CTQP (FDOT-Construction Training Qualification Program)

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On this page you will find all the details about the CTQP Qualification that we offer you at Encobridge. The CTQP (acronym for Construction Training Qualification Program) of the FDOT (Florida Department of Transportation) is an important part of the qualification that the department requires for all the personnel involved in the construction, supervision, inspection, and verification of its construction and infrastructure projects and contracts. The importance of the CTQP lies in providing the training and resources to develop and maintain the level of qualification of all contractors, inspectors, and engineers involved in FDOT road and structure projects within the state of Florida.

What are the CTQP courses that Encobridge offers?

Theory needs practice to be completed. That's why Encobridge devotes great resources to offering you various CTQP training courses , some of which require a proficiency exam in addition to the written exam. Here is a numbered list with some of Encobridge's main courses to obtain the CTQP . Later, we will see other details about the courses.

Encobridge offers a variety of personalized and comprehensive training, which is based on solid knowledge about the best practices for the construction of infrastructure projects. Encobridge training services fall into three categories:

  • Continuing Education (State of Florida and Miami Dade County)
  • Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT-CTQP and MOT)
  • Engineering construction training.
04 Workers applying new road markings outside the city_CTQP Certification FDOT-Construction Training Qualification Program

If you need more information about Encobridge courses, you can send us an inquiry form or phone our Encobridge center during business hours, Monday to Friday between 9 am and 5 pm.

Encobridge offers a wide range of courses to achieve the CTQP . Encobridge Inc. is an authorized provider of the Florida Department of Transportation Construction Training Qualification Program. Choose Encobridge for your CTQP Qualification . 

One of the main objectives of Encobridge is to offer a wide variety of solutions to close the so-called “skills gap”. In other words: We work to train and graduate technical personnel and professionals and thus help to meet the growing demand for qualified personnel in the construction and infrastructure industries. That is why the FDOT-CTQP Qualification is one of the main components of our training plan.

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What is the purpose of CTQP Qualification ?

For the efficiency and safety of the transportation infrastructure in Florida, it is advisable to systematize construction standards, the use of materials, the inspection of structures, and quality management, as well as to train personnel for all of this. That is why construction engineering and material inspection and testing firms are required to maintain a cadre of highly qualified inspectors, engineers, and professionals on active projects with the Florida Department of Transportation. Currently, there are several inspection programs related to construction, which are qualified by said department within the CTQP. These programs are:

  • Aggregates
  • Asphalt
  • Concrete
  • Earth movements
  • Geotechnics
  • quality management
  • Structure inspection
  • final estimates

Thus, the objective of the CTQP is to train technical and professional personnel within the programs that we have just listed, so that the high demand for qualified personnel for the Department's projects can be met. The CTQP stands as a regulation that centrally regulates training within these areas and, at the same time, allows companies that meet certain requirements to become authorized providers and instructors of this central regulation.

How to apply for a qualification

On the respective pages of the courses that Encobridge offers you, there is a section dedicated to clarifying the requirements that are required to opt for the course in question. If you meet those requirements, you will be able to take the course. To start registering for a course for the date and city that you choose from the availability that we offer in the Encobridge calendar, the only personal information that you will have to provide will be your full name and an email address. You will then need to fill out a form that is available on the FDOT website.

03 Registration form to take a CTPQ certification course at Encobridge_CTQP Certification FDOT-Construction Training Qualification Program

Where to find CTQP Course Calendar

When entering the page of each course, by default you will not find the calendar visible. In order for the calendar to display, you must choose a city from the dropdown menu. When you have chosen the city, more detailed information about the course will be displayed. At that moment, the calendar will be displayed, in which you can choose different availability of city, month, day, and week for that course. By hovering over the calendar, you will get other details, such as the availability of the course in terms of capacity, and a map with the geolocation of the course.

05 CTQP Course Calendar on Encobridge product page_CTQP Certification FDOT-Construction Training Qualification Program

As we said above, to register for the course for the date and city you have chosen, at first, the only personal information you will have to provide will be your full name and an email address. Later, you will also have to meet certain prerequisites to opt for each course, or certain requirements to become certified.

What are the qualification requirements?

As we have said, Encobridge offers you multiple courses to achieve the CTQP . Each of these courses has different qualification requirements. In this section, we will give you a list of the qualification requirements that each course asks for. For more details, you can use the links that are in the names of the courses in the numbered list that we provided a few paragraphs back, and go to the page of each one of them. Towards the end of each of the pages you will find a section or tab called "Description", where you can consult both the prerequisites to taking the course as well as the requirements that you must meet specifically to obtain the CTQP Qualification that this course grants.

Normally, the qualification requirements for the exam may consist of having already passed certain courses, or having passed some exams or previous levels of that same course, or having a certain amount of time of experience in some labor sector related to the subject of the course, etc.

