10-week study plan
Study plan
Level II assumes Level I knowledge, so start by making sure the Level I material is solid (the Level I tab has its own bank and exams). This plan assumes about 8 hours a week and that you already work in fire alarm. Compress it if you test often; extend it if the building-code and project-management topics are new to you.
The rule of the plan: read the chapter in your printed code, practice its bank in study mode until you are above 80%, and every two weeks take a fixed practice exam on the clock.
| Week | What to study | Practice on this site |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Read “About the exam”. Buy the printed NFPA 72 (2022), NFPA 70 (2020) and IBC (2021). Start tabbing as you study, not at the end. | Practice Exam 1 as a baseline. |
| 1–2 | Power supply and loading: battery calculations, NAC and SLC loading, voltage drop. Circuits and pathways: classes, survivability, NEC Article 760 wiring methods. | Power, Loading and Circuits bank. |
| 3–4 | Layout: detector and notification appliance placement, drawings and scales, site surveys. | Detector and Notification Layout bank. Practice Exam 2. |
| 5 | Control functions, interfaces, supervising stations and commissioning (NFPA 72 Chapters 21, 23, 24, 26 and the acceptance test in Chapter 14). | Control Functions bank. |
| 6 | Periodic testing and records: Tables 14.3.1 and 14.4.3.2, reacceptance, documentation. | Periodic Testing and Records bank. |
| 7 | Impairments, deficiencies and troubleshooting. | Impairments bank. Practice Exam 3 if available. |
| 8 | IBC 2021: occupancy classification, where alarm is required (Section 907), construction types and fire-resistance. | IBC 2021 bank. |
| 9 | Project coordination: contracts and AIA A201 concepts, scheduling, safety, work plans. | Work Plans, Contracts and Coordination bank. |
| 10 | Review your misses, finish permanently attaching tabs, practice finding answers in the printed books against the clock. | Smart review daily and a full exam on the clock. If you are above 80%, schedule. |
Do not memorize letters. Options are shuffled on every attempt. What counts is knowing where the answer is in the book and why.
Practice for the real thing. Take the free 20-minute Level II practice exam (no account needed), or get lifetime access to 110-question exams in the NICET format and 248 Level II questions with explanations.
More Level II study guides
- 10-week study plan
- Power, Loading and Circuits
- Detector and Notification Layout
- Control Functions, Interfaces and Commissioning
- Periodic Testing and Records
- Impairments, Deficiencies and Troubleshooting
- IBC 2021 and Building Context
- Work Plans, Contracts and Coordination
- Level II tabbing guide for your printed code books
- Strategy with printed code books
- Key numbers (NFPA 72 · NEC · OSHA)
- Formulas and conversions
- Fire alarm glossary for the NICET exams