CSE Practice Exam

Licensure of landscape architects in California is administered by:

A new hiking trail network is being planned in land that was recently donated to a land preservation nonprofit. The hiking trail will be designed to provide access to an old-growth coastal redwood forest that was logged in the 1800s and then left undisturbed by private owners. A creek flows through this parcel and has been determined to provide habitat for federally-listed endangered red-legged frogs. What grouping of reviews is most likely for the project?

What is one of the primary responsibilities of the California Department of Water Resources?

A project undergoing CEQA review will go through a well-defined process. Which of the following is in the most correct order?

A housing developer wishes to build 35 units of luxury housing right on the Pacific shore in unincorporated land outside San Diego. The site previously was home to a nursery and garden center, and some existing paving and structures will be demolished in order to erect two new multifamily buildings and associated parklets, walkways, and parking areas. What agency is likely to take the lead in organizing a CEQA review?

What California agency administers the Williamson Act, a key planning tool for placing restrictions on privately owned land for purposes of protecting open space?

What is the minimum required width for an accessible route in California?

Which of the following projects will be least likely to be required to undergo CEQA review?

You are beginning work on a project that is 4.3 miles from the Pacific Coast and borders on a State Park that includes habitat for endangered birds and amphibians. Will this project require Coastal Commission review?

What length of handrail extension is required at the bottom of a flight of stairs on an accessible route in California?

What does the term ‘sunset’ refer to within the context of professional licensure?

Which of the following professional services are illegal to offer without a California license?

Jane Farrand, a licensed landscape architect, has been called by a homeowner who wishes to create a new garden in their undeveloped back yard. The existing condition is a steeply sloping hillside with native grasses and some field-adapted exotic plants. The new garden will require terracing, retaining walls, soil amendment, planting and irrigation. The homeowner has never worked with a landscape architect before, but wants Jane to provide a design that will be suitable for bidding by contractors. What should Jane do next?

At a minimum, a contract must include certain features by California state law. Which of the following is not required by law?

John Greene met today with a corporation that has been a regular client of his in the past. They would like to build a new lunch terrace on the second floor of an office building they are developing, and they want John to provide construction documents for paving, planting, lighting and irrigation. They notified him via email that the schedule is tight and they would like him to begin work immediately. Which statement most accurately describes his responsibilities in writing a new design agreement?

An unlicensed designer can prepare construction drawings under which of the following circumstances?

Which of the following are grounds for disciplinary action by LATC?

In California, landscape architects must pay fees to renew their license. How often does this happen?

What is the proper use of a professional stamp in California?

What is the state requirement for continuing education (CEUs) for licensed landscape architects in California?

What is the purpose of a photometric plan during permit review?

Who generates the photometric plan?

What does the “U” in the IES BUG system stand for?

Which area is associated with LZ4 in the Model Lighting Ordinance (MLO)?

Your client is building a new garden dining area for their restaurant. They would like to include lighting for nighttime outdoor dining. When you show them proposed energy-efficient light fixtures, they ask if the light will be too blue. You assure them that the light will be warm in color. Which range should you choose?

What does low voltage lighting require to reduce house power down to 12 volts?

How deep must conduit for line voltage fixtures be installed below the ground surface?

Why is fluorescent lighting being phased out under the California Clean Lighting Law?

Which organization regulates lighting standards in California?

Which voltage category does commercial grade lighting typically fall into?

What do light fixtures with high ratings in the IES BUG system provide?

What does the US Green Building Council’s Model Lighting Ordinance provide?

What extra requirements do cities have for projects in the WUI zones?

A client who is trying to choose between two coastal homes for sale asks your advice. One of the sites sits near the top of a west-facing slope with chapparal vegetation and clusters of pine trees. You tell them you have concerns about the site’s safety. Why are you concerned?

Where do Santa Anas create critical fire weather conditions?

What happens to wet and clay soils during a seismic event?

What does the California Building Code aim to achieve during an earthquake?

You are helping a relative renovate an older home that they intend to move into with their spouse and child. They are worried about earthquake risk. What is a retrofit that would make a house safer in an earthquake?

What inventory items are most important when assessing a project site in the WUI?

Why might local rules around seismic stabilization be stricter than the California Building Code?

At an initial site walk for the construction of a new office building, you notice that there are many areas where soils are mounded higher and are noticably different in color and texture from the marshy areas that surround the site. What risk should you be concerned about?

Which genus includes showy CA natives that can be trees, shrubs, or groundcovers?

Which Fremontodendron species is most likely the groundcover form?

A horticultural club wants to use only California natives in a new demonstration garden. As part of the design, they want to show how natives can replace traditional topiary plants like boxwood. Which plant is most appropriate for a clipped hedge?

Which CA species is commonly planted along the coast?

Which plant is a chaparral species that can take hot dry slopes?

You are designing a perennial bed for a coffee drive through. Planting areas are small and narrow but the franchise owner wants flowering perennials to provide color with minimum maintenance. Which palette is most appropriate?

Which oak is probably the most widely planted CA native oak?

Which plant is a widely-used groundcover form of Arctostaphylos?

A project for a homeowner’s association will require replacing old turf with low-water use, California native groundcovers. Which is the most appropriate palette?

What is the most distinctive symptom of Sudden Oak Death?

Which California native has showy flowers that are a magnet for pollinators and hummingbirds?

What is the purpose of a backflow preventer?

You are designing an irrigation system that will provide reclaimed water for an extensive garden planted with native shrubs and perennials. The site’s water pressure has been tested and is about 20 psi. Your design relies on inline drip tubing that will be buried just below the soil surface to moisten the root zone. Which of the following irrigation components is most critical for the success of this system?

