Free practice questions for the North Carolina Building Contractor exam given for the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors (NCLBGC), with a written explanation on every answer, in English, Spanish, and Russian.
8 questions, about 4 minutes. No account needed — pick an answer to see whether it's right and read the explanation, the same explanations you get on every question in the full course.
Practice across the full question bank.
Each explanation shows why the correct answer works.
Spend more time on the questions you miss.
Practice under exam-style time pressure before exam day.
Every question tells you why the correct answer is correct and defines the terms it uses — so you learn the rule, not just the answer.
Questions are written from scratch against the official codes and agency publications for this exam — never copied from the real exam.
Every question and explanation is fully translated, with the English exam term kept alongside — not a shallow machine translation.
LICENA is a practice tool, not a school. We don't promise a pass — we help you understand the material and walk in prepared.
The full course is 500 questions in 5 blocks, written from open sources: the 2018 North Carolina Building Code (each code item checked against the 2024 edition), the North Carolina General Statutes (chapters 87, 44A, 22C, 113A, 143, 160D and others), the board's rules in 21 NCAC 12A, the sedimentation rules in 15A NCAC 4, and 29 CFR 1926 as 13 NCAC 07F adopts it. Estimating questions give every number in the question. Honest limit: the commercial references behind part of the exam — ACI 318 and ACI 530, the SJI and SDI manuals, PCA's guide to concrete mixtures, ANSI A117.1, the NASCLA Contractor's Guide and the sports-fields book — are not reproduced, so questions that turn on their exact tables are not in this bank; the sports-fields area is practiced through the code's bleacher, grandstand and spectator-seating rules.
Exam structure, topics, who needs it and official resources.
North Carolina requires a general contractor license for any job of $40,000 or more, and the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors (NCLBGC) tests Building applicants with one 90-question exam that also covers NC law. PSI gives it by computer — 200 minutes, open book, 70% to pass, $79 per attempt; PSI's bulletin lists no Spanish or translated version. The Building classification covers all building construction, including all residential construction. Practice it in the free sample above: no sign-up, with a written explanation on every question.
North Carolina licenses general contractors statewide through the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors (NCLBGC), under Article 1 of Chapter 87 of the General Statutes and the board's rules in 21 NCAC 12A. Each classification has its own exam (21 NCAC 12A .0403). Under 21 NCAC 12A .0202(a)(1), the Building classification covers all building construction, including all residential construction, so one license spans commercial and residential building alike. The North Carolina law questions — business and law, licensing, liens, One Call and erosion and sedimentation control — are part of the same 90-question exam.
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. Below that line no general contractor license is required; at or above it, the work must be done under a license whose classification covers it — and for building work of any kind, commercial or residential, the Building classification does.
PSI's candidate bulletin splits the 90 questions into fifteen areas: site work 6; concrete 13; masonry 6; metals 12; carpentry 7; roofing 6; associated trades 3; business and law 7; safety 4; estimating, plan reading and general building code requirements 14; One Call 2; erosion and sedimentation control 2; licensing 2; liens 1; and sports fields 5. Concrete, metals and the estimating, plan-reading and general-code area together make up 39 of the 90 questions, and the North Carolina law areas add up to 14.
The exam is open book, and its code questions follow the edition the candidate bulletin names — the 2018 North Carolina Building Code. LICENA keys its code questions to the 2018 text and checks each one against the 2024 North Carolina Building Code: where the two differ, the question names the edition, and where only a section number moved, both numbers are given. Several references behind the exam are commercial publications — ACI 318 and ACI 530, the SJI and SDI manuals, PCA's guide to concrete mixtures, ANSI A117.1, the NASCLA Contractor's Guide and a sports-fields book; LICENA does not reproduce them.
The Building exam carries its own law questions: business and law 7, licensing 2, liens 1, One Call 2, and erosion and sedimentation control 2 — Block 1 of this course drills all of them. The board also gives a separate 40-question Business & Law exam. This course has no stand-alone version of it; if you need it, the North Carolina Residential Contractor + Business & Law practice test covers it.
Applications go to NCLBGC, and the exam is scheduled and taken by computer through PSI — follow the steps in PSI's candidate bulletin. You get 200 minutes for 90 questions, a little over two minutes per question, which leaves room to look up the code book. Each attempt costs $79. PSI's bulletin lists no Spanish or translated version of the exam, so LICENA keeps the English exam term next to every translation.
The full course is 500 questions in five blocks: North Carolina law and jobsite safety · site work, foundations and concrete · masonry and metals · wood, roofing, exterior walls and sports facilities · general building code, plans and estimating. At 30 questions a day that is under three weeks: one pass to find the gaps, a second pass on the blocks you missed, then the timed final — 90 questions in 200 minutes, graded at 70%, like the real exam. The free OSHA construction practice test drills the federal safety rules North Carolina adopts.
Try the full bank free for 3 days — no card needed. Then $9.99 for your first month and $19.99/month after that if you decide to continue, cancel anytime. A school sells a full prepaid package; this is a question bank you can stop at any time — and you study on your phone, in your language, whenever you have a few minutes.
Continue North Carolina Building Contractor practice The free sample above stays free. Creating an account is free — no card needed.LICENA gives you practice questions to study with. We are not an accredited school and we do not guarantee that you will pass any exam.
LICENA provides online practice only. Registration, testing and licensing are handled by the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors (NCLBGC) and its exam vendor PSI — not by LICENA. LICENA is not affiliated with NCLBGC or PSI.