Ohio Contractor License Exam Prep

Getting your Ohio contractor license? Contractor Pathway offers an original, exam-focused study guide and four full-length practice exams for every Ohio classification that requires a state board exam — currently 4 courses across Electrical, Plumbing and HVAC / Mechanical. Choose your classification below and study with 30-, 60-, or 90-day access at $99, $129, and $169. Many Ohio classifications also require passing a separate Business & Law exam — and that course is 75% off with any trade course in your cart for the matching term.

Who licenses contractors in Ohio

These are the Ohio classifications we build exam prep for, each licensed by its responsible board:

Always confirm the current code edition, experience requirements, fees, and passing score with the board and testing vendor before you schedule. Contractor Pathway is an independent exam-prep provider and is not affiliated with any Ohio board or testing vendor.

How to get licensed in Ohio

Every figure below comes from the Ohio Construction Industry Licensing Board’s own examination application and the PSI candidate information bulletin it issues. Confirm current fees and code editions with the Board before you apply — requirements change.

1. Meet the five-year experience requirement. OCILB requires that you have been a tradesperson in the trade you are applying for “for not less than five years immediately prior to the date of application.” You must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen or legal alien, and free of a disqualifying offence under S.B. 337. Two alternatives exist: an Ohio registered professional engineer with three years of business experience in that trade, or five years as an Ohio government inspector in the trade.
2. Document it four ways. The application asks for the last five consecutive years of tax documents (W-2s or Schedule C) and one of the following: a minimum of one permit for each of the last five years pulled by the licensed contractor you worked under; a current Journeyman’s card in the trade; a certificate of completion of an apprenticeship approved by the State of Ohio or the U.S. Department of Labor; or proof of 40 hours of continuing education in code from an OCILB-approved training agency, taken live or virtually — self-guided courses are not accepted for licensing. Sewer service, water service, gas service and drain cleaning permits do not count toward the permit route.
3. Apply and clear the background check. The examination application carries a $25 fee payable to Treasurer — State of Ohio. Once the Board approves you, a BCI and FBI background check is required before you sit the exam. Board approval is valid for one year.
4. Pass both exams. Ohio requires two: the Contractor’s Business and Law exam — 50 scored questions, 2 hours, 70% to pass — and a trade exam for your field. The Electrical, HVAC and Plumbing trade exams are each 100 scored questions over 4 hours, also 70% to pass. Both are open book and delivered by PSI at $69 per exam. You take the Business and Law exam once every three years, not once per trade. Fail a portion and you must wait 60 days to retake it; you may test up to five times a year.
5. Get licensed and insured. After passing both sections you send your examination results, a $25 check, and proof of at least $500,000 contractor liability insurance. Your insurance and licence must both be assigned to a “contracting company” as defined in Ohio Revised Code 4740.01(C).
6. Renew with ten hours of continuing education a year. ORC 4740 requires that a licensee accrue ten hours of continuing education courses per year, and that total is the aggregate for every licence you hold — holding three licences does not mean thirty hours. Within it, no specialty section’s curriculum may require more than five hours per year in specific course requirements. Confirm current renewal fees with the Board before you budget, and note that renewal is handled by the specialty section that licenses your trade.

Sources: OCILB Examination Application (rev. 7/2023) and the OCILB / PSI Contractor Trade Examinations Candidate Information Bulletin (updated 7 February 2024). Continuing education requirements from Ohio Revised Code ch. 4740. Contractor Pathway is an independent exam-preparation provider and is not affiliated with OCILB or PSI.

Choose your Ohio classification

Each course includes a comprehensive study guide — often 10,000 words or more — worked calculations, code-section breakdowns, common exam traps, a glossary, and a 30/60/90-day study plan — plus four full-length practice exams matched to the topic weightings of the Ohio test.