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Marine surveyors · Last updated November 2026

NAMS Certified Marine Surveyor (NAMS-CMS): designations in Yachts and Small Craft, Cargo, Marine Warranty, Hull and Machinery: free practice test

The certification exam for experienced marine surveyors joining NAMSGlobal at Certified Marine Surveyor level. Each candidate is tested in one discipline: Yachts and Small Craft, Cargo, Hull and Machinery (including fishing vessels) or Marine Warranty. The Yachts and Small Craft reference list is built on ABYC standards, 33 CFR 183, 46 CFR 25, NFPA 10, 302 and 303, Transport Canada TP1332 and USCG inspection circulars.

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About the NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor exam

The certification exam for experienced marine surveyors joining NAMSGlobal at Certified Marine Surveyor level. Each candidate is tested in one discipline: Yachts and Small Craft, Cargo, Hull and Machinery (including fishing vessels) or Marine Warranty. The Yachts and Small Craft reference list is built on ABYC standards, 33 CFR 183, 46 CFR 25, NFPA 10, 302 and 303, Transport Canada TP1332 and USCG inspection circulars.

What's on the exam

NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor
Fuel, LPG/CNG and Ventilation Systems
7 key facts
Electrical Systems, Batteries and Lightning Protection
7 key facts
Corrosion, Cathodic Protection and Fastenings
7 key facts
Hull Construction and Repair: FRP, Wood, Steel and Aluminum
7 key facts
Regulations, Flotation and Fire Protection
6 key facts
Through-Hulls, Exhaust, CO and Rigging
6 key facts
Hull and Machinery Surveys
7 key facts
Cargo and Marine Warranty Surveys
7 key facts

Each branch is a topic in the official outline. Members see every key fact on the full mind map. Read the free study guide →

How to pass the NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor exam

  • You need 70% on every module, not just 75% overall. A weak module fails you even with a strong total, so don't leave one area unstudied.
  • Read the NAMS reference list for your discipline line by line. For Yachts and Small Craft that means about 25 named ABYC standards plus 33 CFR 183, 46 CFR 25 and four NVICs.
  • Answer as a surveyor reporting a finding: what the standard requires, whether the item meets it, and how serious the deficiency is.
  • Testing must happen within 90 days of passing screening, so start studying before you apply rather than after.

Save your results and get your Readiness Score

Create a free account after the test: your score by topic, a mistakes bank, the complete study notes for the first topic, flashcards and the ABYC Numbers & Formulas Sheet.

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What's in the premium NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor prep

Premium NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor prep is studied one topic at a time. Each step starts with that topic's key notes and flashcard deck, then its own question sets of 25, so you master one topic before you move to the next. When every topic is strong, the 6 full mock exams show you're ready.

3,000practice questions, every answer explained
6full-length mock exams, 100 questions each, timed
800flashcards with spaced repetition, sorted by topic
60comprehensive key notes across 8 topics

Your step-by-step study path

  1. 1
    Fuel, LPG/CNG and Ventilation Systems8 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Notes free with an account
  2. 2
    Electrical Systems, Batteries and Lightning Protection8 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
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  3. 3
    Corrosion, Cathodic Protection and Fastenings8 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  4. 4
    Hull Construction and Repair: FRP, Wood, Steel and Aluminum8 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  5. 5
    Regulations, Flotation and Fire Protection7 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  6. 6
    Through-Hulls, Exhaust, CO and Rigging7 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  7. 7
    Hull and Machinery Surveys7 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  8. 8
    Cargo and Marine Warranty Surveys7 key notes, 100 flashcards, then 375 practice questions in 15 sets of 25
    Premium
  9. Final step: 6 full mock exams100 questions each, timed like test day. Pass them, then book your exam.
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Free with an account

Read the complete NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor study notes for “Fuel, LPG/CNG and Ventilation Systems”

Our first full set of comprehensive notes, about 15 minutes of reading: Gasoline fuel systems (33 CFR 183, ABYC H-24) · Ventilation and ignition protection · LPG systems (ABYC A-1, A-26) · CNG and reporting gas findings, a worked exam example, the traps examiners use and a one-minute recap. Create a free account to read it and see how premium notes work before you decide.

