Mar
Getting a California Contractor’s License
Every now and then I get questions about getting a contractor’s license. One of the big things that people want to know is whether to go to a school for this. These schools charge anywhere from $600 to $1200 for the classes plus the study guides. It’s a bit expensive if you ask me.
I recommend that you just get a set of the study guides for the trade and law tests. If you go through the sample tests a few times you will have no problems. It also helps if you can get hold of a copy of the WIC and AWI standards since that is where they get a lot of the questions from. You will also need to buy a copy of the Law & Reference Book from the state.
The actual tests are not that difficult. They are multiple choice, and you only need to get something like 65% of the questions correct. It’s broken up into two sections – the trade and the law. Each section is about 100 questions, and they give you 2 hours per section. I did each section in about an hour.
The test is pass/fail and they will not tell you what your score was. If you happen to fail it they will let you know what areas you screwed up on.
You can also apply via the PDF form that is available for download on the CSLB web site. Once you send in the form you can check the status on the web site as well.
If the application is accepted you will need to get finger printed before the test date.
Good luck!
Joe
