Georgia Residential Basic Contractor Exam: Complete 2026 Study Guide
You've put in the work to build homes — now you need the license to prove it. The Georgia Residential Basic Contractor exam is the technical portion of your licensing requirements, and passing it opens the door to operating legally as a residential contractor in Georgia. This guide covers everything you need to know: exam format, topic breakdown, sample questions, approved references, and proven study strategies.
Ready to see where you stand right now? Take our free practice exam and get a feel for the format before diving into your study plan.
Exam Overview
The Georgia Residential Basic Contractor license exam is administered by PSI and contains 80 scored questions with a 200-minute time limit. To pass, you need a minimum score of 70% — that's 56 out of 80 questions correct.
This is an open-book exam, which is great news. You can bring approved reference materials into the testing center. But open book doesn't mean easy — the clock moves fast, and flipping through unfamiliar pages under pressure is a real problem for unprepared candidates. Speed and organization matter as much as knowledge.
All exam details, scheduling info, and candidate requirements are available in the official exam bulletin. For licensing requirements, visit the state licensing website.
Topics Covered on the Exam
Here's how the 80 scored questions break down by topic. Study time should follow this weighting — heavier topics deserve more of your prep.
-
General Code and Construction Knowledge — 18 questions (heaviest weight)
IRC 2018 scope, Georgia state amendments, load types, fire-resistant construction, and climatic/geographic design criteria. -
Carpentry — 16 questions
Wood framing, floor and wall systems, roof framing, engineered wood products, and IRC fastening schedules. -
Associated Trades — 10 questions
Drywall, siding, finish flooring, insulation R-values, vapor retarders, and plumbing basics. -
Sitework, Footings and Foundation — 8 questions
Footing size and depth, frost protection, foundation wall types, drainage, and soil classification. -
Concrete and Concrete Reinforcement — 8 questions
Mix design, Portland cement types, compressive strength, steel reinforcement, and formwork. -
Roofing — 8 questions
Rafter layout, span/run/rise calculations, hip and valley framing, and sheathing installation. -
OSHA Safety — 7 questions
Fall protection, scaffolding, ladders, excavation safety, and PPE requirements. -
Masonry — 5 questions
Mortar types, brick and CMU classifications, wall systems, and laying techniques.
General Code, Carpentry, and Associated Trades together account for 55% of the exam — prioritize them.
Sample Questions
Here are five real-style questions to give you a feel for the content and difficulty. The answers are not shown — try our free practice exam to test yourself.
Question 1 — Associated Trades (Easy)
What is the maximum specified length for a dryer exhaust duct measured from the transition duct connection to the outlet terminal, before any fitting deductions?
- A) 45 feet
- B) 35 feet
- C) 25 feet
- D) 50 feet
Question 2 — OSHA Safety (Medium)
An employee working on a construction project has been temporarily removed from lead exposure due to an elevated blood lead level at or above 50 μg/dl. The employee may be returned to former job status when two consecutive blood sampling tests indicate a blood lead level below what value?
- A) 25 μg/dl
- B) 40 μg/dl
- C) 50 μg/dl
- D) 30 μg/dl
Question 3 — General Code and Construction Knowledge (Medium)
You are a residential contractor building a home in Georgia Climate Zone 3. What is the required ceiling insulation R-value per the Georgia energy code?
- A) R-19
- B) R-49
- C) R-30
- D) R-38
Question 4 — General Code and Construction Knowledge (Medium)
Under Georgia energy code amendments, what is the maximum U-Factor required for attic hatch or scuttle hole covers providing access from conditioned to unconditioned space?
- A) U-0.20
- B) U-0.05
- C) U-0.30
- D) U-0.10
Question 5 — Associated Trades (Medium)
Fiber-cement lap siding must be lapped a minimum of what distance?
- A) 1 inch
- B) 1-1/2 inches
- C) 3/4 inch
- D) 1-1/4 inches
Notice that Questions 3 and 4 require you to know Georgia-specific amendments — not just the base IRC. That's exactly the kind of detail that trips up candidates who only study the national code.
What Types of Questions to Expect
Our Georgia residential contractor practice test bank covers all eight exam topics with 798 total practice questions. Here's what each section tests:
- General Code and Construction Knowledge: IRC administration, permit requirements, load calculations, Georgia energy code amendments, fire separation, and townhouse wall assemblies.
- Carpentry: Span table lookups, header sizing, rafter calculations, notching/drilling limits, sheathing panel selection, and fastening schedules.
- Roofing: Unit-rise and unit-run calculations, Pythagorean rafter sizing, hip and valley layout, bird's mouth cuts, and sheathing nailing patterns.
- Sitework, Footings and Foundation: Footing depth for frost protection, soil bearing capacity, foundation wall thickness, and drainage requirements.
- Associated Trades: Insulation R-values by climate zone, vapor retarder placement, drywall installation, siding lap requirements, and plumbing DWV basics.
- Concrete and Concrete Reinforcement: Water-cement ratios, slump testing, cylinder strength, rebar cover requirements, and formwork removal timing.
- OSHA Safety: Fall protection trigger heights, scaffold load ratings, ladder angle requirements, and excavation protective systems.
- Masonry: Mortar type selection, CMU classifications, cavity wall construction, and brick coursing.
Required Study Materials
This is an open-book exam, and these are the approved references you can bring in. Own them, know them, and tab them before test day.
- IRC 2018 — Your primary reference for code questions, spanning foundations through energy requirements and Georgia amendments.
- OSHA 29 CFR 1926 — The OSHA construction standard. The 7 OSHA questions on the exam come directly from this document.
- Carpentry and Building Construction — Covers framing, sheathing, engineered lumber, and roof layout. Essential for the 16-question Carpentry section.
- BCSI: Guide to Good Practice for Handling, Installing, Restraining, and Bracing of Metal Plate Connected Wood Trusses — Required reference for truss handling and bracing procedures.
- The Contractor's Guide to Quality Concrete Construction — Covers mix design, testing, and placement practices for the concrete section.
- Modern Masonry — Brick, block, and stone construction methods for the 5-question masonry section.
- Pipe and Excavation Contracting — Covers excavation safety and underground utilities, relevant to sitework and OSHA questions.
Study Tips
Tab your books before you walk in. On an open-book exam, the winners aren't the smartest people in the room — they're the fastest at finding answers. Highlight, underline, and add permanent tabs to every book. Know the index and table of contents well enough to land on any topic in seconds. That speed is what separates a pass from a fail.
Answer what you know first, flag the rest. Work through every question once: answer the confident ones, skip the ones you don't know, then go back. You can bookmark questions for review, just like on our practice exams. Don't sink five minutes into a single question while easier ones wait.
Give yourself three to six weeks. Use the Candidate Information Bulletin (CIB) as your roadmap and focus on finding-it-fast skills over rote memorization. Aim for three clean practice passes at 80% or higher before test day — setting your bar above the 70% cut score gives you a real margin.
Practice under the clock. Exam-clock anxiety is real. Our timed full practice exams build pacing so the format feels routine by test day. Know going in that you have 2.5 minutes per question on average — that's enough time if you don't stall.
Ready to Start?
The Georgia Residential Basic Contractor license is within reach. You know the format, you know the topics, and you have the right references. The next step is putting that knowledge to the test.
Start with our free practice exam — 10 questions, no account required, no pressure. When you're ready to prep seriously, upgrade to the full practice exam: 80 questions, timed to match the real exam, with a detailed score breakdown by topic so you know exactly where to focus. You've got 798 practice questions ready to go. Use them.