Building Construction is major classification 1 on a Louisiana commercial license: the general contractor's classification for building, repairing, raising, leveling, developing or demolishing structures, together with the landscaping, earthwork, parking areas, driveways and sidewalks that go with them. On top of the Business and Law requirement it takes a trade exam, which since August 5, 2025 is given at PSI. This guide covers when the classification is required, what it does and does not let you build, and exactly what PSI's content outline says about the exam.
A commercial license is required once a project reaches $50,000, counting all labor and materials, and “commercial” is defined broadly: any construction project except residential structures intended to be primarily occupied as a residence with no more than two dwelling units in one structure (La. R.S. 37:2150.1). Building Construction is the classification for general building work on those projects, and the Board's classification list marks it “Trade Exam”.
It is also an umbrella. A major classification lets its holder bid and perform the work of its subclassifications (LAC 46:XXIX §301), and Building Construction's subclassifications run from 1.1 Driveways, Parking Areas, Asphalt and Concrete through Drywall, Flooring and Decking, Foundations, Masonry, Pile Driving, Roofing and Sheet Metal, Steel Erection, Swimming Pools and 1.14 Water Cooling Towers. Each of those has its own, narrower trade exam if you want only that trade.
New houses are the big exception. The Board's FAQ says a commercial license does not allow you to build a single residential home; that takes a Residential license with the Residential Construction classification. The statute softens this for you: the Board must exempt from the residential construction exam anyone who holds a Building Construction license issued by the Board (section 37:2156.1(D)(4)). In the other direction, the FAQ says a commercial Building Construction license is the only commercial classification exempt from the Home Improvement registration, for projects up to $50,000.
PSI's Louisiana content outline sets the format: 80 questions, 180 minutes, and a minimum passing score of 56 correct, which is 70 percent. The questions are spread over ten content areas: Sitework 7, Concrete 13, Masonry 7, Metals 10, Carpentry 7, Thermal and Moisture Protection 7, Doors and Windows 3, Finishes 3, Safety 8, and General Code, Plan Reading and Estimating 15. PSI charges $175 for this exam, and a retake is another $175.
The exam is open book. The outline lists the references allowed in the room: the 2018 International Building Code; 29 CFR Part 1926, OSHA's construction standards (or PSI's printed selections); Steel Joist Institute Technical Digest No. 9 on handling and erecting steel joists; Carpentry and Building Construction (Feirer); Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures (PCA); Pipe and Excavation Contracting; Roofing Construction and Estimating; PTI's Level 1 field fundamentals for unbonded post-tensioning; Modern Masonry; and CRSI's Placing Reinforcing Bars. Two rules in the outline matter for your purchases. For code questions the exam is based only on the edition listed, so bring the 2018 IBC even if your parish enforces a newer one; for the other books, later editions are acceptable. And the outline warns that questions may also draw on trade knowledge or general industry practice.
PSI's March 2026 bulletin sets the rules for references: you bring your own copies; you may highlight, underline, annotate and tab them beforehand, with permanent tabs only, not sticky notes; you may not write in them during the exam; and loose papers are confiscated, so anything printed from a website must be bound. Only a silent, non-programmable calculator without an alphabet keyboard is allowed, and no scientific calculators. You schedule after PSI emails your eligibility, which lasts one year; cancel at least two days ahead or you forfeit the fee. Because this exam requires reference materials, the Board's scheduling page says that to test outside Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia you arrange it through PSI Exam Accommodations rather than regular scheduling. Fail it and you wait 30 days to retake (LAC 46:XXIX §111).
If you already passed NASCLA's building exam, the Board's form says the NASCLA Building exam gives credit for the Building Construction and Residential Construction exams (have NASCLA release your transcript to the Board). Under the Board's October 2024 reciprocity notice, a building exam you passed in another state, where it was required and passed with no waivers, can be credited to the equivalent Louisiana classification. Either way, Business and Law and the rest of the application still apply.
An open-book exam tests how fast you find the right table, not how much you have memorized. Tab the IBC chapters the outline leans on and practice looking things up against the clock: 180 minutes for 80 questions is a little over two minutes each. The biggest single area is General Code, Plan Reading and Estimating at 15 questions, so practice quantity take-offs as well as code lookups. Safety is 8 questions answered from 29 CFR 1926, the same federal standards behind the OSHA 10- and 30-hour construction cards; our free OSHA construction practice drills them. LICENA's Louisiana Building Construction bank follows the outline's areas, with a written explanation on every answer.
Practice the Building Construction exam LICENA's Louisiana Building Construction bank is written against the references on PSI's outline, with a written explanation on every answer in English, Spanish and Russian. The sample is free, no sign-up.
Try the free practice test → How to get a Louisiana contractor license