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Study tools included

3,000 practice questions

3,000 exam-style questions per exam, organized topic by topic in sets of 25. Every answer explained, with the rule it comes from.

6 full mock exams

6 full-length timed mock exams per exam, with real question counts and time limits, so test day feels like practice day.

Exam Readiness Score

One 0 to 100 number that tells you when you're ready to book. Reach 80 and you're covered by our Pass Guarantee.

800 flashcards + spaced repetition

800 flashcards per exam, in a deck for each topic, that come back right before you'd forget them. Five minutes a day keeps every number fresh.

60 comprehensive key notes

60 key notes per exam, split across its topics and each explained in full: the concepts, worked exam examples, the traps examiners use and a quick recap. Your first set is free with an account.

Mind maps

See the whole exam on one screen: every topic and the facts under it.

Sample questions with answers

These are the questions in the free test above, with answers. Try the test first. You'll learn more by getting some wrong.

1. You are surveying a 2021 gasoline inboard runabout with an enclosed engine compartment and an electric starter. The blower works, but there is no warning label at the helm. Under 33 CFR 183, what must that label tell the operator to do?
Answer: Run the blower for 4 minutes and check the engine compartment for vapors before starting. 33 CFR 183 requires a powered ventilation system and a label near the ignition telling the operator to run the blower for 4 minutes and check the engine compartment bilge for gasoline vapors before starting. A missing label is a reportable deficiency even when the blower works. Diesel boats don't need this label.
2. On a sailing yacht, the propane cylinder locker's drain hose is routed into the bilge sump instead of overboard. How should this be reported?
Answer: As a safety deficiency: the locker must drain overboard because LPG is heavier than air. Propane is about one and a half times as heavy as air, so leaked gas flows down the drain and pools in the bilge, where a spark from a pump switch can ignite it. ABYC A-1 requires the locker to be vapor-tight to the interior and to drain overboard from its bottom. A detector or closed valve reduces risk but doesn't correct the installation.
3. A gasoline sterndrive's alternator has been replaced with an automotive unit that has open cooling vents. What should the survey report say?
Answer: Noncompliant: electrical parts in gasoline engine spaces must be ignition protected. 33 CFR 183.410 and ABYC E-11 require electrical components in spaces with gasoline engines or fuel tanks to be ignition protected (tested to SAE J1171 or UL 1500), so they can't ignite surrounding vapors. Automotive alternators, starters and distributors usually aren't. Running the blower doesn't make a non-protected part acceptable; diesel-only spaces are not covered by the rule.
4. A 4 AWG positive conductor runs from the house battery's positive terminal to a windlass breaker 5 ft away. It is not in a sheath or conduit. Under ABYC E-11, within what distance of the battery connection must its overcurrent protection be placed?
Answer: 7 inches. ABYC E-11 requires overcurrent protection within 7 inches of the point where the conductor connects to the power source. The 72-inch allowance applies only when the conductor is attached directly to the battery terminal and is contained throughout its length in a sheath or enclosure; 40 inches applies to sheathed conductors fed from a source other than a battery terminal. Starting motor conductors are exempt.
5. Testing a 30 A shore-powered yacht, you find the AC neutral and the green grounding conductor bonded together at the main AC panel. There is no isolation transformer and the generator is off. What is the issue?
Answer: Neutral current can return on the grounding wire; shore neutral must be grounded only ashore. ABYC E-11 grounds the shore power neutral only at the shore source; on board, neutral is grounded only at an onboard source such as a running generator, inverter or isolation transformer secondary. A neutral-to-ground bond aboard puts return current on the grounding conductor and bonded underwater metals, creating shock and corrosion hazards, and it will trip an ELCI where one is fitted.
6. On a carvel-planked wooden yacht with bronze fastenings, the wood around several fastenings near the zinc anodes is soft and stringy, with white crystalline deposits. What is the most likely cause?
Answer: Alkaline (cathodic) wood damage from overprotection by the anodes. Excess cathodic protection makes the fastenings strong cathodes, and the hydroxide produced there attacks the lignin in the surrounding wood, leaving soft, fibrous wood and white deposits (described in NVIC 7-95). Dry rot is brown and cubical and needs fresh water. The remedy is to measure hull potentials and reduce anode area, not to add more zinc.
7. A powerboat's zinc anodes are used up within weeks, but only when it is plugged into shore power at its marina berth. No fault is found in the boat's DC system. What is the best recommendation?
