Exam Books
Every North Carolina contractor exam is open book, but only with the right books, in the right editions, marked the right way. Get the books for your exam, permanently tabbed and highlighted to PSI's rules and delivered to your door, or use the free lists below.
Tabbed & Highlighted Book Bundles
The reference books on your exam's current PSI bulletin, each one permanently tabbed and highlighted. Every bundle also unlocks that exam's Practice Exam Simulator, free. Free shipping, and they arrive ready to study.
Free shipping · Delivered in 5 to 7 business days
Free shipping · Delivered in 5 to 7 business days
Free shipping · Delivered in 5 to 7 business days
Buy Now, Pay Later With Shop Pay
When you choose Shop Pay at checkout, you can split your purchase into flexible installment payments.
Rates from 0-36% APR. Payment options through Shop Pay Installments are subject to an eligibility check and are provided by these lending partners: affirm.com/lenders. Options depend on your purchase amount, and a down payment may be required. State notices to consumers: affirm.com/licenses.
The NASCLA bundle carries 23 of the 24 references on PSI's list. ACI 318 (318-14 or 318-19) is not included: it is a code book, and code questions are answered from it, so bring your own copy. Every NASCLA book is listed in an edition PSI's bulletin allows; Technical Digest No. 9 ships in the newer 4th edition (2025), which PSI allows for non-code books. Questions about a set? Call 910-227-9002.
Start Here
Buying the wrong edition is the most expensive mistake candidates make, and it is completely avoidable. Read these four before you order anything.
NASCLA, NC Building, NC Residential and Business & Law are all open book. That sounds generous until you are 90 questions into a 200-minute clock. Most people who fail knew the material — they just could not find it fast enough.
PSI does not supply reference books at the test center. Whatever you use, you buy, mark up and carry in yourself, or order your exam's book bundle from us, already tabbed and highlighted. The only thing handed out on site is the diagram packet for the NASCLA exam.
For code questions the exam is graded only on the code editions PSI lists for it (for NASCLA: IBC 2021 or 2024, and ACI 318-14 or 318-19). For the other references you can generally use a later edition — but on the NASCLA exam that is at your own risk, and a conflicting answer is not grounds for appeal.
You may highlight, underline and tab your books before the exam — but only with permanent tabs. Post-It flags are specifically banned and have to come out before you are allowed to start. More on that below, because it catches people out constantly.
Exam Day Rules
Your bundle is the set of books you study from. On exam day, PSI is strict about what comes into the testing room. Pick your exam to see exactly which books you can bring in, and which ones you can't.
Allowed in the exam room
North Carolina State Building Code: Residential Code
2018 editionNorth Carolina State Building Code: Administrative Code and Policies
2018 editionContractor's Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, NC General Contractors Edition
10th edition (NASCLA)NC Occupational Safety and Health Standards for the Construction Industry
Latest amendments (NC DOL)Not allowed in the exam room (9 titles)
Allowed in the exam room
North Carolina State Building Code: Building Code
2018 editionNorth Carolina State Building Code: Administrative Code and Policies
2018 editionContractor's Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, NC General Contractors Edition
10th edition (NASCLA)NC Occupational Safety and Health Standards for the Construction Industry
Latest amendments (NC DOL)ACI 318, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete
318-11 or 318-14ACI 530/530.1, Building Code Requirements for Masonry Structures
530/530.1-11 or -13ANSI A117.1, Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities
2017Sports Fields: Design, Construction and Maintenance
2nd edition, 2010Not allowed in the exam room (12 titles)
Worth knowing: PSI's content outline gives 5 of the 90 questions to Sports Fields, along with 13 to Concrete, 14 to Estimating and Plan Reading, and 12 to Metals. The scope is wider than most people expect.
The longest list of the four, and PSI provides none of the references: you carry them all in. A diagram and blueprint packet is handed out on site.
Allowed in the exam room
NASCLA Contractors Guide to Business, Law and Project Management
Basic 14th edition, 2024International Building Code
2021 or 2024Mechanical and Electrical Systems for Construction Managers
4th edition, 2024ICC A117.1, Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities
2017BCSI truss guide (metal plate connected wood trusses)
2018 (upd. 2020) or 2025Carpentry and Building Construction (Feirer)
201629 CFR Part 1926 (OSHA), or PSI's OSHA Excerpts
2023, or Excerpts 2025Construction Jobsite Management
4th ed. 2017 or 5th ed. 2024Construction Project Management
4th ed. 2014 or 5th ed. 2022Principles and Practices of Commercial Construction
11th edition, 2024Modern Masonry: Brick, Block, Stone
9th edition, 2020ACI 318, Building Code Requirements for Structural Concrete
318-14 or 318-19 (2022)The Contractor's Guide to Quality Concrete Construction
4th edition, 2018Placing Reinforcing Bars
10th edition, 2019 or laterSDI Manual of Construction with Steel Deck
2016Gypsum Construction Handbook
7th edition, 2014Technical Digest No. 9: Steel Joists and Joist Girders
3rd edition, 2008Erectors' Manual: Pre-Cast Concrete Products
2nd edition, 1999Unbonded Post-Tensioning, Level 1
3rd edition, 2003Pipe and Excavation Contracting
2011Roofing Construction and Estimating
1995 (reprinted 2022)Green Building Fundamentals
2nd edition, 2011ANSI/EIMA 99-A, Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems
2017Developing Your Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (EPA)
2007, free from the EPANot allowed in the exam room
Careful: Technical Digest No. 9, Modern Masonry, Pipe and Excavation Contracting and Roofing Construction and Estimating are allowed here but banned on the NC Building exam. Modern Masonry, Pipe and Excavation Contracting and Roofing Construction and Estimating are banned on NC Residential too; Technical Digest No. 9 is not on NC Residential's allowed list. Same candidate, different exam, different rules.
