Louisiana Contractor License Exams

You qualify for a trade exam by filing a license application, or a request to add a classification or qualifying party to an existing license. Once LSLBC approves it, PSI emails an eligibility notice with a link to create an account, pay and schedule. The PSI bulletin says eligibility lasts one year; if you have not passed within that year, you reapply to the board.

Book online at test-takers.psiexams.com/lacon or call (855) 539-0708. PSI's March 2026 list of Louisiana sites includes Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Sulphur, Metairie, Monroe, Pineville and Shreveport, and it has centers in other states too. LSLBC's scheduling page says candidates testing outside Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia should call PSI, with a separate accommodations line for exams that need reference books.

PSI's fee table lists $175 for Building Construction and $140 each for Residential Construction, Mechanical Work and Electrical Statewide. You may cancel and reschedule without losing the fee if PSI receives notice two days before the appointment. Missing the exam, arriving late or bringing the wrong ID forfeits it, and board rule §111 adds that a no-show must pay a new fee before rescheduling.

Arrive 15 minutes early with one valid photo ID bearing your signature; the LA Wallet app is on PSI's accepted list. Calculators must be silent, battery-powered and non-programmable, and scientific calculators are not allowed for any LSLBC exam. Mechanical candidates may bring any brand of duct sizing calculator.

Each outline sets the question count, time and a 70 percent passing score. PSI may add one to ten unscored experimental questions, and the time spent on them is not counted.

Building Construction puts 15 items on general code, plan reading and estimating, 13 on concrete, 10 on metals and 8 on safety, with the rest spread across sitework, masonry, carpentry, thermal and moisture protection, doors and windows, and finishes. Residential Construction leans on estimating, plan reading and general code requirements at 18 items, carpentry at 15 and site work, footings and foundations at 13, then concrete 9, roofing 7, OSHA safety 7, associated trades and drywall 6 and masonry 5.

Mechanical Work is spread thin across 23 areas, from gas systems at 10 and isometric analysis at 8 down to a single testing, adjusting and balancing item, and it mixes plumbing, fuel gas, HVAC, refrigeration and fire sprinkler content. Electrical Statewide gives 10 items each to general electrical knowledge, installation requirements, services, feeders and branch circuits, grounding and bonding, special occupancies including pools, and lighting and signs, with overcurrent protection at 9.

All four outlines say the exam is open book and list the references allowed in the room. Building uses the 2018 International Building Code, Residential the 2018 International Residential Code, Mechanical the 2018 IPC, IMC and IFGC with several trade manuals, and Electrical the 2023 National Electrical Code with Ugly's Electrical References. Each lists 29 CFR 1926 or PSI's selections from it. Code questions follow only the edition listed.

Those editions are not what Louisiana enforces. The Louisiana Uniform Construction Code Council lists the 2021 ICC codes and the 2020 NEC as current, with the 2024 ICC codes and 2023 NEC due January 1, 2027. Study the edition on your outline. The electrical outline also calls its NEC the edition adopted by the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission, which looks like a copy error. Separately, the board's older exam-administration rule bars reference material in the room; it predates PSI, so follow the current bulletin and outline.

PSI's bulletin lets you highlight, underline, annotate and index references before the exam, but not write in them during it. Tabs must be permanent, Post-its come out, and printed web material must be bound or in a binder with no loose pages.

Your score appears on screen and a report is emailed; a failing report includes a diagnostic by content area. Board rule §111 makes you wait 30 days before retaking a failed exam. Under rule §117, after two failed attempts at the same exam with the last score within ten points of passing, you may request a review of the questions you missed through the LSLBC portal within 60 days. After a review you must wait 14 days to retest.

Because the Business and Law requirement is a course, your study time can go entirely to the trade outline and the references you will carry in. Tab the code chapters that match the heaviest areas, practice table lookups in the 2018 codes or the 2023 NEC, and rehearse the arithmetic for estimating and load questions until it is quick; the 80-question exams allow two and a quarter minutes per question.

ContractorPrepHQ sells Louisiana prep for Building Construction, Residential Construction, Mechanical and Electrical at $149 each, with original questions written from these outlines, a diagnostic, topic drills with explanations and timed exams with a readiness score. It does not provide the Business and Law course, and it cannot promise a pass.