Answer: Install a galvanic isolator or isolation transformer in the shore grounding path. The shore grounding conductor connects the boat's bonded underwater metals to other boats and the marina, forming a galvanic cell that eats the zincs. A galvanic isolator (ABYC A-28) blocks the low-voltage galvanic current while still passing fault current, and an isolation transformer breaks the path entirely. Cutting the green wire removes shock protection and must never be recommended.
8. A moisture meter shows high readings around the stanchion bases on a balsa-cored fiberglass deck, while the rest of the deck reads low. What should the surveyor do before reporting saturated core?
Answer: Confirm with percussion sounding and, with the owner's consent, an invasive check. Moisture meters are comparative instruments: metal backing plates, wiring and some paints raise readings, so high values need confirming. Percussion sounding with a phenolic hammer finds the dull note of delaminated or wet core, and a core sample or removing a fitting gives proof but needs the owner's permission. Balsa absorbs water readily and rots where fittings were not sealed.
9. The owner of an aluminum-hulled workboat plans to paint the bottom with a cuprous oxide antifouling. What should the surveyor advise?
Answer: Don't use it: copper paint causes galvanic pitting of aluminum; choose a copper-free product. Copper is far more noble than aluminum, so copper particles in the paint set up galvanic cells wherever the coating is thin or damaged, and the aluminum pits quickly. Aluminum hulls need copper-free antifouling over a proper barrier primer system. Extra anodes can't make up for copper in direct contact with the hull.
10. A 30-ft recreational powerboat, model year 2022, has no fixed fire-extinguishing system in the engine compartment. What portable extinguishers must it carry under US Coast Guard rules?
Answer: Two 5-B extinguishers or one 20-B extinguisher. Under the USCG rules in force since April 2022 (46 CFR 25.30), boats 26 ft to under 40 ft need two 5-B or one 20-B extinguisher; under 26 ft need one 5-B; 40 to 65 ft need three 5-B or one 5-B plus one 20-B. An approved fixed system in the engine space replaces one 5-B. Boats of model year 2018 or later must carry extinguishers labeled 5-B or 20-B, and disposable units expire 12 years after manufacture.
11. An 18-ft monohull outboard boat built in 2019 is rated for 90 hp. Which flotation standard applies under 33 CFR 183?
Answer: Level flotation, so it floats level and upright when swamped. 33 CFR 183 Subpart H requires level flotation on monohull outboard boats under 20 ft rated for more than 2 hp: swamped, the boat must float level with occupants able to stay with it. Basic flotation (Subparts F and G) covers inboards, sterndrives and outboard boats rated 2 hp or less. Waterlogged foam that has lost buoyancy should be reported.
12. A raw-water intake through-hull 18 inches below the waterline on a cruising yacht is fitted with a household bronze gate valve. How should this be reported?
Answer: As a deficiency: fit a proper seacock that shows open or closed at a glance. A gate valve is not a seacock: you can't see whether it is open or closed, its stem and gate corrode out of sight, and debris can stop it closing. ABYC H-27 calls for a proper seacock (typically a quarter-turn ball or tapered-plug valve) built to marine strength requirements on underwater through-hulls. Free operation on survey day doesn't change the type.
13. During a rigging inspection you find hairline cracks and rust weeping at the neck of a swaged terminal on a 316 stainless steel upper shroud. What is the appropriate recommendation?
Answer: Replace the terminal and wire before the mast is loaded again. Cracks at a swage neck come from stress corrosion and crevice corrosion where salt water sits inside the fitting, and they can fail without further warning (NVIC 02-16 lists them as a pathway to rig failure). Cleaning or sealing hides the defect. The finding should say the shroud is unfit for use until replaced; dye penetrant helps find cracks too fine to see.
14. Draft readings on a steel deck barge, corrected for density, are 3.00 m forward, 3.40 m aft and 3.00 m amidships (average of port and starboard). What condition is the barge in, and what is the stress in the deck plating?
Answer: Hogging, with the deck plating in tension. The mean of the end drafts is 3.20 m and the midship draft is less, at 3.00 m, so midships stands higher than the ends: the barge is hogging. In hogging the deck works as the tension flange of the hull girder and the bottom is in compression. Cracks or wastage at the deck edge and sheer strake are then the most structurally serious findings.
15. Draft survey readings, corrected to the perpendiculars, are 8.00 m forward, 9.20 m aft and 8.70 m amidships. What is the quarter mean draft (mean of means of means) used to enter the hydrostatic tables?
Answer: 8.675 m. Quarter mean = (F + A + 6M) ÷ 8 = (8.00 + 9.20 + 52.20) ÷ 8 = 8.675 m. The forward-aft mean of 8.600 m ignores hog or sag, and 8.650 m is only the mean of means. Weighting midships this way allows for hull deflection; trim and dock water density corrections are then applied to the displacement.

