The ExAC is written as all four sections in one sitting, over two consecutive days each November. You do not pick and choose sections on a first registration, so the real decision is whether to register for the next sitting or wait a year. This post makes the case for registering, names the narrow set of situations where deferring is a legitimate call, and explains what actually happens if you fail a section. There is nothing motivational in here: just an honest look at the trade-offs and where the reasoning tends to go wrong.
| Sections in scope | All four: Sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 |
|---|---|
| Exam window | Four three-hour sessions over two consecutive days |
| Sittings per year | One, each November, simultaneously across Canada |
| Study timeline (all four) | 10 to 14 weeks, 8 to 12 hrs/week |
| Attempts allowed | Three consecutive; after that, all four again |
| Valid reason to defer a year | Parental leave, an unresolved accommodation, or a hard conflict with the dates |
| Verdict for most candidates | Register once and write all four |
This post is for Intern Architects deciding whether to register for the next ExAC sitting or wait a year. It is also for candidates who have already sat the exam, passed some sections and failed others, and want to know how the retake actually works.
One thing to settle first, because a lot of advice online gets it wrong: you cannot choose to write two sections this year and two next year. A first registration covers the whole exam, and every candidate sits Section 1 through Section 4 in the same window. Writing fewer than four sections happens only on a retake, after you have sat all four and passed some of them.
The post assumes you are sitting the ExAC for the first time (or close to it) and that you are writing in English. You choose English or French when you register, and most of the reading list exists in both, including CHOP and the National Building Code. The strategy argument is the same in either language.
The ExAC is administered once a year, in November, simultaneously across Canada in English and in French. It is a pencil-and-paper exam delivered in four three-hour sessions over two consecutive days: twelve hours of testing, two sessions per day. Every candidate writes Section 1 through Section 4 in that same window.
That is what makes one sitting the default rather than a strategy. Registration covers the exam, not individual sections, so there is no option to buy two sections this year and two next year.
What does vary is what happens after results. You get three consecutive attempts to pass all four sections. If you do not pass everything on the first attempt, you must register for the next sitting and rewrite the sections you failed; the sections you passed do not have to be rewritten. The limit is real, though. If you have still not passed everything by the third attempt, you rewrite all four sections at a future sitting as if you were a first-time candidate, and your earlier passes stop counting.
So the genuine fork is not which sections to write. It is whether to register for the next sitting at all, or defer your whole registration to a later one.
The default for most working Intern Architects is to register for all four sections in one cycle, and the default is correct. Here is the argument in concrete terms.
Preparing for all four sections takes roughly 10 to 14 weeks of focused study. Deferring a year does not remove that requirement; it moves it, and it usually grows it. Candidates who plan to start early next year generally start at the same point in the calendar relative to the sitting, having lost whatever familiarity they had built. CHOP is a primary reference for Section 1, Section 3 and Section 4. Reading it once, inside one runway, is faster than reading it now and refreshing it twelve months later.
ExAC registration fees are not trivial, and deferring does not save you one; it postpones it. Where the cost genuinely doubles is a retake: fail a section and you pay again for the next sitting. If your firm reimburses ExAC registration costs, that second fee may land in a different budget year. Check the employer reimbursement guide if you are not sure what your firm covers before you decide.
Exam week costs you sleep, concentration, and calendar space. One disruption window is better than two. Candidates who write all four and pass close the ExAC chapter. Candidates who defer carry it into another year of their practice, and the exam is not any smaller when they get there.
The references overlap across sections, and studying them together is how you collect the benefit. CHOP carries content for Section 1, Section 3 and Section 4. CHING spans Sections 1 and 3. CCDC 2 and the construction-document material sit under Section 4. Section 2 is the outlier: it is the National Building Code and the National Energy Code and nothing else, and it is the only section where you carry those references into the room. Preparing for everything at once lets the shared material build as you read. Spreading it across years breaks that loop, and you do not get the time back.
There are situations where deferring your registration to a later sitting is the right call. They are specific, and none of them are "I am nervous about Section 2."
Outside these situations, the instinct to wait is almost always exam anxiety about Section 2 or Section 4, wearing the clothes of strategic thinking. Deferring does not let you skip Section 2; it only moves the day you write it. The National Building Code does not become easier with another twelve months in front of it, and you will be opening the same 2020 edition when you get there.
Before you register, compare your situation against both columns of this table. If your reason to wait does not appear in the right column, register.
| Criterion | Register for the next sitting | Defer a year |
|---|---|---|
| Sections written | All four; that is the only option | All four, one year later |
| Registration cost | One fee now | The same fee, a year later |
| Study ramp-up | One focused window of 10 to 14 weeks | The same window, from a colder start |
| Reading list overlap | Reinforces itself across sections | Familiarity fades before you use it |
| Attempt clock | Three consecutive attempts start now | Clock starts a year later |
| Best fit | Any candidate with 8 or more hrs/week for 10 to 14 weeks | Parental leave, unresolved accommodation, fixed date conflict |
| Poor fit | No candidate with a genuine study runway | Candidates who are anxious about one section |
The single-question version of this framework: can you commit to eight to twelve hours per week for ten to fourteen weeks before November? If yes, register. If no, ask why not. If the reason is structural (parental leave, an unresolved accommodation, a fixed conflict with the dates), defer. If the reason is anxiety or a busy quarter at work, find the ten weeks and register.
