ICC FK Exam Day: 90 Seconds a Question Across Two Standards

Eighty questions in two hours is ninety seconds each. That is tighter than every exam in the ICC fire family except FE, and it changes what the open book is for.

With two standards rather than six, book selection is easy. Pace is the problem.

The format

Questions	80
Time	2 hours
Per question	90 seconds
Book policy	Open — you bring your own references
Pass mark	75%
Delivery	ICC PRONTO remote proctoring, or a Pearson VUE test centre

At ninety seconds, budget roughly 15–20 lookups across the whole paper. Everything else has to come from recall. A workable pacing rule is 20 questions per 30 minutes; if you are not at question 40 by the hour mark, start answering on judgement and flagging.

The two books split cleanly

If the question is about…	Open
Nozzles, detectors, actuators, cylinders, agent	NFPA 17A
Semi-annual maintenance, recharge, hydrostatic intervals	NFPA 17A
Installation of the suppression system	NFPA 17A (with 96)
Hood construction, duct, clearance, exhaust	NFPA 96
Appliance types and the hazard they present	NFPA 96

Roughly 70/30 in NFPA 17A's favour by weight. If you are unsure which book owns a question, ask whether it concerns the suppression system or the cooking environment it protects. That single distinction resolves nearly everything.

What has to be recall

At ninety seconds a question you cannot look up the recurring numbers. These need to be automatic:

• Semi-annual maintenance requirements and what each one includes
• Fusible link replacement intervals
• Hydrostatic test intervals for wet chemical cylinders
• Nozzle placement and coverage limits by appliance type
• Duct and plenum nozzle requirements
• Clearance to combustibles for hoods and ducts
• Recordkeeping and tagging requirements after service

Fifty-seven percent of this exam is maintenance, recharge and component requirements. If you are opening NFPA 17A for those, you are behind the clock.

What you may carry in

• References must be bound — original bound book, three-ring binder, or stapled.
• No photocopies of copyrighted material. With only two thin standards, there is no reason to risk this.
• Permanently attached tabs are allowed — ones that cannot be removed without damaging the page.
• Pre-existing highlighting and ink notes are fine. A service manual you have marked up over years is welcome.
• You may not write in your references during the exam. Scratch paper or an on-screen notepad is provided.

Confirm the approved reference list and edition years on the FK page in the ICC Exam Catalog before you pack.

Tab for the weighting

Domain	Weight	What to tab
Maintenance and Recharge	32%	17A inspection/maintenance/recharge chapter
General Component Requirements	25%	17A component chapter
Installations	13%	17A installation, 96 interface
Hazard Identification	10%	96 appliance/hazard content
Hoods and Exhaust Systems	10%	96 hood and duct requirements
Administration and Records	6%	17A/96 records
Inspection	4%	17A monthly inspection

Five or six tabs total. On a two-book exam, more tabs than that slows you down rather than speeding you up.

PRONTO or a test centre

With two slim standards, either works. PRONTO means your own desk and your own annotated books — you need a quiet room, a clear desk, a webcam and a stable connection, and the proctor will pan the room first. Pearson VUE removes technology risk and two books are easy to carry.

The usual argument for a test centre — too many books to transport — does not apply here, so pick on which environment you concentrate better in.

If you do not pass

Six attempts within a six-month period, fee payable each time. Exhaust all six and you wait six months from your first attempt.

The common FK failure is pace, not knowledge. If you knew the material but ran out of clock, drill the recurring intervals and placement limits until they are recall, then re-sit rather than re-reading.

Before you go

The full domain breakdown is here — note that nearly a third of the paper is service work. Our free 10-question practice test draws from the same weighted pool.