Free practice test · Law and Business
Free CSLB Law and Business practice test: 20 questions, no login.
Checked 20 October 2026 against CSLB and PSI sources · Written by the License Ladder team · Reviewed by AJ Sokol, Co-Founder
Start below: 20 exam-style questions for the California contractor license Law and Business exam, from the License Ladder app, spread across the seven sections of the Contractors State License Board (CSLB) by their published weights. It’s free, with no login, account or email. At the end you get your score, a breakdown by section and an explanation for every answer. The real CSLB exam is closed book, four-choice multiple choice and 3½ hours long, and PSI charges $51.43 for each attempt.
Where can you take a free Law and Business practice test?
Right here, with no login. The free test below has 20 exam-style questions from the License Ladder app, spread across CSLB’s seven Law and Business sections by their published weights. Answer them on your phone or computer, then see your score, how you did in each section and the explanation for every question.
Section weights: CSLB, Law and Business study guide 13E-LAW (03-2026). Questions and explanations: License Ladder. Checked 20 October 2026.
How does the real CSLB Law and Business exam work?
The CSLB Law and Business exam is closed book and multiple choice, with four choices per question, and you get 3½ hours. You take it on a computer at a PSI test center and pay PSI $51.43 for each attempt. CSLB publishes neither the number of questions nor a passing score, and every license classification requires the exam.
| Rule | What CSLB or PSI says |
|---|---|
| Time | 3½ hours. PSI’s on-screen tutorial, up to 15 minutes, does not count against it. |
| Format | Multiple choice on a computer, four choices per question, “written to provide only one BEST answer.” Some questions require math, and a calculator is provided; you can’t bring your own. |
| Books and notes | None. “No reference materials may be used during the examination.” There is no penalty for guessing. |
| Where | In person at a PSI test center: 20 in California and one in Wilsonville, Oregon. Law and Business is also given at PSI sites in other states. There is no online option. |
| Fee | $51.43 per attempt, paid to PSI, first try or retake. Not refundable. |
| Number of questions | Not published by CSLB or PSI. |
| Passing score | Not published. CSLB says the percentage needed to pass “varies for each exam.” |
| Results | Printed before you leave. A failing report shows your score and how you did in each section. Test questions and answer keys are never released for review. |
| Who takes it | Every license classification, even C-61 Limited Specialty, which has no trade exam. |
Law and Business is one of two exams for most applicants; the other is the trade exam for your classification. CSLB lets you take them on the same day or on different days, and each has its own PSI fee. Reciprocity with another state can waive the trade exam, not Law and Business, unless you passed it within the last five years. The narrow exceptions, and what each section asks, are on our Law and Business exam guide.
Sources: CSLB, Examinations FAQ; CSLB, Law and Business study guide 13E-LAW (03-2026); CSLB, Get Licensed to Build; CSLB, General Information on Reciprocity; PSI, Law and Business candidate bulletin. Checked 20 October 2026.
What are the seven sections of the Law and Business exam?
CSLB’s Law and Business study guide splits the exam into seven sections. Each has an approximate weight, from 21% for Contract Requirements and Execution to 5% for Public Works. The free test uses the same weights. Of its 20 questions, 4 are on contracts and 1 is on public works.
| Section | CSLB weight | Questions in the free test |
|---|---|---|
| Contract Requirements and Execution | 21% | 4 |
| Employment Requirements | 20% | 4 |
| Business Finances | 15% | 3 |
| Safety | 14% | 3 |
| Business Organization and Licensing | 13% | 3 |
| Insurance and Liens | 12% | 2 |
| Public Works | 5% | 1 |
The table is the map; the detail lives elsewhere. Our Law and Business exam guide walks through every subtopic CSLB lists under each section, and License Ladder’s 142 printed Law & Business cards turn them into something you can study 20 minutes at a time.
Source: CSLB, Law and Business study guide 13E-LAW (03-2026), “Percentages are approximate.” Questions per section in the free test: License Ladder. Checked 20 October 2026.
Why does Law and Business feel different from trade work?
Because it tests running a contracting business, not doing the work. CSLB says the questions cover “business management and construction law.” By CSLB’s weights, 56% of the exam is contracts, employment and business finances.
Contracts and money
Contract Requirements and Execution (21%) and Business Finances (15%). CSLB lists bidding, cost control, project organization, contracts and payments, then cash management, budgets, taxes and financial reporting.
Your crew and your jobsite
Employment Requirements (20%) and Safety (14%): hiring, supervising and training employees, record-keeping and payroll, plus safety training and reporting and hazardous or unknown materials.
