They are two separate examinations, 65 questions and 4.75 hours each, sat and scored independently. Contract Administration tests the paperwork of winning and running a job: contracts, permits, preconstruction. Project Management tests the build itself: methods, materials, safety, plans. Same approved book list, almost no overlap in what is asked.
Almost every page that ranks for this question is a shop, and shops have a commercial reason to treat the two as one product. They are sold as a bundle, taught in one seminar and priced together, which leaves candidates with the impression that they are two halves of a single test. They are not. You can pass one and fail the other, and plenty of people do, because the two parts reward completely different habits in the same set of books.
Are Contract Administration and Project Management really two different exams?
Yes, in every way that affects you. Each is delivered separately, timed separately and scored separately against the same 70 percent standard. If you clear one and miss the other, the passed part stands and you resit only the part you failed, after a 30 day wait. We cover that process in detail in what happens when you fail a part.
The structure is identical, which is exactly why people conflate them. Both deliver 65 multiple choice questions in 4 hours 45 minutes. Both are open book. Both include 5 pilot questions that are not graded, which means 60 questions actually count towards your score and 42 correct answers is the pass mark. If you have seen the figure 60 on one site and 65 on another, neither is a typo. One is counting what is scored and the other is counting what is delivered.
Where the two parts differ is not difficulty or length. It is the kind of lookup each one asks you to perform, and that difference decides how you should tab your books.
What is actually on each exam?
Both parts are built from a published content outline that assigns a share of the graded questions to each knowledge area. The shares below are the ones circulating consistently across independent prep sources summarising the department’s examination content information documents. We could not read those documents directly today, for reasons set out at the end of this article, so treat the percentages as reliable in shape and approximate at the decimal.
| Contract Administration | Project Management | |
|---|---|---|
| Questions delivered | 65 | 65 |
| Questions graded | 60 | 60 |
| Time allowed | 4.75 hours | 4.75 hours |
| Pass mark | 70 percent, so 42 of 60 | 70 percent, so 42 of 60 |
| Largest knowledge area | Project contracts, around 40 percent | Construction methods, materials, tools and equipment, around 63 percent |
| Second area | Preconstruction activities, around 27 percent | Safety, around 20 percent |
| Third area | Obtaining licences, permits and approvals, around 20 percent | Reading plans and specifications, around 17 percent |
| Fourth area | Construction procedures and operations, around 13 percent | None, the outline runs to three areas |
| What it rewards | Finding a clause and reading it precisely | Knowing a method well enough to not need the book |
Read the right hand column again. Nearly two thirds of Project Management sits in a single area covering construction methods, materials, tools and equipment. That is roughly 38 of the 60 graded questions in one bucket. Contract Administration spreads its weight across four areas, with the largest at about 40 percent. The practical consequence is that a weak spot hurts you very differently on each paper.
Why does the same book list serve both parts?
Because Florida approves references by licence category, not by examination part. The General, Building and Residential contractor lists cover Contract Administration and Project Management with one set of titles, which typically includes the Florida Contractors Manual, the relevant Florida Building Code volumes, OSHA 29 CFR 1926, AIA contract documents such as A201, A401 and A701, and a commercial construction reference. The full picture is in which books you may carry in, and the trap of buying the right title in the wrong year is in the edition trap.
One book list, two very different jobs. In Contract Administration the AIA documents and the manual do most of the work, and the skill being tested is navigation: find the article, read the sentence, answer what it says rather than what your last job did. In Project Management the code volumes and the methods reference do the work, and a large share of the questions expect knowledge you already carry, because looking up a span table you have never seen before costs more time than you have.
How much time do you actually get per question?
Four hours 45 minutes across 65 questions is 4 minutes 23 seconds each. That sounds generous next to the Business and Finance exam, where 125 questions in 6.5 hours leaves about 3 minutes 7 seconds. It is generous, on Contract Administration, where a clean tab set turns most questions into a 90 second lookup and buys you the time to read a contract clause twice.
It is less generous on Project Management than the number suggests. When 63 percent of the paper draws on methods, materials and equipment, and the reference for that area is thick, an unfamiliar topic can absorb ten minutes and still produce a guess. Candidates who run out of time on this part usually did not run out of time. They ran out of recognition, and paid for it in lookups.
Which part should you sit first?
There is no rule requiring an order, and the honest answer depends on where you are coming from. Two patterns show up often enough to be worth naming.
