CSLB Law & Business Practice Test
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| Administering body | Contractors State License Board (CSLB), California Department of Consumer Affairs — exam delivered by PSI Services LLC |
|---|---|
| Questions | 115 questions — 5 independent prep providers agree; CSLB publishes none. What we read and found nothing in: CSLB — Step 7: Studying for the Examination |
| Time limit | 210 minutes |
| Passing score | Not published by CSLB What we read and found nothing in: CSLB — Step 7: Studying for the Examination |
| Fees |
Source: CSLB — List of All CSLB Fees |
| Languages offered | English · Spanish |
Frequently asked questions
How many CSLB Law & Business practice questions are in this bank?+
1,630 original practice questions across all 7 topics of the CSLB Law & Business exam, with full explanations, and California statute citations on 1,357 of them.
Is the CSLB Law & Business practice free?+
Yes — every practice question, organized by topic with full explanations, is free and needs no signup. The full timed mock exam (mock-readiness score, PDF report and weak-area retest) is free too. The only paid product is our optional study-guide eBook.
Are these the real CSLB exam questions?+
No. All questions are 100% original prose authored from public-domain sources (California Business and Professions Code, Civil Code, Labor Code, Title 16 CCR). We never copy from real CSLB exams or paid prep providers.
What topics does the CSLB Law & Business exam cover?+
Seven topics: Business Organization & Licensing, Business Finance, Employment Requirements, Insurance & Liens, Contracts & Performance, Public Works, and Safety.
What's the passing score for the CSLB Law & Business exam?+
CSLB does not publish one. It says you will be told at the test site what percentage of correct answers you need, and that the percentage varies by exam; passing candidates are never shown their own score. CSLB does not publish the question count either — prep providers quote figures for both, and those are theirs, not CSLB's. What CSLB does publish is the time: 3.5 hours at a PSI testing center.
Can I take the CSLB exam in Spanish?+
Yes — the official CSLB exam is offered in English and Spanish. Other languages may be available by translator request (4–6 weeks lead time). PrepPass practice questions are available in English, 中文, and Español.
Does PrepPass track which questions I get wrong?+
Yes — sign up free and the 'My mistakes' filter shows you only the questions you've missed across all your practice sessions. It updates automatically as you re-attempt and get them right.
Sample practice questions
A few real questions from this free bank, with full explanations. Use the practice tool above for the whole set.
- 1. Business & Licensing
A contractor who holds a Class "B" General Building Contractor license may perform work in which situation?
- a.Framing, roofing, and drywall on a new home
- b.Grading and paving a parking lot only
- c.Installing a new electrical panel only
- d.Replacing underground water mains only
Answer: a
Explanation: A Class B licensee may take contracts for structures and can self-perform two or more unrelated subcontractor trades. Installing only an electrical panel or replacing water mains would require C-specialty licenses, and grading/paving is Class A work.
Source: Bus. & Prof. Code §7057
- 2. Contracts & Execution
After receiving retention from the owner, a general contractor on a private works project must pass through each subcontractor's retention within:
- a.10 days
- b.30 days
- c.45 days
- d.60 days
Answer: a
Explanation: Once the general contractor receives retention from the owner, it must release each subcontractor's share of that retention within 10 days on a private works project.
Source: Civil Code §8814
- 3. Business Finances
A contractor wins a job for $300,000 and incurs total costs of $264,000. What is the profit margin on the selling price?
- a.13.6%
- b.10%
- c.12%
- d.36%
Answer: c
Explanation: Profit = $300,000 − $264,000 = $36,000. Margin = Profit ÷ Selling Price = $36,000 ÷ $300,000 = 0.12 = 12%.
- 4. Public Works
When a member of the public requests a contractor's certified payroll records from a public works project, the records that are released to the public must have which information redacted?
- a.The names of all crafts and classifications worked
- b.Each worker's name, address, and social security number
- c.The hours each worker performed and the wage rates paid
- d.The name of the awarding public agency
Answer: b
Explanation: Labor Code §1776 requires certified payroll to be available for inspection, but copies provided to the public must have personal identifying information — such as each worker's name, address, and social security number — redacted to protect worker privacy.
Source: Labor Code §1776
- 5. Contracts & Execution
Under California's Right to Repair Act (Civil Code §895 et seq., enacted by SB 800), what is the general statute of limitations for a homeowner to bring a construction defect claim against the builder for a function/use defect not otherwise specified?
