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How to pass the Arizona B-1 General Commercial Contractor exam

An online statutes and rules exam, a trade exam you get to choose, and a bond tied to your annual volume. Here’s how the Arizona B-1 license works and how to study for it, checked against the state’s own documents.

At a glance

The exams

Trade exam details are from PSI’s Arizona candidate bulletin (Feb. 2026) and the B-1 and NASCLA content outlines. The 70% passing score is from the ROC’s exam rule. The ROC does not publish the SRE question count or time limit. PSI may add 5 to 10 unscored experimental questions to a trade exam, and they count against your time. The B-1 trade exam is the same test used for B-2, KB-1 and KB-2.

Before you apply

• Age: no license is issued to a minor, or to a partnership or corporation with a minor as a partner or officer.
• Experience, 4 years: the qualifying party needs at least four years of practical or management trade experience in the type of work, and at least two of those years must be within the last ten years.
• Training credit: technical training at an accredited college, university or manufacturer’s program can replace part of the experience, but never more than two of the four years.
• Recent exam: the written exam must be taken not more than two years before you apply.
• Bond: a surety bond or cash deposit sized to your estimated annual volume, from $5,000 (under $150,000 a year) up to $50,000 to $100,000 ($10 million or more a year).
• Workers’ comp: the application includes an attestation that you comply with Arizona workers’ comp law, with your policy number if you are required to carry coverage.

Step by step

1. Pick the right classificationB-1 has no project limit. If your jobs are $2,000,000 or less, B-2 General Small Commercial may fit. The trade exam is the same for both.
2. Take the Statutes and Rules ExamThe SRE is an online course and test provided by the ROC. It costs $61. It is required for new applicants who were not a qualifying party on another Arizona license in the last five years.
3. Choose your trade examTake either the Arizona B-1 exam (100 questions) or the NASCLA commercial general building exam (115 questions). The two exams differ, so compare the content outlines before you pick.
4. Schedule with PSIPSI charges $66 for one exam or $116 for two. The fee is valid for one year and is not refundable.
5. Retake if you need toWait 30 days after a failed attempt. After three failed attempts, the wait is 90 days.
6. Apply to the ROCSend your application and original score report within two years of passing, with your bond and workers’ comp information.

The reference books

The Arizona B-1 trade exam lets you bring three books into the room: OSHA 29 CFR Part 1926 (or PSI’s selections), the 2018 International Building Code and the 2018 International Residential Code. For code questions, only the listed code edition counts.

Five more books were used to write the B-1 exam but are not allowed in the room: Design and Control of Concrete Mixtures, Pipe and Excavation Contracting, the Steel Joist Institute’s guide to handling and erecting joists, Carpentry and Building Construction and Modern Masonry. Study them before test day.

The NASCLA option is open book with a much longer list, led by the NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management (14th ed.), the 2021 or 2024 IBC, OSHA 1926 and ACI 318. About a quarter of its questions cover procurement and contracting.

Book rules: highlight, underline, annotate and index your books before the exam. You cannot write in them during the exam. Permanent tabs only, no Post-it notes. Printed downloads are fine if they are bound.

A 6-week study plan

On test day

• Arrive at least 30 minutes early with one valid, unexpired ID that has your photo and signature.
• Bring only the books allowed for your exam, bound, with permanent tabs. You can’t write in them during the test.
• Calculators must be basic, silent, non-printing, non-programmable and non-scientific.
• The B-1 exam gives you 240 minutes for 100 questions. Answer what you know first, then look up the rest.
• Up to 10 unscored experimental questions may appear and they use your time, so keep moving.
• Testing remotely? Breaks are not allowed during a remote proctored exam, and you get no scratch paper.

Quick answers