The Exam

You register for the exam with Professional Testing, Inc. The easiest way to register is online – http://www.floridaexam.com/

Registering for both the Business & Finance and the Trade Knowledge exam(s) at the same time is the most economical way to register. Each separate registration comes with a $135 registration fee payable to Professional Testing. This fee is just for registration. So, if you register for different parts of the exam at different times, you will end up paying the $135 multiple times.

An additional $80 fee is also collected for each exam part. Business & Finance and all computer-based trade knowledge exams will require a separate $80 fee payable to Pearson Vue. For sit-down trade knowledge exams (like General, Building & Residential), an $80 fee payable to DBPR is required.

Additional Registration Information:
You must register for your exam and pay all required fees no later than 30 days prior to the examination date. Once PTI has processed your registration you will be mailed a receipt. If you register online it is your responsibility to print your receipt at the end of the registration process.

Admission slips will be mailed to all eligible candidates 20-25 days prior to the exam date and are also available online. You must have your admission slip and photo ID in order to sit for the exam.

All portions of your exam must be passed with a minimum proficiency of 70%. A lower score will result in a fail status. However, keep in mind that you only need to retake the specific portions of the exam that you didn’t pass. So for example, if you passed Business & Finance and Project Management, you would only need to retake Contract Administration until that portion is passed.

Exam scores are good for 4 years from the date the first portion is passed.

Wow, that’s a big question! Let’s cover some basic information and please feel free to contact us if you have additional questions.

The Business & Finance Exam is an open-book computer-based examination administered by Pearson-Vue authorized testing centers. These centers are located throughout the United States and you do not need to be in Florida to take the exam. You simply schedule a time and location that works for you.

The exam will consist of 120 graded questions and 5 pilot questions; (these are new questions that do not count for or against you). You will have 6.5 hours to complete the examination, which gives you approximately 3 minutes to answer each question.

Remember, the exam is open book! Therefore you need to be familiar with layout and content of each book on the exam in order to be able to find the correct page and paragraph, and answer the question correctly within 3 minutes.

The Trade Knowledge Exam is an open-book sit-down examination administered by Professional Testing, Inc. every even month throughout the year. These exams are administered in only 3 locations in Florida: Tallahassee, Kissimmee, & Miami.

For General, Builder & Residential Licenses, the exam will consist of 2 separate exams given back-to-back on the same day. You will have 4.75 hours to complete each examination, which includes Contract Administration in the morning and Project Management in the afternoon. Collectively, these 2 exams are called “Trade Knowledge”. Each exam will feature a set amount of graded questions plus 5 pilot questions; (these are new questions that do not count for or against you).

  • General: 60 graded questions per exam / 4.4 min. per question
  • Building: 50 graded question per exam / 5.2 min. per question
  • Residential: 45 graded question per exam / 5.7 min. per question

For most other license types, the exam consists of a single “Trade Knowledge” exam, and this will either be computer-based or a sit-down exam, depending on the license type. You can get more information at myfloridalicense.com

Remember, the exams are open book! Therefore you need to be familiar with layout and content of each book on the exam in order to be able to find the correct page and paragraph and answer the question correctly within 4 to 5 minutes (for General, Building & Residential exams).

All licensees must pass a Business & Finance section and a Trade Knowledge section.
The Business & Finance section is the same exam for all license classification.
The Trade Knowledge section is obviously unique to each individual trade.
For Residential, Builder, and General contractors, the Trade Knowledge section is broken into two separate examinations. A Contract Administration exam and a Project Management exam which both must be passed individually to obtain a license

A minimum score of 70% is required on all exam sections.