards and 60 comprehensive key notes split across all 8 topics, plus a mistakes bank and the Readiness Score.

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Exam details are summarized from the official candidate information available in October 2026. BICSI changes formats and fees, so confirm with BICSI before you book. RCDDQuizBank is not affiliated with BICSI or Pearson VUE.

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