C-50 — Reinforcing Steel

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A C-50 Reinforcing Steel license authorizes fabricating, placing, and tying the rebar and steel mesh embedded inside concrete structures — the steel skeleton that goes inside a pour, not the concrete itself and not the structural steel framing of a building — under 16 CCR §832.50.

Every applicant sits two closed-book, multiple-choice exams administered by PSI for CSLB: the Law and Business exam (same for all classifications) and the C-50 trade exam. CSLB’s official study guide breaks the trade exam down as Planning and Estimating 29%, Safety 24%, Layout and Placement 18%, Post-Tensioned Cables and Specialty Projects 19%, and Fabrication 10% — safety and post-tensioning alone make up over 40% of what’s actually tested.

Licensing requires four years of journey-level (or supervisory/owner) reinforcing-steel experience within the last ten years, up to three of which can come from documented training with at least one year hands-on. Every active license needs a $25,000 contractor license bond (a separate $25,000 BQI bond if the qualifier owns under 10% of the business), plus Live Scan fingerprinting for every named officer, partner, or RME/RMO. Fees run $450 to apply plus $200–$350 for the initial license, or $650–$800 total before bond and insurance.

C-50 is easy to confuse with two neighboring classes: C-8 Concrete may place rebar incidental to its own concrete contract under 16 CCR §831, but a rebar-only contractor generally needs C-50; and C-51 Structural Steel covers steel that stands on its own as a load-bearing member, while C-50 covers steel embedded in concrete. Read the complete C-50 exam guide for the full requirements, exam breakdown, and how C-50 compares to C-8, C-51, and Class A.