The California contractor exam is a test about numbers that change.
A practice trainer for the CSLB Law and Business examination. Every question shows the code section it came from and the date that rule is current to — in English and in Spanish.
$1,000, not $500. The licensing exemption threshold was raised on 1 January 2025. Most books, courses and question banks still print $500.
“Immediately”, not 8 hours. A serious injury must be reported to Cal/OSHA immediately. The 8-hour figure stopped being the rule in 2020.
2028, not 2026. Universal workers’ compensation was set for 2026 by SB 216, then moved to 2028 by SB 1455. Until then the exemption still turns on five named classifications.
California construction law moves every January. Exam prep gets written once. You cannot tell which parts have gone stale, because nothing tells you where an answer came from. That is the problem this is built around.
Try five of them
Taken straight from the trainer, not written for this page. Pick an answer and you get the explanation and the citation, exactly as the product gives them.
A homeowner asks an unlicensed handyman to rebuild a fence. No building permit is required. Below what aggregate contract price for labor, materials and all other items does the Contractors State License Law not apply?
- $500
- $1,000
- $2,500
- $5,000
Show the answer
Answer: $1,000
Since 1 January 2025 the figure is $1,000. It was $500 for decades, and most study material still says $500 - the amount was raised by AB 2622 (Stats 2024 ch 240). Note the exemption needs BOTH conditions: under $1,000 AND no building permit required.
Citation: B&P section 7048(a) · Law current to 2026-01-01
A worker suffers a serious injury on a jobsite. When must the employer report it to the Division of Occupational Safety and Health?
- Immediately, by telephone or the division's online mechanism
- Within 8 hours
- Within 24 hours
- Within five days, on the prescribed form
Show the answer
Answer: Immediately, by telephone or the division's online mechanism
Immediately. Much study material still says 8 hours - that was the older rule, and AB 1804 changed the statute to 'immediately' effective 1 January 2020. The five-day answer is a real deadline but it belongs to the separate written report for any injury causing lost time or medical treatment beyond first aid.
Citation: Labor Code section 6409.1(b) · Law current to 2026-01-01
A contractor has no employees and holds only a B licence. Which of the following would still prevent them from filing an exemption from workers' compensation?
- Their licence is qualified by a Responsible Managing Employee (RME)
- They use unpaid family help occasionally
- They subcontract more than half the work
- Their bond is written by an out-of-state surety
Show the answer
Answer: Their licence is qualified by a Responsible Managing Employee (RME)
An RME is by definition an employee, so a licence qualified by one cannot be exempt - even if nobody else is on the payroll. This catches people who assume 'no employees' means 'no crew'. The other three do not affect the exemption at all.
Citation: CSLB, Workers' Compensation Requirements · Law current to 2026-01-01
The buyer on a home improvement contract is a senior citizen. Which cancellation notice must the contract carry?
- Three-Day Right to Cancel
- Five-Day Right to Cancel
- Seven-Day Right to Cancel
- No notice is required for a senior citizen
Show the answer
Answer: Five-Day Right to Cancel
Five business days for a senior citizen. There are three cancellation periods in this one section - three, five and seven business days - and which applies depends on who the buyer is and why the work is being done. Learn them as a set.
Citation: B&P section 7159(a)(6)(A) · Law current to 2026-01-01
A contractor filing Form 941 reported $38,000 of taxes during the lookback period. What deposit schedule are they on?
- Monthly schedule depositor
- Semiweekly schedule depositor
- Next-day depositor
- Annual depositor
Show the answer
Answer: Monthly schedule depositor
$50,000 or less in the lookback period means monthly; more than $50,000 means semiweekly. This is the arithmetic behind CSLB's own sample question, which asks what determines deposit frequency - the answer is the amount of payroll liability, not headcount.
Citation: IRS Publication 15 (Circular E), When To Deposit · Law current to 2026-01-01
What you get
- 89 questions, each carrying the Business and Professions Code, Labor Code, Civil Code or IRS publication section it comes from, and the date it is current to.
- English and Spanish in one purchase, with a per-question toggle. The Spanish is written from CSLB’s own Spanish study guide, not machine translated.
- Numbers and deadlines drill — the dollar amounts and day counts the exam turns on, drilled in both directions.
- Exam simulator at the real shape: the official seven topic weights, 210 minutes, closed book, and an on-screen calculator because the test centre gives you one.
- Results by topic area. A CSLB failing report gives you one number. This gives you seven, so you know which section to restudy.
- One file. Open it on your phone and it works — offline, no account, no install, no expiry.
Or take the free numbers and deadlines sheet first. It carries the $500 → $1,000 correction on its face.
What it is not
Not real exam questions. Nobody has those — CSLB does not release them, and anyone who says otherwise is selling you something else. This reproduces the format and the published content blueprint, and covers the law that blueprint points at.
Not legal advice, and not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by the Contractors State License Board or PSI.