Qualification requirements for each course

1) Asphalt Paving level 1

  1. Pass written exam
  2. Pass proficiency exam

2) Asphalt Paving level 2

  1. Pass written exam
  2. Possess an active Asphalt Paving level 1 at time of taking exam
  3. 90 days of experience in asphalt paving work.

3) Asphalt Plant level 1

  1. Pass written exam
  2. Pass proficiency exam

4) Asphalt Plant level 2

  1. Pass written exam
  2. Possess an active Asphalt Plant level 1 at time of taking exam
  3. 90 days of asphalt plant work experience.

5) Asphalt Mix Designer

  1. Pass written exam
  2. Possess an active Asphalt Plant level 1 at the time of taking exam
  3. 90 days of asphalt plant work experience.

6) Concrete Field Technician level 1

  1. ACI certification – Concrete Field Testing Tech grade 1
  2. Pass FDOT Concrete Field Inspector Specification written exam.

7) Concrete Batch Plant Operator

  1. Pass Concrete Batch Plant Operator written exam.
  2. 90 days of batch plant work experience.

8) Earthwork Construction Inspection level 1

  1. Pass ECI level 1 written exam.
  2. Pass ECI level 1 proficiency exam.
  3. Possess valid Nuclear Radiation Safety Certificate

9) Earthwork Construction Inspection level 2

  1. Possess ECI level 1 qualification
  2. Pass ECI level 2 written exam.
  3. 30 days earthwork experience

10) Pile Driving Inspection

  1. Pass PDI written exam
  2. Obtain onsite experience (CTQM section 6.4.1).

11) Drilled Shaft Inspection

  1. Pass DSI written exam
  2. Pass DSI proficiency exam
  3. Obtain onsite experience (CTQM section 6.4.2).

12) Quality Control Manager

  1. Pass QC Manager written exam
  2. Possess at least one of the following level 2 qualifications:
  1. Asphalt Paving level 2
  2. Asphalt Plant level 2
  3. Concrete Field Technician level 2
  4. Concrete Lab Technician level 2
  5. ECI level 2

What is the length of each course?

Here we only present the general duration of the courses that we teach at Encobridge to obtain the CTQP. For more details on these or other courses, access our FDOT-CTPQ course list , and then click on the course you need more information on. In general, all courses last between 2 and 3 days, and the written exams at the end of the course (multiple choice exams to choose one) usually last between 2 and 4 hours. The written exam is often given during the second half of the last day of the course.

“Challenge Exam” modality available , which allows you to take the written exam (and the practical competence exam, if the CTQP requires it ) without having taken the course. If the applicant passes the Challenge Exam, he obtains the same CTQP as those who have taken the course, so the time invested in obtaining the will have been minimal.

Is any experience required to take a CTQP?

Whether any previous experience is required or not depends on each course. There are courses that do not ask for previous experience and only qualify through the written exam, while there are other courses that ask for some experience in the labor sector to which the training given by the course is directed. That's why some CTQP qualifications require a competency test in addition to the written test. A “competency exam” is a practical check that allows you to verify that the technicians who are going to obtain a specific CTQP can also perform field test functions that are relevant to their sector.

The most frequent thing is that most technicians take the written exam and the competency exam on the same day, for which in some cases it is not mandatory to have passed the course (it is what we have said is called the "Challenge Exam") . However, if necessary, technicians can take both exams separately, up to 6 months apart. Any period of time beyond 6 months without completing both exams will require retaking both exams.

For more details on these topics, you can follow this link to download or consult the outlines of the specific qualification pathways for each technical area of the CTQP . These documents detail the forms of evaluation of each course, and which of them require previous experience and add practical competence tests to the written exams.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about CTQP 

As we know that on the subject of the CTQP there are many details to know and many doubts to clarify, we have created this section of frequently asked questions about the courses that Encobridge offers you.

07 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) about Encobridge Courses_CTQP Certification FDOT-Construction Training Qualification Program

CTQP Certification Lookup

By following the link provided below, you can verify a CTQP Certificate at any time using the search engine on the official website of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT):

Once you access the search page of the official FDOT website, you will have a drop-down menu that allows you to choose whether to search based on a name or based on a TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number). After choosing between these two variants, you will only have to enter in the form the name and surname of the owner of the CTQP Certificate that you need to verify, or the first 9 digits/letters of your driver's license.

08 Verification of a CTQP Certificate on the official FDOT website_CTQP Certification FDOT-Construction Training Qualification Program

How long does it take to grade the exam?

At the time the candidate wishes to be evaluated, they must complete a Qualification Request, available in digital format on the CTQP website. Depending on the CTQP course, the exams may be open book or closed book and include a practical test of proficiency in the area related to the course. The written exam is multiple choice or multiple choice (choosing the correct answer from several options). It lasts between 2 and 4 hours and to pass it is necessary to achieve around 70% of correct answers. The exact percentage required to pass depends on the evaluation system of each course.

