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Becoming residential and small commercial construction can provide you with excellent job satisfaction. Whether you’re building new homes for families in your community or helping to improve rental properties with repairs and upgrades, you’re making a real difference for real people.

Before you can legally undertake such projects in the state of Nevada, you’ll need to obtain a suitable license from the Nevada State Contractors Board. What types of jobs can you do with a B-2 Residential and Small Commercial Contractor License, and how do you obtain one?

What Do Residential and Small Commercial Contractors Do?

The B-2 Residential and Small Commercial Contractor License pertains to structures intended to “support, shelter, or enclose persons or animals or other chattels.” These structures may not extend beyond three stories above ground and one story underground.

With a B-2 License, you may take on projects that involve the construction, alteration, remodeling, or demolition of such structures. This license does not cover activities related to plumbing, electrical, HVAC, or fire protection, but you may choose to obtain more than one license.

Requirements to Obtain a License

There are several different types of contractor licenses available to skilled trade professionals in the state of Nevada. All of them require a minimum of 4,000 hours of experience within 10 years prior to applying for a license. This could come in the form of trade experience as a journeyperson, foreperson, supervising employee, or contractor. 

Approved education/training could also be substituted for a portion of the experience requirement.

For the B-2 Residential and Small Commercial Contractor License, you’ll have to meet financial requirements related to your license's monetary limits. Whether your limit is $10,000 or less, between $10,000 and $50,000, or between $50,000 and $250,000, you must submit required financial statements prepared by an independent CPA, along with any other requested documents as part of the application process.

You’ll also have to become an approved qualifying party and pass both the Contractor Management Survey Exam and the B-2 Residential and Small Commercial Contractor Exam.

Contractor Management Survey Exam

This open-book test is similar to business and law exams in other states. The exam contains 60 questions covering the following topics:

• Licensing
• Estimating and Bidding
• Lien Laws
• Financial Management
• Tax Laws
• Labor Laws
• Project Management
• Contracts
• Risk Management
• Environmental and Safety

You will have 120 minutes to complete this exam, and you must answer a minimum of 75% of the questions correctly to pass.

B-2 Residential and Small Commercial Contractor Exam

This is the trade exam required to obtain your specific license, and it consists of 80 questions covering topics like:

• Concrete
• Sitework
• Metals
• Masonry
• Carpentry
• Doors and Windows
• Thermal and Moisture Protection
• Safety
• Drywall and Finishes
• Nevada One Call
• Plan Reading, General Code, and Estimating

This open-book test lasts three hours and you must answer a minimum of 56 questions correctly to pass.

Lay the Foundation for Success

The right exam prep program can help you pass your state exams on the first try to obtain your Nevada Residential and Small Commercial Contractor License. With RocketCert, you’ll enjoy the self-paced format of online learning and courses designed by industry experts and educators. Contact us today to learn more.