Your client owns a site in the Santa Ynez Mountains that will be irrigated with well water that is collected in a reservoir at the top of a hill on their property. The irrigated land will be a small area around the main house, which sits on lower ground. If the reservoir sits at elevation 1450 and the house sits at elevation 1395, what water pressure can you expect at the house?

A colleague gives you an irrigation layout and asks you to calculate the precipitation rate for a valve circuit that includes spray heads that are laid out in a square pattern, with 15 feet between heads. Each full circle head is rated at a flow rate of 1.5 gpm. What is the precipitation rate?

You are performing an onsite audit of a new irrigation system that is composed of spray heads arranged in a triangular pattern. The as-built drawings say that matched precipitation heads have been used and the design precipitation rate is .9 gpm. The spacing between heads is 25’ and the distance between rows of sprinklers is 2222. You lay out collection cans to measure actual precipitation and run the system for a measured amount of time. What precipitation rate should you be expecting to find?

What irrigation component would you add to a design to resist low head drainage and assist with maintaining uniform operating pressure within a drip system laid out on a steep hillside?

What is the best source for determining water pressure if you can’t visit the site in person?

In California, which of the following graywater systems can be installed without permitting?

Which of the following design issues is most critical to consider when irrigating with reclaimed water?

You are designing a rainwater catchment system for a client’s private residence. The system will include a 4000 gallon cistern tank supported on a concrete pad outside the house and be supplied by rainwater leaders from the house roof. A pump and filter will be used to supply pressurized summer water to a spray irrigation system. Which of the following is true?

What is required during a cross-connection test?

Which of the following uses is not permitted for disinfected tertiary treated wastewater?

An irrigation valve provides drip irrigation water to a planting area that is 60% ‘Very Low’ water use plants, 15% ‘Low’ water use plants, and 5% ‘Moderate’ water use plants. What is the plant factor you should use for calculating ETWU for this hydrozone?

Which of the following common landscape practices is permitted under MWELO?

What does Reference ETo mean within MWELO?

Which of the following elements are not required in an MWELO Landscape Documentation Package?

Which of the following are not authorized to assess a project’s MWELO compliance?

What is the Maximum Allowable Water Allowance (MAWA) for the following project? The project has 1600 sq ft of existing landscaping that will be replaced by new ‘Low’ water use plants. The project is located in an area with a Reference ETo of 46.5 and is a private residence.

Which of the following is not necessary to calculate ETWU?

You have been asked to calculate MAWA and ETWU for a commercial development as part of a plan check review. The design team has provided a planting plan that includes WUCOLS ratings for all plants and an overlay showing hydrozones, plus an irrigation plan that provides irrigation layouts and equipment callouts for the same hydrozones. The irrigation legend gives detailed manufacturer’s information for the drip equipment and spray heads that will be used. There are no special landscape areas. What piece of information should you research to be ready to do the calculation?

What information is not needed in order to calculate MAWA/ETWU for a hydrozone?

What is the definition of an accessible route according to ADA and California law?

What is the distinction made between a sidewalk and a walk under California state law?

You are doing a quality control check on a new campus project where the client needs to provide many accessible pedestian routes connecting academic destinations on a hilly site. What part of your project will not need to meet California and ADA standards for maximum path of travel slopes?

What does California law require at locations where pedestrian accessible routes cross vehicular routes?

What color must detectable warning pads be according to California law?

What is the minimum visual contrast required for detectable warning pads with adjacent walking surfaces?

Where must truncated domes be installed in parking areas?

How are slopes for accessible routes defined in California Title 24 and ADA standards?

How does the International Residential Code (IRC) differ from the International Building Code (IBC) regarding guardrail height?

When are handrails required at front entry under the International Residential Code (IRC)?

What is the primary purpose of NEPA and CEQA?

Which agency sets broad standards for measuring and mitigating environmental impacts at the federal level?

You are approached by a developer who is concerned about planning for NEPA review. You ask them some questions about their project. What factor would trigger NEPA review?

How are NEPA and CEQA standards related?

A new hiking trail includes protected habitat regulated by US Fish and Wildlife, wetlands overseen by US Army Corps, flood risk areas managed by the State Water Boards, and a utility corridor owned by Caltrans. How will these agencies organize their CEQA project review?

What is an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)?

What must be done if a project is found to have serious environmental impacts during the review period?

How are design alternatives developed in the CEQA review process?

What is the main goal of the principle “Do no harm”?

What is the decision-making hierarchy generally agreed on for sustainable development?

What is meant by providing regenerative systems as intergenerational equity?

What is a key aspect of using a systems thinking approach?

What are ecosystem services?

What happens if a project is seeking to earn SITES certification, but its prerequisite requirements are not met?

What does SITES reward projects for in terms of site selection?

What are some sustainable goals related to vegetation and site design?

What is the focus of the Site Design—Materials Selection section?

What does the Education + Performance Monitoring section of Sustainable SITES recognize?

What are the environmental benefits of proper soil management?

What is the intent of addressing social equity in project design and development?

What is one of the ecosystem services a skillfully-designed landscape can provide?

What is one of the most important ecosystem services that urban forests provide?

What is a focus of erosion and sediment control as an ecosystem service?

A client calls you to help them with planting their Central Valley home, which is in an areas with extensive serpentine outcroppings. What palette are you most likely to recommend?

What California native plants would you recommend for a mountain ski resort?