1.3 Test Day, References, and Calculators

CES is open-book under the Prometric Candidate Information Bulletin (CIB). Open-book does not mean a backpack of loose printouts. Prometric will inspect what you carry. A candidate who studied well and then brings hand-stapled notes can lose those notes at the door. This section is independent OpenExamPrep teaching about the CIB packing and security rules so your 2.5 hours are spent on surveying items, not on an argument at check-in.

Bound References, One Trip, One Box

You may bring bound references into the testing room. They must arrive in one trip in one box. The CIB describes a Bankers Box (or equivalent) with a maximum size of 10 inches high by 15 inches wide by 24 inches deep. If it does not fit that envelope, do not bring it. If you need two trips from the car, you brought too much.

Bound has a specific CIB meaning. Acceptable binding is stitching, glue, or fasteners that penetrate all of the papers. Examples include ring binders, spiral bindings, snap binders, brads, and screw posts. The fastener has to go through the stack so pages cannot be shuffled in as a loose deck.

Prohibited reference forms include:

• Hand-stapled packets (a corner staple is not the CIB binding standard).
• Unbound notes and loose photocopies.
• Blank tablets or pads you intend to use as extra scratch paper.
• Slide charts and wheel charts (curve wheels, circular slide rules, and similar analog computers).

Sticky notes may be used as tabs only, and they must be attached before you enter. Do not plan to flag pages at the workstation. Tabs that become removable note paper will look like unbound notes. Write the tab labels at home.

The Board's suggested references page (cerefs.shtml) is a study suggestion list, not an exam-room packing list. You are not required to bring every title on that page, and bringing a title from that page does not guarantee it is useful in 2.5 hours. Prometric will not check your box against cerefs.shtml. Prometric will check whether the material is bound, whether it fits the box, and whether prohibited devices are present.

What to actually pack

Arrive with a bound formula and example binder you have used in timed practice. A useful binder for CES typically includes:

• Horizontal-curve formulas (radius, tangent, length, chord, external, middle ordinate) and one worked layout example.
• Vertical-curve formulas (equal-tangent and the high/low-point station) and one grade example.
• Traverse latitude/departure sign conventions and a closure-check template.
• Leveling-note arithmetic checks.
• Stationing and typical-section vocabulary (hinge, catch, grade break) with a sketched cut/fill section.
• Unit conversions you actually miss under time pressure.

Bind that packet with a ring binder or screw-post booklet so it is unambiguously bound. Add only those excerpts from manuals you have already practiced finding in under a minute. A two-inch binder of unread design manuals is a time trap. You have 2.5 hours; search time is exam time.

Measuring Devices

You may bring two measuring devices, chosen from this CIB list:

• Ruler
• Protractor
• Architect scale
• Engineer scale

Two means two instruments total, not two of each. A practical pair for CES is an engineer scale plus a protractor, or an engineer scale plus a ruler if you already estimate angles another way. Do not bring a third scale "just in case." Do not bring a rolling map measurer, digital planimeter, or drafting machine; those are not on the two-device list.

Calculators and Electronics

You may bring up to two handheld calculators. No QWERTY keypad. That ban knocks out laptop-style and some programmable units that look like miniature computers. Smartwatches, laptops, data collectors, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and tablets are prohibited. Leave the GNSS receiver and the robotic-total-station data collector in the vehicle. They are field tools, not CES tools.

Memory may be cleared on exit, not before. You may have formulas or programs in memory when you sit down, subject to the no-QWERTY and handheld limits. Staff may clear memory when you leave. Do not expect a pre-exam memory wipe, and do not rely on keeping programs after you check out.

The Board and Prometric will not pre-approve a calculator model. Emailing a serial number does not create a blessing. Choose two handheld, non-QWERTY calculators you have practiced with, bring both (battery failure is a real 2.5-hour risk), and confirm at home that neither has a QWERTY layout.

Arrival, Identification, and Writing Tools

Arrive 30 minutes early. Late arrival can forfeit the seat. Bring a government-issued identification that includes photograph and signature. The name on the ID must match the name on the ATT / Prometric appointment. A workplace badge is not a substitute.

Scratch booklets and pencils are provided. The CIB says you will be given two scratch paper booklets and pencils for the exam, that you may not bring your own scratch paper, and that the test center administrator collects the booklets — used and unused — when you finish. You are prohibited from writing on anything other than that provided booklet, and removing scratch paper from the test center is misconduct. The CIB publishes no pencil-type rule, so do not plan around an unsourced "#2 wooden pencils only" or "no mechanical pencils" claim; plan around the fact that the writing tools are issued inside and that personal notebooks and blank pads are prohibited in the room.

You will work on a computer. Scratch booklets are for intermediate arithmetic: latitude columns, curve deflection checks, interpolation, and sketches of typical sections. Label each scratch page with the item number so you can return to a skipped calculation. Because there is no guessing penalty, park a tentative choice on-screen before you dive into a long reduction.

Test-day sequence and security logic

Think of check-in as a filter:

1. ID and appointment match.
2. One box, one trip, size within 10 in × 15 in × 24 in.
3. References are bound through all pages.
4. No wheel charts, loose notes, or blank pads.
5. At most two listed measuring devices.
6. At most two non-QWERTY handheld calculators; no wearable computers.
7. No candidate-supplied scratch paper or blank pads; booklets and pencils are issued inside.
8. Personal electronics stay out.

If any step fails, you lose time or you lose materials. Build the box a week early and walk it from the car to a table in one trip as a rehearsal. If the box is heavy enough that you need to set it down twice, remove unread books.

Worked packing example

A candidate packs: (1) a 1.5-inch three-ring binder of formula sheets and worked examples, tabbed before leaving home; (2) a spiral-bound highway-surveying reference she actually uses for stationing notation; (3) an engineer scale and a protractor; (4) two non-QWERTY handheld calculators; (5) government passport card plus a backup driver's license in the same name (scratch booklets and pencils are issued at the test center). The candidate leaves at home: a hand-stapled dump of internet notes, a blank legal pad, a circular horizontal-curve wheel, a smartwatch, and a data collector. That box is CIB-legal. The stapled dump and the wheel chart would not have been.

Using an open-book sitting well

Open-book rewards retrieval you practiced, not volume. During the 2.5 hours:

• If a formula is in the front of your binder, turn there instead of re-deriving from first principles unless the derivation is faster.
• If an item is a definition or a CE-authority limit, answer from knowledge; hunting a statute tab can cost more than the item is worth.
• If an item needs a scale or a plotted interpolation, use the engineer scale on the screen geometry only when the item actually provides a plotted figure that scaling helps. Many CBT items are numeric without a to-scale drawing.
• Keep the second calculator as backup. Switching models mid-item because you forgot a keystroke is slower than finishing on the device you started.

The suggested-reference list remains useful before test day: it tells you which manuals are reasonable study sources (including civil-engineer-relevant map and plan context such as the Subdivision Map Act as a suggested reference). It does not tell Prometric what must be in the Bankers Box. Pack the bound binder you can run in timed drills. That is the open-book advantage CES actually gives you.