# What is the best way to prepare for ARE, CE questions that involve sketches, drawings, and construction details?

**URL:** <https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-prepare-for-are-ce-questions-that-involve-sketches-drawings-and-construction-details/7925>\
**Category:** Construction & Evaluation\
**Created:** [September 30, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-prepare-for-are-ce-questions-that-involve-sketches-drawings-and-construction-details/7925 "2026-09-30T20:25:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![golnoosh.abdolahzadeh](https://blackspectacles.com/uploads/images/23.png) [@golnoosh.abdolahzadeh](https://community.blackspectacles.com/u/golnoosh.abdolahzadeh)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 8:25pm UTC](https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-prepare-for-are-ce-questions-that-involve-sketches-drawings-and-construction-details/7925/1 "2026-09-30T20:25:54Z")

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Dear all, how do you prepare for ARE questions involving sketches and construction details?

I tend to struggle with these questions; I’m not always sure how to approach or interpret the detail, especially when it’s something I haven’t seen before. There also seem to be very few examples of these types of questions in the practice exams. Are there any good resources or strategies you would recommend for getting better at them?@coachfelipeguerrero @coachgarricbaker

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**Author:** ![kiaragalicinao](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/community.blackspectacles.com/kiaragalicinao/32/1607_2.png) [@kiaragalicinao](https://community.blackspectacles.com/u/kiaragalicinao)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 10:43pm UTC](https://community.blackspectacles.com/t/what-is-the-best-way-to-prepare-for-are-ce-questions-that-involve-sketches-drawings-and-construction-details/7925/2 "2026-10-01T22:43:42Z")

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@golnoosh.abdolahzadeh Real-world experience can be especially helpful for these questions. Personally, becoming more involved with construction administration tasks at work helped me a lot - things like site visits, reviewing submittals and shop drawings, and working directly with contractors. Seeing how details are actually built made it much easier to interpret unfamiliar drawings on the exam.

If you have the opportunity, I’d recommend getting more exposure to those tasks and focusing on understanding how assemblies come together rather than trying to memorize individual details.

We also have a couple of _[Real-World Practice](https://www.blackspectacles.com/study-materials/real-world-practice)_ exercises focused specifically on construction details, so I highly recommend you check them out!

- **[Nitty Gritty of Waterproofing [Exercise A]](https://learn.blackspectacles.com/real-world-practice/1e06e05c-2328-11ef-9c4f-02161524d561/70346f35-c40c-11f0-9253-06ab37a1c8f9)**
- **[Nitty Gritty of Waterproofing [Exercise B]](https://learn.blackspectacles.com/real-world-practice/1e06e05c-2328-11ef-9c4f-02161524d561/7a56c1f3-c40c-11f0-9253-06ab37a1c8f9)**

Happy studying!

Kiara Galicinao, AIA, NCARB  
Product Coordinator  
**[Black Spectacles](https://www.blackspectacles.com/en-us/)**