Three exams: Contract Administration (50 scored questions, 4.5 hours), Project Management (50 scored questions, 4.5 hours) and Business & Finance (120 questions, 6.5 hours). All open book, 70% to pass with no rounding, delivered daily by computer at Pearson VUE. The trade-exam content is identical to the general contractor's — only the length is different.
What a building contractor may build
The license covers commercial buildings and single- or multiple-dwelling residential buildings that do not exceed three stories, with their accessory structures, or remodeling, repair and improvement of a building of any size as long as the work does not touch its structural members (s. 489.105(3)(b), F.S.). That is most mid-size commercial work: retail, offices, low-rise apartments and the like. What it does not cover is new construction above three stories, which is general contractor territory.
If you are weighing Building against General or Residential, the license comparison sets scope, exams and experience side by side.
The three examinations
Division I contractors — general, building and residential — all pass the same three examinations. For a building contractor they are:
- Contract Administration — 50 scored questions, 4.5 hours. Preconstruction Activities 28%, Project Contracts 38%, Obtaining Licenses, Permits and Approvals 20%, Construction Procedures and Operations 14%.
- Project Management — 50 scored questions, 4.5 hours. Construction Methods, Materials, Tools and Equipment 64%, Safety 20%, Reading Plans and Specifications 16%.
- Business & Finance — 120 questions, 6.5 hours. Shared by every Division I license. If you already passed it for another active Florida contractor license you may be exempt; confirm with the DBPR. Our sister site flbizfinprep.com covers it.
Each is registered, scheduled and scored separately, so a fail on one does not undo a pass on another. The DBPR's percentages may vary by as much as three points on any single form.
How it differs from the general contractor exam
Less than most candidates expect. We compared the DBPR's building and general contractor content sheets line by line: every topic on the general contractor's list appears on the building contractor's, including cranes, hoisting equipment and lift plans. The four Contract Administration areas and the three Project Management areas are the same, and their weights differ by one or two points — inside the state's own tolerance.
So the difference is length. Fifty questions in 4.5 hours is about five and a half minutes a question against four and a half on the general exam, which buys you real time for look-ups in an open-book test. The material you have to know does not shrink with it.
Because the content matches, a general contractor question bank is a building contractor question bank. Pick Building in our practice quiz and the timed simulation runs at 50 questions and 4.5 hours, the length of your real exam.
Reference books
The DBPR publishes one reference list for the general, building and residential Contract Administration and Project Management exams, currently valid January through December 2026. A building contractor brings the same books as a general contractor. The rules on tabs, highlighting and bound PDFs are on our reference books page.
Who qualifies to sit it
The experience rule is where building and general part company. Rule 61G4-15.001, F.A.C., asks both for commercial construction experience in at least four of six areas — foundations or slabs over 20,000 square feet, masonry walls, steel erection, elevated slabs, column erection and formwork for structural reinforced concrete. The general contractor must also show a year of that work on structures of four stories or more; the building contractor does not. Experience on single-family homes does not count toward either. The routes, and the order of the paperwork, are on how to get a Florida building contractor license.
Moving up to General later
An active certified building contractor can become a certified general contractor after 4 years of proven experience in the building license, by passing the general contractors' examination (s. 489.111(2)(c)4.c., F.S.). Since the trade content is the same, the preparation you do now carries straight over.
Practice at your exam's length
The first 20 study questions are free, no account. Choose Building and the mock exam runs 50 questions in 4.5 hours.