The Utah Contractor Business and Law Exam

Prov's handbook and DOPL's exam page list seven classifications: B100 General Building, E100 General Engineering, R100 Residential and Small Commercial, E200 General Electrical, E201 Residential Electrical, P200 General Plumbing and P201 Residential Plumbing. The four plumbing and electrical classifications also need a master-level license in the trade. H100 HVAC applicants now take it too. It is the qualifier, the person licensing on behalf of the company, who sits the exam.

DOPL lists two ways around it for general classifications: a year of licensed experience in a similar scope in another U.S. jurisdiction, with that license active and in good standing, or having served as a Utah qualifier before May 9, 2017. Everyone else passes the exam and attaches the result to the application.

No DOPL approval is needed first. Register at Prov's website by choosing UT Contracting as the certifying body and then Business and Law or Business and Law - Spanish, or call Prov at 801-733-4455, where schedulers work 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Mountain Time on weekdays. Enter your name exactly as it appears on your government ID; Prov also asks for your Social Security number and address.

The fee is $85 each time you take the exam, first attempt or retake. To change or cancel, contact Prov at least three business days before the test date. Rescheduling on time is free, while missing that deadline or not showing up forfeits the fee.

The exam has 60 questions and a two-hour limit, and it is graded against a 70 percent cut score. Results are given before you leave the test site. Prov's outline assigns the questions like this:

The exam is open book with one primary reference that you bring. Most candidates choose one of three: the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management (Prov's handbook lists a 4th edition), the Home Builders Association of Utah's Utah Contractor Education Book, 11th edition, in English or Spanish, or the AGC of Utah's Utah Contractor Business and Law Manual, 1st edition. Prov encourages highlighting and permanent tabs before test day.

Six legal references are built into the testing software, so you do not bring them: DOPL's general rule R156-1, the Construction Trades Licensing Act (Title 58, Chapter 55), its rule R156-55a, the Workers' Compensation Act (Title 34A, Chapter 2), the Utah Centralized New Hire Registry Act (Title 35A, Chapter 7), and the Pre-construction and Construction Liens chapter (Title 38, Chapter 1a). Older printed editions are allowed, but answers follow the newer versions. A silent, battery-powered, non-programmable calculator is permitted; a phone calculator is not.

Prov's handbook lists 17 test centers between Logan and St. George, while DOPL's exam page now says 21. You can also test from home through Prov's Examroom service, which needs a recent Mac, PC or Chromebook, the Chrome or Firefox browser, a working webcam and microphone, upload speeds above 3 Mbps, a single monitor, and a clear, private workspace.

Doors open at least 15 minutes before appointments, and anyone arriving after the session starts is turned away and loses the fee. Bring a current government photo ID whose name matches your registration exactly. A paper temporary Utah driver's license works only together with your recently expired original. You will sign a log and be photographed, and refusing either ends the session with fees forfeited.

After a failed attempt you wait 30 days before retesting. After three failed attempts the wait becomes 180 days before each further try. Prov treats cheating harshly: a candidate caught giving or receiving help or using unauthorized materials has the test stopped and graded as failed, forfeits the fee, and is reported to DOPL, which the handbook says typically results in a 12-month testing moratorium.

Section 58-55-302 says the Business and Law exam covers material from the 25-hour pre-licensure course, plus the five-hour business and law course for those who took the 25-hour course on or after July 1, 2019. The course ends with its own provider-run test, which is separate from the Prov exam. In practice, the course notes and your chosen primary reference cover the same ground, so use them together.

Licensing is the largest block at 10 questions, and lien law is only 3, yet the lien chapter is one of the built-in references, so practice looking things up quickly. With 60 questions in 120 minutes you have two minutes per item. Prov's bookstore sells the primary references and its own practice exams. ContractorPrepHQ's Utah Business and Law practice, $99 with lifetime access, adds original questions keyed to this outline, a diagnostic, topic drills with explanations and timed exams with a readiness score, backed by a 30-day money-back guarantee.