The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) requires potential licensees to have at least 4 years of experience within the last 10 years, at the journeyman level or higher, in your chosen trade. You may have many more years of experience, but you only need to satisfy the legal requirement of 4 years of work experience within the past 10 years. Work experience older than 10 years from the time you apply will not be accepted by the CSLB. If you don't have enough work experience, college education may be used towards satisfying the 4 year requirement (even if you attended more than 10 years ago) depending on the type of degree and its relation to the construction industry. Similarly, technical training or apprenticeships may be applied toward the 4-year requirement, even if the program was more than 10 years ago. You can also receive credit for proven apprenticeships. For instance, if you served a 2-year apprenticeship, the CSLB may credit you with 1 year of full-time work.

You could join an apprenticeship program, a vocational school, or work under the guidance of a current licensed contractor. You may be self-employed or an owner/builder. You might contact the local trade union for referrals. You can contact your local junior college to see if classes are offered in your trade.

The Contractors State License Board (CSLB) requires potential licensees to have at least 4 years of experience within the last 10 years, at the journeyman level or higher, in your chosen trade. You may have many more years of experience, but you only need to satisfy the legal requirement of 4 years of work experience within the past 10 years. Work experience older than 10 years from the time you apply will not be accepted by the CSLB. If you don't have enough work experience, college or vocational education may be used towards satisfying the 4 year requirement (even if you attended more than 10 years ago), depending on the type of degree and its relation to the construction industry. Similarly, technical training or apprenticeships may be applied toward the 4-year requirement, even if the program was more than 10 years ago. You can also receive credit for proven apprenticeships. For instance, if you served a 2-year apprenticeship, the CSLB may credit you with 1 year of full-time work.

No, the CSLB will not prosecute you if you show unlicensed work experience on your “Certificate of Work Experience." The CSLB wants you to be licensed, so it will acknowledge all certified work experience within the last ten years.

Choose from the list on the Licenses page. The CSLB will only issue you one license classification at a time. If you want to add more classifications to your license, obtain the first classification and then move on to supplemental classifications. You must satisfy the 4-year experience requirement for each classification.

See your choices on the CLC Courses page. Choose the course that best fits your learning style and budget. The Classroom course is the most popular, because it gives you study materials, access to live lectures, and staff support. Click the Enroll button to sign up for the course, complete the Enrollment Agreement and pay your tuition fee to CLC. You will receive a manual on construction law and business management, and a manual on your trade with updates. You will also receive our detailed "Procedure For Obtaining Your Contractor's License" guide, an Application Worksheet, our "How To Take This Course" study guide, and a Lecture Schedule with a map of our location.

The worksheet is a form we designed to help you list and calculate your work experience, which is needed to properly prepare your application for the Contractors State License Board. For each block of experience that you claim, you will need someone else to certify your time. That person must be someone you worked for or worked with (i.e., employer, co-worker, building inspector, and sometimes even a supplier). The worksheet does not need to be signed. It is a rough draft for our own in-house use. Just follow the instructions and return the worksheet to our office. Let CLC do the rest!

Once you and your certifier(s) sign your CLC-prepared application, submit it with your application fee to the CSLB. The CSLB will mail you directly, acknowledging receipt of your application. It assigns an application fee number and a PIN number so you can check the status of your application by phone or Internet. The CSLB will then issue your exam date; we do not issue exam dates. The CSLB also requires all applicants to have their fingerprints taken at a livescan facility before the exam. We recommend AMERIPRINTS, which has locations in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, and San Rafael.

Your exam date has finally arrived. Students in the North Bay area will be assigned a State exam site in Berkeley, Sacramento or San Jose. The exams are taken on a computer, and scored immediately, so you will know your score within minutes of finishing the tests. After you pass your two exams, you will need to get a license bond from an insurance company, and worker's compensation insurance if you have employees. You'll also need to take a CSLB open-book test on asbestos abatement, and send all of the required documentation and your license fee payment to the CSLB. Assuming that you have passed your background check, the CSLB will assign you a license number, and you're good to go!

In the unlikely event that you don't pass, the CSLB will send you a form to reschedule your exam. You must pay the CSLB a $100.00 rescheduling fee each time you re-test.

If you have to reschedule your assigned exam date, mail or FAX your Notice to Appear form, or a written request stating that you need to cancel, to the CSLB. A letter must include your name and application number. If you haven't cancelled a prior exam, you do not have to pay a rescheduling fee. If you have cancelled an exam date assigned for this specific application, you will need to pay a $100 rescheduling fee before the CSLB will assign another exam date. The address is: Contractors State License Board, P.O.Box 26000, Sacramento, CA 95826 FAX 916.255.3816

Over 98% of our students pass their exams on the first try.

No. All fees are listed on our Courses page.

Ask to see the fine print. What other schools often mean is that if you fail the exam, and if you reschedule to take the exam again ($100.00 fee to the CSLB each time you reschedule), and if after a certain amount of time you still have not passed, then maybe they will refund your money. What CLC offers is legitimate. We guarantee that we will stick by you until you pass. No ifs. No time limits. No extra charges.

Of course! We invite you to visit our office to read our manuals, try out a few practice questions. You can attend a live Law & Business lecture as a courtesy to you – no charge, no obligation, and no high-pressure sales pitch. Click here to view our lecture schedule.

CLC courses are only offered in English at this time. We do have a Spanish language supplement to our Law and Business Management manual, which covers some of the material. The CLSB exams are currently only offered in English. However, on your application, you can request to bring a translator with you to read and translate the test questions and sample answers for you. The reader may be a friend or relative who can accompany you at your exam. The reader cannot have any construction background. Just ask us for a “Request for Special Accommodation Form” to be submitted with your application.