CSLB Examination Waivers and Exemptions

Family Business Waiver

• You are an immediate family member of a licensee whose individual license was active and in good standing for five of the last seven years.
• You were actively engaged in the licensee’s business for five of the last seven years and are applying in the same classification.
• The license is needed to continue the family business because the licensee is absent or has died.

You must still document at least five years of journey level experience with the family business. The fee is $450, plus $150 for each additional classification.

Waivers for Current or Recent Qualifiers

• You are currently the qualifier for a license in good standing in the same classification.
• You were a qualifier within the last five years on a license in good standing in the same classification.
• You passed both the Law and Business exam and the trade exam in the same classification within the last five years.

Reciprocity and NASCLA

Contractors licensed for five years in Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada or North Carolina may have the trade exam waived, but still take the Law and Business exam. See reciprocity.

The C-61 Has No Trade Exam

This is not a waiver: C-61 Limited Specialty applicants simply take only the Law and Business exam. See the C-61 license guide.

Who Does Not Need a License

• Jobs with no building permit, no employees and less than $1,000 in total labor and materials
• Employees paid wages who do not run an independent business
• Owner builders working on their own property with their own employees
• Public personnel on public projects
• Sale or installation of finished products that do not become a fixed part of a structure

Related Guides

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