NC Exam Information

(Scroll down for South Carolina and Georgia exam information)

If you are going to operate as a corporation or as a partnership you must first register with the NC Secretary of State. They can be contacted at:

North Carolina Secretary of State
300 North Salisbury Street
Raleigh, NC 27611

Phone: (919)-733-4201
Fax: (919)-733-1837
Website: www.state.nc.us/secstate/

To download an application, go to http://www.nclbgc.org/formsRev2_fr.html

The application is free. Also, it is 35 pages long, so make sure your printer has plenty of paper before starting. If you need to contact the Board, their addres is:

NC Licensing Board for General Contractors
P.O. Box 17187
Raleigh, NC 27619

Phone: (919)-571-4183
Fax: (919)-571-4703

Fill out the application completely. You may want to ask your accountant for assistance with the financial portion. He can help you determine the proper license to apply for. There will be three choices depending on your current finances. Limited, Intermediate and Unlimited.

Mail your application to the NC Licensing Board.

Be sure to include:

• Your application
• Your check. $75 Limited, $100 Intermediate, $125 Unlimited
• Your 3 letters of reference.
• Your registration from the Secretary of State

*If you chose to be a Partnership or Corporation.

After you are approved, contact PSI Exams to schedule a location and date to take the exam. Currently, the cost of the exam is $60 and is non-refundable

Contact PSI at:

PSI Examination Services
(800)-733-9267 / Fax (702)-932-2666
Website: www.psiexams.com

About the Exam

The exam is administered by PSI Exams. You must first have your application with the state approved before you can schedule an appointment to take the exam with PSI. Once approved, you will receive an Examination Eligibility Letter with your Identification Number. To schedule an exam appointment with PSI, you need to have your Identification Number in front of you. PSI's phone number is 1-800-733-9267.

NOTE: The Exam Eligibility Letter is only good for 120 days.

The current cost of the exam is $60.00 and is non-refundable. They do take credit cards for this charge.

As of 12/17/2007, they have test sites in the following cities: Asheville, Charlotte, Greenville, Fayetteville, Wilmington, Raleigh and Winston-Salem.

About the exam. The exam is a 90 question exam taken on a computer. The exam is timed for 3 hours and automatically shuts you down after the 3 hour limit. Your time starts when you hit the start button to begin the exam. There is a short tutorial at the beginning to help you become familiar with the computer buttons used for the exam. During the exam, you have the opportunity to "mark" a question if you would like to come back to it later. There is a "Go To" option that allows this at any time during the exam.

Upon completion of the exam, you will know if you passed or failed. You will receive your actual score in the mail about 10 days later with a letter from the state acknowledging you passed.

NOTE: DO NOT WRITE ANYTHING, ANYWHERE IN YOUR BOOKS. The Proctor will check your books prior to going to your testing station and will check them again when you are done with the exam. They do not want you leaving the exam with any information that's not in your head.

SC Residential Exam Information

Scroll down for SC Commercial Exam Information
Scroll down for Georgia Exam Information

The Exam is actually divided into two exams and is administered by PSI Exams, The exams are:

The Business Management & Law Exam and the Trades Exam. Both are open book exams.

Business Management & Law Exam

• This is a 2 hour exam containing 50 questions.
• You must answer 35 questions correctly to receive a passing score of 70%.
• Questions are from the following categories.
  • Business Management (2 Items)
  • Licensing Laws and Rules (2 Items)
  • Estimating and Bidding (8 Items)
  • Contracts and Agreements (7 Items)
  • Project Management (7 Items)
  • Insurance and Bonding (5 Items)
  • Safety Recordkeeping and Reporting (1 Item)
  • Labor Laws and Employment Regulations (3 Items)
  • Financial Management (4 Items)
  • Tax Laws (5 Items)
  • Liens (3 Items)
  • Environmental Laws and Regulations (3 Items)

The Trades Exam

• This is a 4 hour exam containing 80 questions.
• You must answer 52 questions correctly to receive a passing score of 65%.
  • Questions are from the following catagories.
  • Sitework and Foundations (7 Items)
  • Concrete (4 Items)
  • Concrete-Reinforcement (4 Items)
  • Masonry (8 Items)
  • Carpentry (14 Items)
  • Associated Trades and Drywall (19 Items)
  • Roofing (5 Items)
  • Estimating-Plan Reading (19 Items)

To get started, apply to the state prior to registering with PSI for an examination. Once approved, you will receive an Examination Eligibility letter. Examination Eligibility is valid for 1 year and you allowed 3 attempts to pass the exam within a 12 month period. You must pass both the Business Management & Law exam and the Trades exam within the 12 month period. To request an application, call 1-803-896-4696 and one will be sent to you at no charge.

Now, you need to study. Order our Exam Prep. Course and your reference books. The Exam Prep. Course and all the reference books are available from our bookstore.

When you feel you are prepared, Call PSI Exams at1-800-733-9267 to schedule your exam. The cost of the exam is $90.00 and this covers both exams. PSI does take VISA and MasterCard. They will also ask for your Social Security number to use as an identification number for you.

For additional information such as test locations, etc., go to PSI’s website at www.psiexams.com Download and print a Candidate Information Bulletin for the Residential Builder.

SC Unlimited Exam Information

Scroll down for Georgia Exam Information

The Exam is actually divided into two exams and is administered by PSI Exams, The exams are:

The Business Management & Law Exam and the Trades Exam. Both are open book exams.

Business Management & Law Exam

• This is a 2 hour exam containing 50 questions.
• You must answer 35 questions correctly to receive a passing score of 70%.

The Trades Exam

• This is a 5 hour exam containing 100 questions.
• You must answer 70 questions correctly to receive a passing score of 70%.

Now, you need to study. Order our  Contractor Exam Prep. Course and your reference books. The Prep. Course and all the reference books are available from our bookstore. (Our books are less expensive than anywhere else…)

When you feel you are prepared, you will need a PSI registration form. One can be obtained by going to www.psiexams.com . Download and print the Candidate Information Bulletin. There will be a form included with this document. The cost of the Business exam is $75.00 and the Trades exam is $85.00. You will need to send either a Cashiers Check or a Money Order with your registration from along with other required documentation. They will also ask for your Social Security number to use as an identification number for you.

Once approved, you will receive an Examination Eligibility letter. Examination Eligibility is valid for 1 year and you allowed 2 attempts to pass the Trades exam within a 12 month period. There is not a limit on how many times you can take the Business Management & Law exam. You must pass both the Business Management & Law exam and the Trades exam to obtain your license. To schedule an examination, call PSI at 1-800-733-9267 .

For additional information such as test locations, etc., go to PSI’s website at www.psiexams.com
Download and print a Candidate Information Bulletin for the Commercial Contractor.

GA Exam Information

As of May 1, 2007, Georgia has exam applications that can be downloaded from their website. Please go to www.sos.state.ga.us/cgi-bin/plbforms.asp?board=49 to download an application. The state must approve your application prior to you scheduling to take the exam with PSI Exams, the test administrator.

 

Best of luck to you.

Stuart Winston