- If you have run jobs and read contracts for years but came up through the trades rather than the office, Contract Administration is where the unfamiliar vocabulary lives. Sit it while your tabbing is freshest.
- If you are strong on paperwork and lighter on field methods, Project Management is the one that will punish you, and the one worth putting first so that a failure costs you a 30 day wait early rather than late.
- If you are sitting all three, most candidates take Business and Finance first because it is the longest and the most self contained. See how the three parts fit together for how the sequence usually runs.
Where do candidates lose marks on each part?
The failure modes are distinct, which is the strongest argument for preparing them separately rather than as one block of study.
| Part | Typical loss | What fixes it |
|---|---|---|
| Contract Administration | Answering from site experience instead of from the document in front of you | Practise finding the governing clause and quoting it, even when you already know the answer |
| Contract Administration | Weak tabbing of the AIA documents, so contract questions become a hunt | Tab by article and topic, not just by document. See our guide to tabs, highlighting and notes |
| Project Management | Treating the largest knowledge area as lookup material | Learn methods and materials to recall level, and reserve the book for numbers |
| Project Management | Losing the safety questions, worth roughly 12 graded marks | OSHA 1926 rewards familiarity more than any other reference on the list |
| Both | Bringing a book that is the correct title in the wrong edition | Check the reference list in force on your test date, not your purchase date |
What could not be verified for this article?
The department’s examination content information documents and its construction examinations hub page both returned an access error to every attempt made on the day this was written. The exam structure figures here, 65 questions, 4.75 hours, 5 ungraded pilot questions and a 70 percent pass mark, are consistent across multiple independent sources and match what this site has published before. The domain percentages come from two prep school summaries of the official outlines which agree with each other within one point, and are labelled as approximate throughout for that reason.
One outlier is worth flagging. At least one prep site states that Contract Administration is 60 questions in 180 minutes. Every other source found, including those describing the department’s own materials, gives 4 hours 45 minutes. A smaller number give 4 hours 30. If your booking confirmation says something different to any of these, your booking confirmation wins. The examinations are administered by Professional Testing, Inc., who can be reached on 407-264-0562, and that is the number to call rather than the company that sold you a course.
Fee figures need the same caution. The number 295 dollars circulates widely, attached in some places to the full first time examination fee and in others to a single retake. It could not be confirmed against an official schedule today, so treat it as a planning estimate and confirm the current amount when you register. Pass rates are worth even more scepticism: figures around 50, 55 and 40 percent for the three parts circulate constantly and could not be traced to any published departmental source.
None of this changes the preparation. Two exams, one book list, two different skills. If you take one thing from this page, let it be that the part with 63 percent of its questions in a single knowledge area is not the part to walk into planning to look things up. Read why open book does not make it easy next if you have not already.
Frequently asked questions
Can I pass Contract Administration and fail Project Management?
Yes. The two are delivered, timed and scored as separate examinations against the same 70 percent standard. A part you pass stands on its own, and you resit only the part you failed after a 30 day wait. Nothing about passing one carries over into the other.
Do Contract Administration and Project Management use different books?
No. Florida approves reference materials by licence category rather than by examination part, so the same approved list covers both. What changes is which titles do the work. Contract Administration leans on the AIA documents and the Contractors Manual, Project Management on the code volumes, OSHA 1926 and the methods reference.
Is one of the two harder than the other?
Neither is harder by design. Both are 65 questions in 4.75 hours with the same pass mark. Project Management concentrates around 63 percent of its graded questions in one knowledge area covering construction methods, materials, tools and equipment, so a gap there is expensive. Contract Administration spreads its weight across four areas.
Why do some sites say 60 questions and others say 65?
Both figures describe the same exam. 65 questions are delivered and 5 of them are ungraded pilot questions, leaving 60 that count towards your score. A 70 percent pass mark therefore means 42 correct out of the 60 graded questions.
How much time do I get per question?
Four hours 45 minutes across 65 questions works out at 4 minutes 23 seconds each. That is comfortable for contract lookups if your books are tabbed well, and much tighter on Project Management, where an unfamiliar methods or materials topic can absorb ten minutes and still end in a guess.
Should I sit both parts on the same day?
There is no requirement either way, and it depends on stamina. Two 4.75 hour open book examinations back to back is a long day, and fatigue costs more on the part you are weaker at. If you are sitting them separately, put the part you are least confident about first so that a failure and its 30 day wait land early.
Rules and fees change without notice. This page was verified on the date shown and is rechecked regularly. If you hit something different, tell us in the comments.
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