Minnesota Contractor School Online® - The Premiere Contractor School To Help You Pass Your State License Exam!

With over 17 years of experience preparing candidates for the contractor exams for the trade and Business, Law and Management, Contractor School Online (CSO) is your primary resource to help you pass your state contractor license exam! We offer online practice tests, study materials, books, CD-ROMs, crash courses and more depending on the state and trade.

To become a certified contractor you must pass a Business and Law exam in many states and, depending on the classification you need, you may need to pass a trade exam as well. If you are unsure what your classification requires, please use our Information Request Form.

Contractor School Online (CSO) will assist you with their professional consultants and provide study materials, also practice tests for the Business, Law, and Management and your trade if available. If purchases are made elsewhere make sure the correct author, title and year are appropriate for the trade.

CSO Business and Law Practice Test coincides with the required State Contractor’s Manual.

Please note: Inventory Pricing - Contractors State Bonding and Subjects may change without notice.

Two examinations are given for each license line: the Trade exam and the Business and Law exam. A passing score for all construction examinations is 70% correct. You must achieve a passing score on both the Trade examination and Business and Law examination to be eligible for a license. Candidates that passed one examination and failed the other test need to retake only the failed exam.

You will be allowed to refer to the following resources when taking your exam. This information will be given to you by the exam proctor. You are not allowed to take anything into the exam with you.

Topics on the exam include enforcement licensing; mechanic's liens; warranty; administration; management.

Books and References for the Exam - The following references are recommended to study prior to the exam. You are not permitted to bring these references with you.

Recommended Reference Books – Open book test (state may change) 50 Scored Questions

Who needs a license? - All residential building contractors and residential remodelers who contract with an owner to construct or improve dwellings for habitation by one to four families (including detached garages) and perform two or more special skills must be licensed unless exempt under one of the provisions noted below. The licensing requirement also applies to any person acting as a "spec" homebuilder. The only difference between a residential building contractor and residential remodeler is a residential building contractor can build new homes and work on existing structures, whereas a remodeler can only work on existing structures.

The following are exempt from the contractor/remodeler licensing requirements:

"Special skill" means one of the following eight categories

1. Excavation

excavation
trenching
grading
site grading

2. Masonry/concrete

drain systems
poured walls
slabs and poured-in-place footings
masonry walls
masonry fireplaces
masonry veneer
water resistance and waterproofing

3. Carpentry

rough carpentry
finish carpentry
doors, windows and skylights
porches and decks (excluding concrete footings)
wood foundations
drywall installation (excluding taping and finishing)

4. Interior finishing

floor covering
wood floors
cabinet and countertop installation
insulation and vapor barriers
interior or exterior painting
ceramic, marble and quarry tile
wallpapering
ornamental guardrail and installation of prefabricated stairs

5. Exterior finishing

siding
soffit, fascia and trim
exterior plaster and stucco
painting
rain carrying systems, including gutters and down spouts

6. Drywall and plaster

installation
taping
finishing
interior plaster
painting
wallpapering

7. Roofing

roof coverings
roof sheathing
roof weatherproofing and insulation
repair of roof support system, but not construction of new roof support system

Roofers are required to obtain a license.

8. General installation specialties

garage doors and openers
pools, spas and hot tubs
fireplaces and wood stoves
asphalt paving and seal coating
exterior plaster and stucco
ornamental guardrail and prefabricated stairs

Roofers: For more information regarding the specific licensing requirements for people who only engage in residential roofing activities.
Siding contractors: Siding contractors who also install doors, windows or skylights must be licensed as a residential building contractor or remodeler.

Anyone who is licensed as a residential building contractor or remodeler can engage in all of the special skill categories noted above, including roofing, without obtaining a separate roofer license

Building contractor and remodeler license - The licensing program requires only companies to obtain a license (therefore, in the case of an individual, the license is issued to an "individual proprietorship"). However, each company must designate one individual who will serve as a "qualifying person" regardless of whether the licensee is an individual proprietorship, partnership or corporation. The qualifying person is the individual who must take the required examination and fulfill the continuing education requirements for the licensee.

Licensing requirements for a building contractor license: - Attach a copy of the Certificate of Assumed Name, filed and stamped by the Minnesota State, if the business name is different than the legal name of the individual, corporation or other business entity.

An individual proprietor who intends to do business using a company name that does not include the individual's first and last name;

A partnership that intends to do business using a name that does not include the first and last name of each individual partner; or

A corporation or other business entity that intends to do business under a name that is not the legal corporate name or business entity name.

Examples: "John Smith Construction" would not be required to attach a Certificate of Assumed Name if John Smith is the sole owner of the business. However, "Smith's Construction" would be required to attach the certificate, because it does not contain the full first and last name of the owner. Similarly, if a legally incorporated company, such as "ABC Construction, Inc.," intends to do business as Acme Construction, the company must attach a Certificate of Assumed Name to the license application. The Certificate of Assumed Name is required to provide information to the public about the true identity of the business owner.

Examination results expire after two years. If the examination was taken more than two years prior to this application, attach Course Completion Certificate(s) documenting seven hours of continuing education for each license period after the expiration of the examination results. The qualifying person must be chief executive officer of the corporation, general partner of the partnership, chief manager of the LLC or a managing employee who is regularly employed by the applicant and is actively engaged in the business of residential contracting or residential remodeling on behalf of the applicant.

This exam is designed to test a candidate’s knowledge of the construction, repair, alteration, remodeling, addition to, subtraction from, improvement, and demolition of any building or structure including related improvements to real estate excluding electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and liquefied petroleum gas work related thereto.

Minnesota Electrical License (Contractor, Master, Journeyman)l"> Requirements to Obtaining your License