The Nevada Contractor License Exams

You cannot book until NSCB has your application and has verified your experience. The board then sends an Examination Eligibility form with a candidate ID number. You register with PSI online or at (855) 205-5827, and your PSI account name must match your government ID exactly.

NSCB says exams run seven days a week in the Las Vegas area, five days a week in Reno (Monday and Wednesday through Saturday), and on a limited schedule in Elko. PSI lists Brainseed Testing Services locations in Las Vegas and Reno and a site in Elko. Candidates with ADA accommodations must schedule by phone.

PSI charges $95 for one exam portion and $140 for two when the second is the CMS. Two trade exams, such as C-3 and C-4, are $95 each. Fees are charged per registration, including retakes, are not refundable or transferable, and expire with your eligibility.

The clock is short. NAC 624.600 requires the qualifier to pass within six months after the application is filed. After a failed attempt you wait two weeks before retesting. A third failure voids the application; you may reapply with a new application and fee 30 days or more after the last exam. Cancelling at least two days ahead keeps your fee, and voicemail is not an acceptable cancellation.

The CMS has 60 scored items in 120 minutes plus 3 unscored items with 6 extra minutes. You need 45 correct, which is 75 percent. It is open book with exactly one allowed reference: the Construction Business and Law Manual for Nevada, sold by PSI. The CMS is also offered in Spanish on request.

Here is how the 60 scored items are spread:

Nevada's rule on references is stricter than some states'. The CMS bulletin allows the manual to be highlighted, underlined or indexed before the exam, but it may not be written in, before or during the session. Only permanent tabs are allowed, sticky notes must be removed, and loose or attached extra papers are confiscated. Anyone caught writing or highlighting during the exam loses the book and is reported to the board.

For trade exams, NSCB's FAQ says they are closed book except for certain code references, and each outline names what may come in. The B General Building and B-2 outlines, for example, mark their exams open book with specific references allowed, including the 2018 IBC and IRC for B-2. Check your own outline before buying books.

Question counts and passing marks differ by classification. A few from the current bulletins:

The CMS is the same test whatever classification you want, and it rewards knowing one book well. Its questions come from business practice: reading a financial statement, figuring a bid, meeting payroll tax and labor rules, handling liens and contracts, and managing risk and safety. Passing takes 75 percent, higher than the 70 percent bar on the A outline.

The trade exam changes with the classification and leans on field knowledge plus the codes and trade manuals listed in the outline. It is also the exam Nevada is most willing to waive, through endorsement, prior Nevada qualification or the NASCLA general building exam for B and B-2. Because the CMS has fewer paths around it, most first-time Nevada applicants should expect to sit it.

Arrive 30 minutes early with one valid, unexpired photo ID such as a state driver's license or ID card, U.S. passport, military ID, alien registration card or Canadian government ID. Only silent, non-programmable calculators without paper tape or an alphabet keyboard are allowed. A tutorial of up to 15 minutes does not count against your time, but the unscored experimental items, roughly 10 percent of the question count, do.

Scores come immediately. A failing report breaks down strengths and weaknesses by area, and you can print it from your PSI account. PSI forwards passing results to NSCB, and you can leave comments on questions during the exam, which PSI reviews.

For the CMS, the manual is the whole game: learn its layout, tab it permanently, and practice finding answers under time, since 60 questions in 120 minutes leaves two minutes each. Financial management and licensing make up more than a third of the items. For the trade exam, match your study to the item counts and buy only the references your outline lists.

Both are one-time purchases with lifetime access, a diagnostic, topic drills with explanations and timed practice exams scored for readiness, backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.