North Carolina Contractor License Exams

You cannot book a general contractor exam until the board approves your application and sends an Examination Eligibility Letter. The letter carries an identification number, and PSI's bulletin says it is valid for 120 days for one exam. Missing the exam counts as an attempt.

Schedule online at test-takers.psiexams.com/nccon or by phone at (855) 746-8173. The fee is $79 per exam, charged again for each retake, and it is not refundable or transferable. You can cancel and reschedule without losing the fee if PSI receives the cancellation two days ahead; voicemail and email do not count. PSI lists North Carolina centers in Asheville, Charlotte, Greenville, Raleigh, Fayetteville, Wilmington and Winston-Salem, and an out-of-state request form lets you test at a PSI site elsewhere.

The Building Contractor exam has 90 scored questions and a 200-minute limit, and you need 70 percent to pass; 21 NCAC 12A .0404 sets the same 70. It is open book. PSI may add five to ten unscored experimental questions that do not use up your time.

The Residential Contractor exam also has 90 questions, with 210 minutes and the same 70 percent passing score. Its heaviest area is estimating, plan reading and general residential code requirements at 16 items, followed by site work, footings and foundations at 12, carpentry at 11, and licensing and business and law at 10. Concrete and reinforcement has 10, associated trades including energy conservation and drywall 8, masonry 7, roofing 6, special construction zones for wind and coastal work with erosion control 6, and OSHA safety 4.

The references allowed in the room are the 2018 North Carolina Residential Code, the 2018 Administrative Code and Policies, the construction safety standards (29 CFR 1926 as adopted by North Carolina) and the NASCLA Contractor's Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, North Carolina General Contractors Edition, 10th edition. Several trade texts on carpentry, roofing, masonry and concrete were used to write questions but cannot be brought in.

For Building and Residential candidates, the law content sits inside the trade exam itself: the Building outline has its own business and law, licensing, liens, One Call and erosion control areas, and the Residential outline has a 10-item licensing and business and law block. 21 NCAC 12A .0402(b) says every applicant, including those seeking reciprocity, is tested on the board's laws and rules.

The same PSI bulletin also lists a standalone Business and Law exam of 40 questions in 90 minutes: licensing 21, liens and bonds 8, One Call 5, erosion and sedimentation control 3 and subcontractor pay requirements 3, with the NASCLA North Carolina guide as its reference. Your eligibility letter tells you which exams you are approved to take.

The plumbing board's exam listing gives the Plumbing Contractor exam 4.0 hours plus a 1.5-hour Business and Law exam. You skip Business and Law if you already hold an active contractor license with this board and passed its Business and Law exam after August 2003. 21 NCAC 50 .0305 scores each exam out of 100 and requires 70 to pass. Neither the board nor PSI publishes item counts or a topic outline for these exams.

For a Class I plumbing contractor, the board's Book Reference List allows six items: the 2018 Administration Code and Policies, the 2018 Plumbing Code, the 2018 Fuel Gas Code, the 2018 Residential Code, the board's Laws and Rules (2025 or 2026 edition) and Business and Project Management for Contractors (6th or 7th edition). Books must be bound, in original condition, and may carry only highlighting and permanently attached commercial tabs; ICC Turbo Tabs are the only loose inserts permitted. Printed PDFs, handwritten notes and underlining are not allowed. PSI supplies pencils, scratch paper, calculators and the NC Heating and Plumbing Figures.

The board's approval letter opens a 90-day window to test. PSI's plumbing bulletin lists a $75 exam fee; the board separately charges its $150 application fee.

Both programs test the 2018 North Carolina codes. The PSI bulletin says code questions follow only the edition it lists, and the plumbing board's FAQ says the effective date of the 2024 codes has been delayed, so do not study a newer edition until the boards announce a change.

NCLBGC candidates see their score on screen and get a diagnostic report if they fail, plus 30 minutes at the end to review the items they missed. The bulletin allows as many retakes as you like in 12 months while your application information stays valid, though G.S. 87-10(d1) lets the board require a new application for a third or later attempt. For plumbing board exams, the board's applicant page says a failing candidate waits 90 days and files a Re-Examination Application. PSI's plumbing bulletin speaks of retesting within days, so follow the board's instructions.

Start with the outline weights. On the Building exam, code, estimating and plan reading plus concrete and metals make up 39 of the 90 questions. On Residential, the code and estimating block alone is 16. Tab your code books with permanent tabs before test day, and time yourself: the Building exam allows a little over two minutes per question, the Residential a bit more.

For the plumbing exams, practice finding answers fast in the 2018 Plumbing Code, since with no published outline the book itself is your map. ContractorPrepHQ offers practice for these exams: Building and Residential Contractor at $149 each, the plumbing board's Business and Law at $99, and P-I Plumbing Class I at $149 with the Business and Law prep included. It provides original practice questions, a diagnostic and timed exams with a readiness score, and it offers no pass guarantee.