The license and the law
Business Organization and Licensing (13%), Insurance and Liens (12%) and Public Works (5%): how the company is organized and licensed, advertising and subcontracting, workers’ compensation and business insurance, liens, and prevailing wage, bonds and insurance on public jobs.
None of that is about how to build. Someone with years on job sites knows the work; this exam asks about the other side of it: the contract, the payroll, the insurance and the lien. That is learnable, and it is exactly what License Ladder is for: 142 printed Law & Business cards, digital study guides and a year of app practice with timed mock exams.
Sources: CSLB, Step 7: Studying for the Examination; CSLB, Law and Business study guide 13E-LAW (03-2026). The 56% is our sum of CSLB’s approximate weights. Checked 20 October 2026.
What does your Law and Business practice score tell you?
It shows where you stand today, section by section, and which questions to review. It can’t tell you whether you’ll pass, because CSLB publishes no passing score. That is what License Ladder’s readiness score is for: when it turns green in the app, you’re ready to pass.
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1
See your score by section
Your result shows how many of the 20 questions you answered correctly and how you did in each of CSLB’s seven sections. The sections with the most questions to review are where License Ladder will focus your study.
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2
Read every explanation
Each question comes back with the correct answer and why it is correct. That is a review the real exam never gives you: CSLB does not release its test questions or answer keys.
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3
Keep going in License Ladder
Study the printed cards and digital guides 20 minutes a day, and work the app’s practice questions and timed mock exams. Stuck on a rule? Ask the AI Exam Coach in the online system.
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4
Book the exam when you’re green
Your readiness score turns green when you’re ready to pass. Green before the exam is also the first condition of the pass guarantee.
Other sites may quote a fixed question count or passing percentage for Law and Business. Those numbers are not CSLB’s. As of October 2026, no question count appears in CSLB’s study guide, its Examinations FAQ, its Get Licensed to Build guide or PSI’s candidate bulletin, and CSLB publishes no passing score: the percentage needed to pass “varies for each exam.” So this free test gives you an honest score, not a pass line.
Sources: CSLB, Get Licensed to Build; CSLB, Examinations FAQ; PSI, Law and Business candidate bulletin; License Ladder, how it works. Checked 20 October 2026.
How should you prepare for the Law and Business exam?
Get License Ladder for Law & Business ($99) and use it as directed. Study the 142 printed cards and the digital guides 20 minutes a day. Work the app’s practice questions and timed mock exams until your readiness score turns green. Then take the exam.
142 printed cards
The Law & Business deck, printed and shipped free. Study on the jobsite, at lunch or at home, no screen needed.
Digital study guides
Guides to read alongside the cards, on your phone or computer.
One year of the app
Practice questions, timed mock exams and your readiness score, for 12 months. One payment, no subscription.
The AI Exam Coach
Ask about a lien deadline or a payroll rule and get an answer in the online system.
In English or Spanish
The site and the app run in Spanish, the cards are printed in Spanish, and the Exam Coach answers in Spanish.
If you reach green and don’t pass
Reach green before your exam, take it within 12 months of purchase, and if you don’t pass, send the official result within 60 days: your purchase is refunded. That is the pass guarantee.
Here is the math. Each attempt at the real exam costs $51.43 at PSI, and after a fail you wait 21 days to retest. License Ladder for Law & Business is $99, less than two PSI registrations ($102.86), and it comes with the pass guarantee. Taking General Building (B) too? Add General Building for $50 more ($149 total) and get both decks. Residential Remodeling (B-2), Electrical (C-10) and Plumbing (C-36) decks are coming soon; every one of those trades takes Law and Business, so start here.
Sources: License Ladder, how it works and the guarantee terms; PSI, Law and Business candidate bulletin; CSLB, Examinations FAQ. Checked 20 October 2026.
Questions people ask about the Law and Business practice test and exam
Get Law & Business for $99
The printed 142-card Law & Business deck, digital study guides and one year of the app, with practice questions, timed mock exams, your readiness score and the AI Exam Coach. $99, one payment, backed by the pass guarantee.
Enter your name and email to access the free demo. No credit card.
15 free cards on the App Store.
Where every fact on this page comes from
We fetched and read each source below on 20 October 2026. CSLB revises its pages and forms; if anything here differs from CSLB’s own wording when you read it, CSLB’s governs.
CSLB: Examinations FAQ · Law and Business study guide, 13E-LAW (03-2026) · Get Licensed to Build · Step 7: Studying for the Examination · General Information on Reciprocity · Step 5: My Original Exam Application was Accepted
PSI: Law and Business candidate bulletin
What we looked for and could not find, as of October 2026: a published number of questions or passing score for the Law and Business exam in any CSLB or PSI document.
License Ladder is independent study material, not affiliated with or endorsed by CSLB or PSI.