- a.Four years for patent defects and ten years for latent defects, under CCP §337.15
- b.One year from close of escrow, the period for the fit-and-finish warranty
- c.Three years from discovery of the defect, under the general tort statute
- d.Ten years from substantial completion, with shorter periods for some defects
Answer: d
Explanation: Civil Code §941(a) sets the outside limit for a Right to Repair Act claim at 10 years after substantial completion. Inside that window §896 gives many defect types their own shorter period — 4 years for plumbing and sewer, 5 years for paint and stains, 1 year for landscaping and irrigation, 2 years for noise transmission — so the answer is layered, not a single number. (a) is the PRE-SB 800 framework of Code of Civil Procedure §337.15, which still governs projects outside the Act but is not the §896 scheme this question asks about. (b) confuses the limitations period with the separate one-year express fit-and-finish warranty a builder must give under Civil Code §900. (c) applies the general three-year discovery rule for injury to real property (CCP §338(b)), which SB 800 displaced for covered residential construction.
Source: Civil Code §896, §941; cf. Civil Code §900, Code Civ. Proc. §337.15, §338(b)
- 6. Contracts & Execution
An express warranty in a construction contract is:
- a.A warranty the law imposes whatever the contract happens to say
- b.A specific promise about the work or materials the contractor made
- c.A promise that the finished work will last for all time
- d.A guarantee that only the product's manufacturer is able to give
Answer: b
Explanation: An express warranty is a promise or affirmation of fact the contractor actually makes about the work or the materials — 'this roof will be watertight for ten years' — and it binds because it was said, not because the law supplied it. (a) is the IMPLIED warranty, which arises by operation of law: on residential construction Civil Code §896 sets the standards a builder must meet, and §900 requires a one-year express written warranty on fit and finish. The relationship is the point — express warranties add to implied ones rather than replacing them, and Civil Code §1668 limits how far either can be disclaimed. (c) confuses a warranty with a perpetual guarantee; every warranty has a term, and the periods in §896 and §941 run regardless. (d) confuses a contractor's warranty with a manufacturer's product warranty; both can cover the same installed item.
Source: Civil Code §896, §900; cf. §1668
- 7. Employment
After a worker complains about unpaid overtime, the employer threatens to report the worker to immigration authorities unless she drops the claim. Under California law, this threat is:
- a.Unlawful retaliation, with penalties and discipline
- b.An ethics problem, but not a legal violation
- c.A permissible tactic in settling a wage claim
- d.Lawful if the worker is in fact undocumented
Answer: a
Explanation: Labor Code §1019 makes it an unlawful employment practice to report or threaten to report a worker's suspected immigration status in retaliation for exercising a protected right, §244(b) confirms that reporting status is retaliation regardless of the worker's actual status, and Business & Professions Code §494.6 allows suspension of a business license for it - on top of §98.6 penalties. (d) is the option that tempts: it treats a true statement as a safe one, but the wrong lies in the coercive purpose, not in the accuracy. (c) reframes coercion as bargaining, which is exactly what §1019 forbids. (b) treats the threat as merely distasteful.
Source: Labor Code §§244(b), 1019, 98.6; Business & Professions Code §494.6
- 8. Business Finances
A quick ratio (acid-test) differs from the current ratio because the quick ratio:
- a.Includes long-term debt
- b.Divides by revenue instead of liabilities
- c.Adds back depreciation
- d.Excludes inventory from current assets
Answer: d
Explanation: The quick ratio removes inventory (and other less-liquid items) from current assets before dividing by current liabilities, giving a stricter measure of the ability to pay short-term debts with the most liquid assets. Construction inventory can be slow to convert to cash.
- 9. Safety
A permit-required confined space is a confined space that has one or more of which characteristics?
- a.Limited entry and exit, and not designed for occupancy
- b.A hazardous atmosphere, engulfment, or entrapment
- c.Any space a worker cannot stand upright in
- d.Any space entered through a hatch or manhole
Answer: b
Explanation: Option (a) is the definition of a confined space: large enough to enter and perform work, with limited or restricted means of entry or exit, and not designed for continuous occupancy. Every permit-required space meets it, but meeting it is not what makes a space permit-required. The permit is added by one or more of four hazards: a hazardous atmosphere, a material with the potential for engulfment, an internal configuration that could trap or asphyxiate through inwardly converging walls or a floor sloping to a smaller cross-section, or any other recognised serious safety or health hazard. Headroom (c) and the shape of the opening (d) appear in neither definition.
Source: 8 CCR §5157(b); 29 CFR 1926.1202
- 10. Insurance & Liens
After the owner records a valid Notice of Completion, within how many days must a SUBCONTRACTOR or material supplier record its mechanics lien?
- a.90 days after recording of the notice of completion
- b.60 days after recording of the notice of completion
- c.30 days after recording of the notice of completion
- d.10 days after recording of the notice of completion
Answer: c
Explanation: Under Civil Code §8414, once a notice of completion (or cessation) is recorded, a claimant other than the direct contractor must record its lien within 30 days. The direct contractor gets 60 days after that notice. Absent any such notice, everyone has 90 days after completion.
Source: Civ. Code §8414
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