How to Pass the Arkansas General Contractor License Test

To pass the Arkansas general contractor license test, you need to score at least 70% on the Arkansas Business and Law Examination, a 50-question, open-book, multiple-choice test with a two-hour limit administered by PSI. If you are applying for the commercial Building (B) classification, you also have to pass the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors on top of that.¹ The single most important preparation choice is how well you know your way around the one reference book you’re allowed to bring in with you.

Which Exam You Actually Need to Pass

Every contractor license classification in Arkansas requires the Arkansas Business and Law Examination. That much is universal.¹

What varies is whether you need a second, trade-specific exam. For the commercial Building (B) classification, which is what most people mean when they say “general contractor,” Arkansas requires the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors in addition to the Business and Law exam.¹ Missing this is a common and expensive mistake. Do not assume passing Business and Law alone qualifies you for a Building license.

For residential builder and residential remodeler licenses issued through the Residential Contractors Committee, the Business and Law exam is the exam you need to pass.²

If you already hold a NASCLA credential from another participating state, Arkansas accepts it, so you don’t have to retake the trade portion. You still have to sit for the Arkansas Business and Law Examination, because it tests state-specific rules a national credential doesn’t cover.¹

What’s on the Business and Law Exam

The Arkansas Business and Law Examination is computer-based and multiple choice. Fifty questions. Two hours. You must answer at least 35 correctly, which works out to 70%.¹

Content areas include:

Arkansas licensing regulations
Contract management
Lien laws
Estimating and bidding
Labor laws

The questions are built around Arkansas rules specifically. General construction experience will not carry you through the state regulatory material. If you have not worked inside Arkansas’s licensing framework before, plan on more study time for the state-specific sections than for the general business content.

The Only Book You Can Bring In

The only reference allowed in the testing center is the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, Arkansas Edition.³ Everything on the Business and Law exam is covered inside it, and it is your sole resource during the test. Buy it early. Study from it directly rather than from separate prep materials, because on exam day the thing that decides whether you pass is how fast you can find answers in this specific book.

The rules on what you can do to the book before the exam matter:

You may highlight and underline anywhere in the book.
You may write notes in it before exam day.
Tabs are allowed only if they are permanent, meaning tabs that would tear the page if removed.
Post-It notes and any other removable tabs must come out before you’re admitted to testing.
You cannot write in the book during the exam itself. Anyone caught doing so is reported to the Board.¹

How to Study for an Open-Book Test

Open book sounds generous. It isn’t. Two hours moves fast when you’re flipping through an unfamiliar reference for 50 answers, and most people who fail this test fail on the clock, not the content.

A study approach that fits the format:

Read the book once, cover to cover, without highlighting. The goal on this pass is knowing what’s in there and roughly where it lives, so you’re not discovering topics for the first time under time pressure.

Go through it a second time with a highlighter and your permanent tabs. Mark the sections that map to the tested subjects: licensing requirements, lien deadlines, contract provisions, worker classification rules, bidding and estimating procedures. Tab so you can jump to a subject in one motion, not three.

Then take timed practice questions. Look up every answer in the book, even ones you think you know, because the point of practice is training your lookup speed, not testing recall. If you can consistently finish practice sets in under two hours at 70% or better, you’re ready.

Registering, Fees, and Test Day

PSI Services administers the exam for the Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board. Register through the PSI website or by phone at 855-257-1620. The fee is $84 and is non-refundable.⁴

Bring one valid government-issued photo ID with your signature. The name on the ID has to match exactly the name you used to register. Arrive early enough to get through check-in without rushing. You take the test on a computer and receive an unofficial score report the moment you finish.

Getting Cleared to Test in the First Place

You can’t just book the exam. The Contractors Licensing Board or Residential Contractors Committee has to approve your application first, and approval depends on meeting experience, reference, and financial requirements.

Experience thresholds by license type:

Commercial classifications, including Building and Light Building: five years of appropriate experience. Specialty classifications require at least one year.⁵
Residential Builder: four years of verifiable experience in commercial or residential building.⁶
Residential Remodeler: two years of verifiable experience in commercial or residential remodeling.⁶

Commercial applicants also submit three professional references from people who have directly observed your construction work, not suppliers or bankers.⁷

Commercial applicants must file a financial statement prepared by an independent CPA. A compiled statement is enough when your single-project costs stay under $750,000; above that, you need a reviewed statement meeting AICPA standards.⁸ Minimum net worth is set by classification. For Building (B), the minimum is $50,000, of which $25,000 must be cash in the bank, and working capital must be positive.⁷ Residential applicants working on projects under $50,000 don’t have to submit a financial statement; those at $50,000 or above submit a compiled statement.⁹

After You Pass

Your passing score report does not travel to the Board automatically. Getting it there is on you. If you leave it to PSI to forward, results can take several weeks to arrive and stall your license approval.¹⁰ Fax or mail the report to the Board the same day you pass.

Passing is one piece of the license package. The Board won’t release your license until the rest of the file, including the CPA financial statement, proof of insurance, surety bond for commercial applicants, and references, is complete. An application has to be complete within 90 days of submission or it expires.⁷ Once everything is in, the Board and Residential Committee approve licenses at scheduled meetings roughly twice a month, so time your submission to land before the next meeting rather than just after one.¹¹

1
PSI Services. Arkansas Contractor Business and Law Examination
2
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Apply for Contractors License and Registration
3
NASCLA Bookstore. NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management – Arkansas 8th Edition
4
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Arkansas Business and Law Test Instructions
5
Arkansas Code of Rules. 17 CAR 255-208 – Classification and Experience
6
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Rules of the Residential Contractors Committee
7
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Commercial New Application
8
FindLaw. Arkansas Code Title 17 Code 17-25-304 – Financial Statement
9
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Arkansas Residential Contractors Licensing Law and Rules
10
Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Arkansas Business and Law Test Instructions
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Arkansas Department of Labor and Licensing. Hearing and Meeting Dates