Even when deferring is legitimate, candidates misuse the extra year in predictable ways. These are the three failure modes to watch for.
If you have already sat the ExAC, passed some sections and failed others, your next registration covers only what you failed. Make the most of it.
Whichever path you take, two tools matter more than anything else.
Practice questions expose your gaps in Week 3 instead of Week 11, whether you are sitting all four sections or rewriting one. The Examitect question bank covers all four sections with scenario-based questions and answer explanations that point back to the source chapter. Try a free sample before you commit. If you are on a retake, filter to the sections you failed and use the extra time to build volume rather than breadth.
A personalised schedule that accounts for how many sections you are writing and how many hours per week you have available is worth the half-hour it takes to set up. The Examitect study schedule tool generates a week-by-week plan for any combination of sections and weekly hour budgets. If you are sitting all four, the 3-month study plan on this site covers the full sequence with weekly reading assignments and practice-question targets, so you have a framework to start from on day one.
You do not have a choice on a first registration. The ExAC is written as all four sections in four three-hour sessions over two consecutive days, once a year in November. The real question is whether to register for the next sitting or wait a year, and for most working Intern Architects the answer is to register. Deferring is a genuine call only for parental leave, an accommodation that is not yet resolved, or a hard conflict with the exam dates.
It means what every candidate does: Sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 written in the same November sitting, in four three-hour sessions across two consecutive days. Registration covers the exam rather than individual sections, so there is no option to write two sections one year and two the next. Writing fewer than four happens only on a retake, after you have sat all four and passed some of them.
Yes. A retake means registering for the next sitting and paying again, even if you are only rewriting one section. Deferring a first registration does not save you a fee either; it postpones it. If your firm reimburses ExAC fees, a retake may fall in a different budget year, so check the policy before you assume it is covered. Some firms cap reimbursement to a single attempt or a single calendar year.
No. A first ExAC registration covers all four sections, written in one November sitting over two consecutive days. Writing fewer than four is only what happens on a retake: if you fail one or more sections, your next registration covers just those. Advice that treats a two-and-two split as a study strategy is describing something the exam does not offer.
CHOP is the widest: it carries content for Sections 1, 3 and 4. CHING spans Sections 1 and 3. CCDC 2 and the construction-document material sit under Section 4. Section 2 is the outlier, covering only the National Building Code and the National Energy Code, and it is the only section where you carry those references into the exam room. Studying the overlapping material once, inside a single runway, is the main efficiency available to you.
It is more volume, but not proportionally more preparation time, because the references overlap. Plan for roughly 10 to 14 weeks at eight to twelve hours per week. Since a first registration covers all four sections regardless, the comparison that matters is not four sections versus two; it is preparing properly for the next sitting versus deferring a year and starting the same runway from a colder start.
You register for the next sitting and rewrite only the sections you failed; the ones you passed do not have to be rewritten. Your performance report gives pass or fail per section, with no raw scores, plus constructive information on the failures, so the retake target is narrow. Note the limit: you get three consecutive attempts, and if you have not passed everything by the third, you rewrite all four sections at a future sitting as a first-time candidate.
Yes, it is one of the few situations where waiting is genuinely practical. If you have a newborn and an honest ceiling of six to eight study hours per week, the 10-to-14-week timeline for all four sections does not fit, and you cannot register for a lighter load instead. Deferring to a later sitting is better than spending one of your three attempts on a preparation that does not match your life.
Reimbursement policies vary by firm. Some firms reimburse the registration fee per sitting, others set a per-year or per-registration cap, and some cover a first attempt only. Ask your principal before you register, confirm coverage in writing, and keep receipts. The employer reimbursement guide on this site has a request template you can adapt.
Plan for 10 to 14 weeks at eight to twelve hours per week for all four sections. Candidates with strong construction administration experience can prepare in 10 weeks at the low end of that range. Candidates who have not yet administered a construction contract should plan closer to 14 weeks. Count back from the November sitting when you set the start date. A detailed week-by-week plan for the 12-week version is available in the 3-month ExAC study plan on this site.
Deferring and then not using the year. Waiting does not create study time; it creates a deadline twelve months out, which is far enough away to procrastinate against. Candidates who defer and coast arrive at the next sitting no better prepared, having spent a year of exam overhead for nothing. If you defer, book the study runway in your calendar the day you decide, not the month registration opens.
No. Anxiety about Section 2 is not a valid reason to wait, and you cannot defer Section 2 on its own in any case. The National Building Code does not become easier with another twelve months in front of it. If Section 2 is your weak area, weight your preparation toward code navigation inside this runway: Section 2 is the one section where you bring the NBC and NECB into the room, so speed of lookup is worth more than memorisation.
Yes, at least a refresh pass. CHOP carries content for Sections 1, 3 and 4, and CCDC 2 sits under Section 4, so a Section 4 retake means reopening both. Candidates underestimate how much context fades over twelve months, especially on CCDC 2 contract provisions and the NBC clause structure they had just started to internalize.