1. About the CCQ Deep foundation installer exam

The Deep foundation installer (Poseur de fondations profondes) qualification exam is the official theoretical evaluation administered by the Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ). Passing this exam is a key step toward obtaining a journeyman competency certificate and being authorized to install deep foundations on Quebec construction sites.

The exam covers three sections weighted as follows: Work organization (42%), Pile driving techniques (30%), and Retaining structures (28%). It is offered in French and English in multiple-choice format and lasts approximately 3 hours, with a passing grade of 60%.

2. Exam structure at a glance

Section 1 is the heaviest single block by a clear margin (42%). It includes assembling the pile driving equipment on the crane, which drives every downstream operation. Sections 2 and 3 are weighted relatively closely (30% and 28%) and cover the actual installation work.

3. Detailed competency elements

Section 1 — Work organization (42%)

Preparing the work:

• Interpret data from shop drawings
• Locate work positions on site
• Select materials and equipment
• Verify excavation reports and underground service location reports
• Install reference markers
• Inspect and maintain equipment
• Handle parts and equipment
• Worksite health and safety risk prevention

Communicating during work:

• Manual signaling of maneuvers to the crane operator
• Transmit instructions to the welder

Installing pile driving equipment on the crane:

• Connect the leads
• Install cables and crane safety accessories
• Select the drive cap
• Install the drive cap and hammer
• Install the lead foot
• Install the vibratory driver

Section 2 — Pile driving techniques (30%)

Placing soldier piles and shoring for deep excavations:

• Determine soldier pile driving locations
• Verify verticality, displacement, depth, and refusal during soldier pile driving
• Welding and oxy-cutting
• Shoring of the soldier pile structure

Placing different types of piles:

• Driving methods for H-section piles, cased piles, drilled piles, belled-base piles, prestressed concrete piles, and screw piles
• Verify verticality, displacement, depth, and refusal during the driving of various pile types

Section 3 — Retaining structures (28%)

Building sheet pile retaining walls:

• Fabricate and assemble a driving template
• Install the driving template
• Thread the sheet piles
• Drive the sheet piles
• Verify watertightness of the sheet pile structure
• Stabilize the sheet piles
• Sheet pile extraction methods

Constructing a diaphragm (slurry) wall:

• Guide-wall formwork
• Verify guide-wall concrete placement
• Verify the clamshell and retention system
• Guide clamshell insertion
• Verify verticality of insertion
• Insert bentonite slurry into the excavation
• Prepare the joint
• Verify excavation cleaning
• Install joint pipes or flat joints
• Insert the reinforcement cage
• Install tremie pipes for concrete placement
• Joint pipe extraction methods

4. Documents provided at the exam

This is a defining feature of all CCQ trade qualification exams: unlike RBQ contractor exams (some of which are open book), CCQ exams are systematically closed book regardless of the trade. Plan your study accordingly.

5. Recommended study documents

The CCQ suggests the following references for preparation. None of them will be available during the exam — they are study aids only. Use them to build understanding, then test recall with practice questions and flashcards.

• Wood Piling (Pieux en bois) — Canadian Wood Council, Ottawa, 1993, 76 p. (cwc.ca)
• Rigging and Lifting: Safety Guide — Quebec translation by Marc Pelletier, Publications du Québec, 2006, 174 p. (publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca)
• Pile Design and Construction Practice (5th edition, English only) — Tomlinson, Michael and John Woodward, Routledge, New York, 2008, 551 p. (routledge.com)
• Safety Code for Construction Work (S-2.1, r.6) — Éditeur officiel du Québec, 2010, 272 p. (publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca)

6. What makes the Deep foundation installer exam different

The Deep foundation installer trade is unusual in how heavily the exam weights preparation and equipment setup. Section 1 (42%) is dedicated almost entirely to what happens before a single pile is driven: shop drawing interpretation, site layout, underground service verification, equipment inspection, communication protocols, and the assembly of the pile driving rig on the crane. The leads, cables, drive cap, hammer, lead foot, and vibratory driver all have to be installed correctly on the crane in coordination with the crane operator. A single mistake in Section 1 setup creates a chain of consequences for everything in Sections 2 and 3.

Section 2 (30%) tests six distinct pile types — H-section, cased, drilled, belled-base, prestressed concrete, and screw piles — each with different driving methods, equipment, and refusal criteria. Quebec deep foundation work spans diverse geotechnical conditions, and the trade encompasses the systems used to handle them. A candidate who has only worked one or two pile types at their day job needs to study the others. Verticality, displacement, depth, and refusal verification recur across every pile type.

Section 3 (28%) covers two retaining systems that look almost nothing alike at the procedural level. Sheet pile walls are driven mechanically, with templates, threading, and stabilization. Diaphragm (slurry) walls are excavated under bentonite slurry with concrete placed by tremie pipes — a fundamentally different geotechnical approach. The exam treats these as equally important. Because the exam is closed book, the platform also tracks what you've actually memorized — flashcards spaced over multiple sessions surface weak areas before exam day.

7. Recommended preparation strategy

1. Anchor preparation around Section 1 (42%). Equipment setup and work organization are the heaviest block. Master the leads-and-rig assembly sequence, and the safety/communication protocols.
2. Treat the exam as closed book from day one. Memorize refusal criteria, drive cap selection rules, sheet pile threading sequences, and diaphragm wall slurry procedures — you will not have a manual to consult.
3. Read the recommended documents in this order: Tomlinson and Woodward's Pile Design and Construction Practice (the foundation — covers pile types and refusal in depth), then the Canadian Wood Council's Wood Piling (specific to wooden piles), then the Rigging and Lifting Safety Guide and Quebec Safety Code for crane and site safety.
4. Study all six pile types. Section 2 tests H-section, cased, drilled, belled-base, prestressed concrete, and screw piles. If your day job only covers one or two, drill the others.
5. Don't skip diaphragm walls. Section 3 covers slurry wall procedures (bentonite, tremie placement, joint pipes, reinforcement cages) that look nothing like sheet pile work. The 28% weighting treats them as equally important.
6. Practice manual signaling and welder communication. Section 1 includes communication competencies — these are common stumbling points for candidates whose role rarely involves direct signaling.
7. Take at least two full mock exams under real conditions (3 hours, no documents, single sitting) before scheduling the real exam.
8. Review every wrong answer. The Prof-RBQ.ca platform shows the reasoning behind each correct answer — read every explanation, even on questions you got right.

8. Why Prof-RBQ.ca for the Deep foundation installer exam

• Aligned with the official CCQ structure — content mapped one-to-one to the three sections, with extra depth on Section 1 (work organization and equipment setup) and dedicated coverage of all six pile types and both retaining systems.
• Closed-book training methodology — flashcards and spaced practice designed for memorization, not lookup.
• Mock exams in CCQ format — multiple choice, 3-hour timing, scoring out of 60% — so exam day feels familiar.
• Detailed answer explanations — every question, right or wrong, comes with a written rationale.
• Bilingual — full course in English and French. The CCQ exam itself is offered in both languages.
• A free section is available so you can try the platform before committing.

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