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NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor exam FAQ

How many questions are on the NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor exam?

Yachts and Small Craft: a 100-question CMS exam (NAMS study materials, June 2025). Question counts for Cargo, Hull and Machinery and Marine Warranty are not published; confirm with NAMSGlobal, with a time limit of not published by namsglobal; confirm with namsglobal. Format: written technical exam in your chosen discipline, taken after the nams ethics test. namsglobal does not publish the item format or reference rules; this prep uses 4-option single-best-answer items. it covers the written technical knowledge only, not sponsorship, report review or screening, and centers on the yachts and small craft reference list with core hull and machinery, cargo and marine warranty material.

What is the passing score for NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor?

At least 70% on each module and a cumulative average of at least 75% for the whole exam (NAMS membership application form). A failed module can be retaken 90 to 180 days after the first sitting.

How much does the NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor exam cost?

US$200 non-refundable application fee; annual dues US$600 for Full/Certified members, US$500 Associate, US$325 Apprentice (NAMSGlobal Fees and Dues page). No separate exam fee is published. ABYC charges members less than nonmembers, so confirm current fees with ABYC before you book.

Which languages is the NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor exam offered in?

English.

Where do I take the NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor exam?

Arranged by NAMSGlobal after applicant screening and an ethics test; the technical exam must be taken within 90 days of notice of successful screening. Delivery method is not published; confirm with NAMSGlobal.

Is this NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor practice test free?

Yes. The 15-question practice test on this page is free, with an explanation for every answer and no signup. A free account also unlocks the complete study notes for the first topic. The full NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor prep is Premium at $147 a month for this exam.

What's in the premium NAMS-CMS Marine Surveyor prep?

3,000 practice questions organized topic by topic (Fuel, LPG/CNG and Ventilation Systems: 375; Electrical Systems, Batteries and Lightning Protection: 375; Corrosion, Cathodic Protection and Fastenings: 375; Hull Construction and Repair: FRP, Wood, Steel and Aluminum: 375; Regulations, Flotation and Fire Protection: 375; Through-Hulls, Exhaust, CO and Rigging: 375; Hull and Machinery Surveys: 375; Cargo and Marine Warranty Surveys: 375), 6 full-length timed mock exams of 100 questions, 800 flashcards and 60 comprehensive key notes split across all 8 topics, plus a mistakes bank and the Readiness Score.

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Exam details are summarized from the official candidate information available in November 2026. ABYC changes formats and fees, so confirm with NAMSGlobal (The National Association of Marine Surveyors, Inc.) before you book. ABYCExamPrep is not affiliated with the American Boat & Yacht Council.

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