Oklahoma Electrical Business and Law Exam: Who Takes It, Fees, and the Three-Year Window
Who needs Oklahoma's Electrical Business and Law exam: every Unlimited, Limited and Residential contractor applicant, plus reciprocity and exam-equivalency candidates. The $92 PSI fee, 50 questions in 2 hours, the reference list and what you need after you pass.
Contents
Oklahoma Electrical Business and Law Exam: Who Takes It
The Electrical Business and Law exam is the second half of every Oklahoma electrical contractor license. The Construction Industries Board (CIB) requires it, and PSI gives it. It has no NEC questions. It tests running a contracting business and the Oklahoma law that governs one: licensing rules, liens and workers' compensation.
Who has to take it?
| Your situation | Business and Law? |
|---|---|
| Applying for an Unlimited, Limited or Residential Electrical Contractor license | Yes, alongside that category's trade exam |
| Contractor coming in under a written reciprocity agreement | Yes. You are licensed as a journeyman until you pass it and file bond and insurance |
| Contractor approved for exam equivalency | Yes. Equivalency waives the trade exam, not this one |
| Current Oklahoma electrical contractor adding another category | No, if you passed Business and Law for your existing license |
| Journeyman applicant | No. Journeyman licenses take only a trade exam |
The rule is in OAC 158:40-9-2: a contractor applicant must pass both portions, business/law and trade, at 70% each. Reciprocity is covered by OAC 158:40-7-5 and exam equivalency by OAC 158:40-9-2.4. Whichever route you take to your first Oklahoma electrical contractor license, this is the exam that is never waived.
The exam
| Item | Electrical Business and Law |
|---|---|
| Vendor | PSI |
| Questions | 50 scored, plus up to 10 unscored experimental questions |
| Time | 120 minutes (2 hours) |
| Passing score | 70% (35 of 50) |
| Format | Computer-based, open book, at a PSI test center |
| PSI fee | $92 per attempt |
The eight areas are bidding and estimating (10), financial (8), project management and supervision (7), licensing requirements (6), contracts, labor and personnel, and payroll and payroll taxes (5 each), and risk management (4). What is on the exam breaks them down.
The reference list
PSI lists these as open-book references:
- NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, Basic 14th edition
- Oklahoma Electrical Industry Regulations, OAC Title 158, Chapter 40
- Oklahoma Fine Schedule of the CIB, OAC Title 158, Chapter 10
- Oklahoma Electrical License Act, Oklahoma Statutes Title 59
- Oklahoma Lien Law, Oklahoma Statutes Title 42, Chapter 3
- Oklahoma Workers' Compensation Act, Title 85A, Chapter 1, or CIB's statutory excerpts from it
- CIB's Unofficial Administrative Rules & Courtesy Exam Study Aids Book, current edition, available from the CIB office at no fee
NASCLA lists the Basic 14th edition at $110. The Oklahoma statutes and rules are free online. Except for code books, PSI allows later editions of the references.
There is no Oklahoma edition of the NASCLA guide. This is Oklahoma's own exam, written to PSI's Oklahoma outline, and a NASCLA national exam does not replace it.
The three-year window
If you pass only one of your two portions, you retake just the other, as long as you pass it within three years of the date CIB approved you to test. After three years you retake both (OAC 158:40-9-2(b)). Your PSI eligibility itself does not expire, but this window does, so don't leave the second portion for later.
Retakes
- You need 70%.
- After a failed attempt you wait 30 days before any electrical exam, and at least 30 days after each later failure.
- No attempt limit is stated.
- Each attempt is another $92.
Exam day has the details.
What you need after you pass
Passing both portions makes you eligible for the license. To make it active, CIB needs:
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| CIB contractor application | $30 |
| Initial contractor license | $300 ($480 from July 1, 2028) |
| License bond | $5,000 |
| General liability insurance | At least $50,000 combined single limit, CIB as certificate holder |
| Workers' compensation | Proof of a policy or an exemption |
| Annual renewal | $200 by the end of your birth month ($300 if more than 30 days late) |
Without the bond, insurance and workers' compensation proof, CIB issues an inactive contractor license, which lets you work as a journeyman but not contract (OAC 158:40-5-5). Contractors also need 12 hours of continuing education every three years, 6 of them on the codes the Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission adopts, with an exemption for three years after passing the exam.
Those same rules are on the exam: the licensing area tests the bond, insurance and renewal requirements.
Which trade exam goes with it
- Residential Electrical Contractor: homes and duplexes. See Oklahoma Residential Electrical Contractor requirements.
- Unlimited Electrical Contractor: all occupancies. See Oklahoma Unlimited Electrical Contractor requirements.
- Limited Electrical Contractor: for people who run electrical work without doing it, such as engineers, estimators and project managers. A limited contractor may not do journeyman work or supervise field work. See Oklahoma Limited Electrical Contractor requirements.
Pass rates
CIB does not publish pass rates for the electrical exams.
Getting ready
Start with what the exam covers, then see how you do on real questions. Try our free sample test, or see the full Business and Law exam prep.
Ready to pass Oklahoma Electrical Business and Law?
Start your prep with unlimited practice tests and codebook-referenced answers.
Start Studying →