After taking the written exam, you must wait up to 2 weeks (15 days) for electronic review by the Construction Training & Qualification Program Administration. This waiting time is generally met equally for all courses. After that time, the results are posted to the student's account on the CTQP website, and/or each student's grade is emailed to their mailbox. Follow these links to the FDOT FAQ if you need to know some more details about these topics:

How I can get the course materials?

 

On the other hand, the documents and forms of the courses (not to be confused with the manuals) are centrally available in a section called Technician Documents and Forms within the Program Information menu of the Construction Training & Qualification Program Administration section, on the website . FDOT official website . There are many materials, distributed among the categories of: Aggregates, Asphalt, Concrete, Earthwork, Geotechnical, Quality Control, Structures and Final Estimates. They can be freely downloaded by clicking on the “Download” link, without the need to authenticate.

Technician Documents and Forms

There is one more thing to add regarding how to access the course materials. As we have said in passing above, there are different ways to obtain the FDOT-CTQP Certification. Each technical area (Asphalt, Concrete, Earthwork, Geotechnical, Quality Control, etc.) has developed its own workflow and rating system. This allows inspectors to determine which route is most appropriate for their case. Through this link you can access the respective download links of the PDFs with the schemes of the qualification paths of each technical area of the CTQP Certification. All of these routes have been approved by the Florida Department of Transportation, and downloads are made from their official website.

FDOT Online CTQP

Encobridge courses to obtain the CTQP are mainly face-to-face. To do this, the applicant is asked to choose the city, the month, the day, and the time of the course they need to take on the calendar. From these choices, the platform will inform you if there is still availability for that course (the number of participants is limited), and will provide you with a map where the exact location of the course will be geolocated. However, there are FDOT-CTQP activities that can be completed online. For example:

  • Download the manuals, documents, and course forms (as we saw in the previous heading). In general, the digital documents themselves include instructions on how to handle them.
  • Verify a CTQP Certificate on the official FDOT website. (On this topic, see details in the first question of this FAQ.)
  • Make inquiries and clarify doubts about the courses. On the Contact page of the website, you have all our contact details and other information, including our location on the map, our postal address, our working hours, email address, telephone number, and contact form.
  • The review of the CTQP exams and the notification of the results are also done online.

Some Encobridge courses you can take

Here are some suggestions on what your next steps may be within the wide range of courses that Encobridge offers you to achieve the CTQP. Knowing more details about specific courses will help you better understand how the CTQP works and everything that Encobridge can bring to your life as a transport infrastructure technician or professional.

Use the links that we provide in the section of each course to go to their respective main pages. Once you are on the main page of the course, locate the dropdown menu towards the end of the course description, and choose the city of your choice. Only when you choose the city, a calendar will be displayed in which you can choose between the available options in terms of city, month, day, and week for the course you are interested in.

1) Earthwork Construction Inspection Level 2 – Course & Exam

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This course is required for quality control technicians, private laboratories, or contractor employees who need to have the ability to prepare and complete the Earthworks Recording System certification with knowledge of standard specifications, design standards, and theory of density. Personnel dedicated to verifying compliance with earthworks specifications, quality of materials or carrying out the Independent Guarantee (IA), must also have this qualification. They are responsible for the inspection of embankment, subgrade, fill, and granular base material on Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) highway and bridge construction projects.

Earthwork Construction Inspection L-2 – Course & Exam, is available for Miami, Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, Pensacola, and Jacksonville. Requirements include: passing the Earthwork Construction Inspection Level 1 course written and proficiency exam; passing the Earthwork Construction Inspection Level 2 course written exam; and 30 days of work experience on a construction project involving moving operations of land.

2) Concrete Field Inspector Specs – Course & Exam

Concrete Field Inspector Specs - Complete Course

This course lasts 2 1/2 days, and at the end of the course there is a 2 1/2 hour open book written exam. This exam covers all of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) standard specifications for highway and bridge construction, Sections 346, 347, 400, and 415. The exam is multiple choice; you choose the correct answer.

Concrete Field Inspector Specs L-1 – Course & Exam is available for the cities of Miami, Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, and Pensacola. It is not mandatory to have passed the course to be eligible to take the exam and obtain the CTQP.

3) Asphalt Paving Level 1 – Course & Exam

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This course is ideal for technicians, private labs, or contractor employees who need to be qualified to perform acceptance tests such as Surface Tolerance (rolling rule and cross slope), random sampling, core sampling and testing, and density calculation. FDOT employees whose job it is to perform such tests must obtain this CTQP .

Asphalt Paving Level 1 – Course & Exam is available for the cities of Miami, Fort Myers, and West Palm Beach. In addition to the written exam (approximately 2 hours long), this course requires passing a practical competency exam in this area of transportation infrastructure.