The Florida certified contractor examination has three parts: Business and Finance, Contract Administration, and Project Management. Together they run to 255 questions and about 16 hours of examination time. All three are open book and multiple choice, and each is passed or failed independently.
That last point shapes everything else. These are not three sections of one sitting. They are three exams with three results.
The numbers
| Part | Questions | Time allowed | Time per question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business and Finance | 125 | 6.5 hours | about 3 min 7 sec |
| Contract Administration | 65 | 4.75 hours | about 4 min 23 sec |
| Project Management | 65 | 4.75 hours | about 4 min 23 sec |
| Total | 255 | about 16 hours | n/a |
Each exam also contains 5 pilot questions that are not graded and do not count for or against your score. You are not told which ones they are, so the practical effect is only that an unfamiliar looking question is not necessarily a sign that you have missed something.
Business and Finance is the outlier in every direction. It is nearly twice the questions of the other two, it is the longest sitting, and it gives you the least time per question. If you are planning around fatigue, that is the one to plan around.
Do you have to take all three?
Which parts you need depends on the licence you are applying for, and that is a question for the DBPR rather than for a prep site. What is worth knowing structurally is that because each part is passed independently, you are not obliged to sit them all at once, and passed parts do not expire the moment you fail another.
That creates a genuine scheduling decision, and it is one most candidates make by accident rather than on purpose.
Does the order matter?
It can, and the argument runs both ways depending on what you are optimising for.
- Business and Finance first gets the longest and most time pressured part done while your preparation is freshest, and it is the part whose material overlaps least with site experience. If you are going to fail one, failing it early leaves more room in the schedule.
- Business and Finance last lets you build exam technique on the shorter papers first, where the timing is more forgiving, before facing the one that punishes slow navigation hardest.
- Contract Administration and Project Management together makes sense to some candidates because the material and the reference books overlap more with each other than with Business and Finance.
There is no official recommendation on order, and anyone stating one confidently is expressing a preference. What is not a matter of opinion is that the parts are independent, so you can sequence them deliberately.
What about pass rates?
Figures circulate widely: roughly 50% for Business and Finance, 55% for Contract Administration and 40% for Project Management.
We are including them because you will encounter them anyway, and flagging clearly that we could not trace them to an official DBPR publication. They appear on prep and aggregator sites, which have an obvious interest in the exam sounding hard. Treat them as indicative of a general shape, not as measured statistics, and do not plan around a specific number.
Which examination parts your licence requires, the fees, and the current approved reference list are all set by the Florida DBPR. Confirm your own requirements with the department rather than inferring them from any prep site.
Where to go next
Because every part is open book, the binding constraint is retrieval speed rather than recall, and how the open book format actually works works through what that means for how you prepare. Before booking anything, check which books you can bring, because the approved list differs by licence category and by edition. And if a part has already gone badly, what happens if you fail a part covers the retake rules.
Frequently asked questions
How many parts does the Florida contractor exam have?
Three: Business and Finance, Contract Administration, and Project Management. Each is open book, multiple choice, and passed or failed independently.
How many questions are on the Florida contractor exam?
255 in total. Business and Finance has 125 questions, while Contract Administration and Project Management have 65 each. Each exam also contains 5 ungraded pilot questions.
How long is the Florida contractor exam?
About 16 hours across all three parts. Business and Finance allows 6.5 hours, and Contract Administration and Project Management allow 4.75 hours each.
Can I take the parts on different days?
The parts are passed independently and passed parts remain valid, so they do not have to be taken in one sitting. Confirm scheduling specifics with the testing vendor when booking.
What order should I take them in?
There is no official recommendation. Taking Business and Finance first gets the longest and most time pressured part done early, while leaving it until last lets you build exam technique on the shorter papers first.
What are the pass rates?
Figures of roughly 50% for Business and Finance, 55% for Contract Administration and 40% for Project Management circulate widely, but could not be traced to an official DBPR publication. Treat them as indicative rather than measured.
Exam rules, approved reference lists and fees are set by the Florida DBPR and change without notice. This page was verified in August 2026 and is rechecked regularly. Always confirm against the current DBPR reference list for your test date. We are independent and not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by the Florida DBPR.
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