North Carolina does not license every contractor through one office. General contractors answer to the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors (NCLBGC), plumbing and heating contractors to the NC State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors, and electrical contractors to the NC State Board of Examiners of Electrical Contractors (NCBEEC). All three boards give their exams by computer through PSI, all three exams are open book, and all three pass at 70. This guide walks the path board by board, using only the statutes, the boards' rules and the exam bulletins, and it says plainly where a board publishes no number.
Each board works under its own article of Chapter 87 of the General Statutes and its own rules. The NCLBGC licenses general contractors under Article 1 and 21 NCAC 12A. The State Board of Examiners of Plumbing, Heating and Fire Sprinkler Contractors licenses plumbing, heating and fire sprinkler contractors under Article 2 and 21 NCAC 50. The NCBEEC licenses electrical contractors under Article 4 and 21 NCAC 18B. Refrigeration contractors have a separate board again, under Article 5, which this guide does not cover.
One thing North Carolina does not have is a state journeyman license, in any trade. The electrical law licenses contracting only; "journeyman" appears in the NCBEEC rules only as a kind of experience (21 NCAC 18B .0202). The plumbing and heating board issues technician licenses, which carry their own board exam.
General contractors (NCLBGC). Under G.S. 87-1, anyone who undertakes to build for a fee becomes a general contractor once the cost of the undertaking reaches $40,000. The line was raised from $30,000 on October 1, 2023, by S.L. 2023-108. Building inspectors check the license before issuing a permit for work of $40,000 or more (G.S. 87-14). The classifications are Building, Residential, Highway, Public Utilities and Specialty, which has 19 subclassifications. Building covers all building construction, including all residential construction (21 NCAC 12A .0202(a)(1)); Residential covers residences that must meet the NC Residential Code. Each classification has its own exam (.0403).
Plumbing (Article 2). A Class I license (P-I) covers plumbing in any building; a Class II license (P-II) is limited to single-family detached dwellings (G.S. 87-21(b)(1)).
Heating (Article 2). G.S. 87-21 sorts heating into three groups. Heating Group 3 (H3) is forced-air heating and cooling of 15 tons or less, and every system in a single-family residence, whatever its size. Group 2 (H2) is forced air above 15 tons, and it has no Class II. Group 1 (H1) is comfort heating by steam or hot water. H1 and H3 come as Class I, for all structures, or Class II, for single-family detached dwellings only. Fuel piping is included in the plumbing and heating licenses.
Electrical (NCBEEC). The Limited, Intermediate and Unlimited licenses differ in the size of project they allow, and Unlimited has no project-value limit. The Board's rule, 21 NCAC 18B .0303, still sets Limited at $60,000 and 600 volts and Intermediate at $150,000, while the statute (G.S. 87-43.3) allows up to $100,000 and 1,000 volts and $200,000; ask the Board which figures it applies. Seven Special Restricted licenses cover narrower work, such as single-family detached dwellings, electric signs, elevators, fire alarm and low voltage, and swimming pool bonding.
An NCLBGC license also carries a limitation that caps any single project, each with its own financial requirement (G.S. 87-10 and 21 NCAC 12A). Limited allows projects up to $750,000 and needs working capital of at least $17,000 or a net worth of at least $80,000, or a $175,000 bond instead. Intermediate allows up to $1,500,000 and needs working capital of at least $75,000, or a $500,000 bond. Unlimited has no project cap and needs working capital of at least $150,000, or a $1,000,000 bond. A qualifier may serve no more than two licenses.
The plumbing and heating board may require up to two years of experience in the same category before the exam, and up to half of it may come from academic or technical courses (G.S. 87-21(b)(3)). It has no reciprocity; South Carolina licensees can have the technical exam waived, but they still take Business and Law.
For every board the order is the same: apply to the board first, and once it approves you, schedule and take the exam through PSI. NCLBGC exams are given at seven North Carolina PSI sites: Asheville, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greenville, Raleigh, Wilmington and Winston-Salem. For the electrical exam you apply to the NCBEEC with the $125 fee, PSI emails your eligibility, and on exam day you bring two forms of valid ID and your own books and arrive 30 minutes early.
