Three exams: Contract Administration (45 scored questions, 4.5 hours), Project Management (45 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 content is the general contractor's minus cranes, hoisting, lift plans, heavy equipment, LEED, estimating software and submittal review times.
What a residential contractor may build
The license covers construction, remodeling, repair and improvement of one-, two- and three-family residences of no more than two habitable stories above no more than one uninhabitable story, together with their accessory structures (s. 489.105(3)(c), F.S.). That is single-family homes, duplexes and triplexes, with garages, pool enclosures and similar work around them. Anything larger or commercial needs a building or general contractor license.
If you are deciding between the three Division I licenses, the license comparison puts scope, exams and experience side by side.
The three examinations
- Contract Administration — 45 scored questions, 4.5 hours. Preconstruction Activities 29%, Project Contracts 40%, Obtaining Licenses, Permits and Approvals 20%, Construction Procedures and Operations 11%.
- Project Management — 45 scored questions, 4.5 hours. Construction Methods, Materials, Tools and Equipment 64%, Safety 18%, Reading Plans and Specifications 18%.
- Business & Finance — 120 questions, 6.5 hours. The same exam for 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 scored separately, so a fail on one leaves your other passes standing. The state's percentages may vary by up to three points on any single form.
What the residential outline leaves out
We compared the DBPR's residential content sheets with the general contractor's line by line. The areas are the same; seven topics simply are not there, all of them tied to commercial or high-rise work:
- Contract Administration: estimating software; sustainability rating systems such as LEED and Green Globes; and the time an architect or engineer has to review and return a submittal.
- Project Management: cranes, hoisting equipment, lift plans and heavy equipment.
Everything else is shared — contracts, lien law, estimating by hand, scheduling, permits and inspections, concrete, masonry, framing, roofing, energy code, OSHA safety and plan reading. The residential exam is not a lighter version of the trade; it is the same trade without the crane.
Choose Residential in our practice quiz and the questions on those seven topics disappear from the quiz, the study guide and the timed simulation, which then runs 45 questions in 4.5 hours — the length of your real exam. Switch license later and they come back.
Reference books
There is one reference list for the general, building and residential Contract Administration and Project Management exams, currently valid January through December 2026, so a residential candidate brings the same books as a general contractor. See our reference books page for the tabbing and highlighting rules.
Who qualifies to sit it
Rule 61G4-15.001, F.A.C., defines residential experience as work on detached one- and two-family dwellings and townhouses no more than three stories above grade, in at least three of five areas: foundations, slabs and structural formwork; masonry walls; structural demolition; structural wood framing including trusses (platform framing does not count); and column erection. It must have been gained under a contractor licensed for that work. The routes — degree, trade years, or a mix — and the order of the paperwork are on how to get a Florida residential contractor license.
The license that leads to the others
Residential is the one Division I license you can qualify for on single-family and duplex experience alone, and the statute builds a ladder on top of it: an active certified residential contractor can move up to a certified building contractor license after 3 years of proven experience in residential, or to a certified general contractor license after 4, by passing that license's examination (s. 489.111(2)(c)4., F.S.). Many contractors start here for exactly that reason. The content you learn now is the core of both higher exams.
Practice only what your exam covers
The first 20 study questions are free, no account. Choose Residential and the commercial-only questions drop out.