NCLBGC. PSI's candidate bulletin gives the Residential Contractor exam 90 questions in 210 minutes and the Building Contractor exam 90 questions in 200 minutes. Both pass at 70%, cost $79 per attempt and may include 5 to 10 unscored pilot questions. The Residential exam already holds about 10 law questions and the Building exam 14. A separate Business & Law exam, 40 questions in 90 minutes, is taken by candidates who qualify without the full trade exam, such as exam-waiver applicants from listed states, candidates on the NASCLA route and military-trained applicants; ask the NCLBGC which exams apply to you. Its outline is licensing 21, liens and bonds 8, One Call 5, subcontractor payment 3, and erosion and sedimentation 3.
Plumbing and heating. A P-I, P-II, H1, H2 or H3 contractor applicant takes a 4.0-hour technical part and a 1.5-hour Business and Law part; a technician takes the 4-hour technical part only. The passing score is 70 (21 NCAC 50 .0305), and the fee is $150, $75 to apply and $75 for the exam, raised from $100 on June 1, 2026. After a failure you wait 90 days to retest. You skip Business and Law if you already hold an active contractor license from this board and passed its Business and Law exam after August 2003. The board publishes no question count and no content outline, and it warns that some questions draw on field experience.
Electrical. The Limited, Intermediate and Unlimited exams are each 100 questions in up to 6 hours, 70% to pass. Laws, rules, business, plans and the fire alarm code make up 15 to 18 of the 100, depending on the level; the rest is the NEC. Most Special Restricted exams are 40 questions in 3 hours; Fire Alarm/Low Voltage has 50 questions and Swimming Pool Bonding 25.
Open book everywhere. Each board lists the books allowed in the room. Plumbing and heating candidates bring their own bound books with permanent tabs only, and heating candidates bring their own duct calculator; the board provides the NC Heating and Plumbing Figures. Electrical candidates bring the 2020 National Electrical Code, the 2013 edition of NFPA 72 and the NASCLA Contractors' Guide, North Carolina Electrical edition, and the test center provides calculators.
The 2018 North Carolina State Building Code took effect on January 1, 2019, and the State Fire Marshal's office still lists it as currently effective. The 2024 NC codes have been adopted, but S.L. 2025-2 starts them 12 months after the State Fire Marshal certifies their publication and a fully constituted Residential Code Council; until then the 2018 codes stay in force. The plumbing and heating board's code update of June 1, 2026 puts the earliest possible date at May 1, 2027, and that date has not been set. So the NCLBGC, plumbing and heating exams follow the 2018 NC codes today. The electrical exam names the 2020 NEC, which took effect as the 2020 NC Electrical Code on November 1, 2021.
The boards' and PSI's exam materials do not mention a Spanish version of any of these exams, so plan on reading the questions in English. LICENA's Spanish and Russian text is there to help you learn the material, with the English exam term kept next to every translation.
Each page has a free sample with no sign-up and a written explanation on every answer, in English, Spanish and Russian.
NC Residential Contractor + Business & Law — the 90-question Residential exam and the separate 40-question Business & Law exam.
NC Building Contractor — the 90-question Building exam, keyed to the 2018 NC Building Code.
NC Heating Contractor (H3, H2, H1) — the technical part and the Business and Law part of the heating board's exam.
NC Plumbing Contractor (P-I, P-II) — plumbing, fuel piping and the plumbing Business and Law part.
NC Electrical Contractor (NCBEEC) — the 100-question Limited, Intermediate and Unlimited exams on the 2020 NEC.
EPA 608 — the federal refrigerant certification every HVAC technician needs.
OSHA Construction Safety — the federal jobsite safety rules North Carolina adopts.
LICENA is a practice tool, not a school. It is not affiliated with the NCLBGC, the plumbing and heating board, the NCBEEC or PSI, and it does not promise that you will pass.
Practice for the North Carolina exams LICENA has North Carolina banks for Residential Contractor with Business & Law, Building Contractor, Heating, Plumbing and Electrical Contractor, with a written explanation on every answer in English, Spanish and Russian. The sample is free, no sign-up.
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