The NASCLA bundle carries 23 of the 24 references PSI allows. ACI 318 is not included, so bring your own copy (318-14 or 318-19).
Allowed in the exam room
Contractor's Guide to Business, Law and Project Management, NC General Contractors Edition
10th edition (NASCLA)North Carolina Excavation Safety Guidelines (NC811)
2022 or laterNC Administrative Code, Title 15A, Chapter 4: Sedimentation Control
Latest amendmentsNC General Statutes Ch. 113A, Art. 4: Sedimentation Pollution Control Act
Sections 113A-50 to 113A-67Not allowed in the exam room
Who takes it: applicants licensed through NASCLA or in another state, who must pass the Board's North Carolina law, rule and building code exam before licensure, and applicants using an out-of-state examination waiver. If you are taking an NC trade exam, it is one exam, with the business and law questions already inside it. How the routes work
It is weighted heavily toward Licensing, 21 of the 40 questions, with another 8 on liens and bonds.
Editions change. Confirm against the bulletin for your exam before you order, or call us on 910-227-9002 and we will check it with you.
Tabbing & Highlighting
PSI is strict about how your books may be marked, and the rules are not obvious. Candidates turn up having spent hundreds of dollars on code books, carefully flagged, and are made to strip every flag out before they are allowed to start.
Or skip it entirely: every book in our bundles arrives with permanent tabs and key sections highlighted.
You can mark your books up as much as you like before the exam, as long as you are not writing in them. Highlight, underline and index freely — it is one of the few real advantages you get on an open-book test.
Both bulletins allow permanent tabs only. The NC bulletin names permanent plastic tabs and Redi-Tag Self-Stick Permanent Adhesive Index Tabs as acceptable, and its test is simple: an acceptable tab will tear the page if you try to pull it off. The NASCLA bulletin names no brands and gives no test, so tabs that pass the NC test are safe on both.
The NC bulletin names Post-It Index Flags and Post-It Flags as unacceptable; the NASCLA bulletin names Post-It notes. On every exam, any temporary tab has to be removed before the exam will begin. If you have tabbed a code book with them, that is your morning gone.
Nothing written inside the books, and no extra papers, loose or attached: both bulletins say so. The NC bulletin adds no notes written on the tabs, and anyone caught writing in a reference during an NC exam has it confiscated and is reported to the Board. The NASCLA bulletin does not mention notes on tabs, so follow the stricter rule.
On the NC exams, part of a book is not acceptable. If you have downloaded a code reference you can still bring it, but it has to be spiral bound or hole-punched into a 3-ring binder before it counts. The NASCLA bulletin does not say this, but following it costs you nothing.
Our Highlighting, Tabbing & Lookup module walks through exactly how to set your books up within the rules, then drills finding answers against the clock. On a timed open-book exam, lookup speed is worth as much as knowing the material.
Buying the Books
The reference books on the current PSI Candidate Information Bulletin for that exam, each one permanently tabbed and highlighted. Open What's in the bundle on any card above for the full list. The NASCLA bundle carries 23 of the 24 references PSI allows. ACI 318 is not included, so bring your own copy (318-14 or 318-19).
Yes. Every bundle unlocks that exam's Practice Exam Simulator in our prep portal, free: realistic timed practice exams, topic drills and find-it-in-the-book lookup training, on any device. Log in at prep.nccontractoracademy.com with the email you order with.
Shipping is free. Book bundles are delivered in 5 to 7 business days, to addresses in the United States.
Each set is tabbed and highlighted for you, so book bundles are final sale. If a book arrives damaged or is not the book listed, tell us within 7 days of delivery and we will replace it at no cost. Call us on 910-227-9002.
Yes. Choose Shop Pay at checkout and, if you qualify, you can pay for your bundle in monthly installments instead of all at once. Each bundle card above shows a starting monthly amount, and Shop Pay shows your exact plan before you confirm. You need a US billing address.
Rates from 0-36% APR. Payment options through Shop Pay Installments are subject to an eligibility check and are provided by these lending partners: affirm.com/lenders. Options depend on your purchase amount, and a down payment may be required. State notices to consumers: affirm.com/licenses.
Yes. PSI allows references to be highlighted, underlined and indexed before the exam, with permanent tabs only, and it bans removable tabs such as Post-It flags. Every tab in our bundles is a permanent tab.
Each bundle is built from the current PSI bulletin for that exam, and every code book in it is an edition PSI lists, because code questions are graded only on the listed code editions. On the NASCLA card, each book is shown in an edition the bulletin allows; Technical Digest No. 9 is the newer 4th edition (2025). For NASCLA's other references (the ones that are not code books), PSI also accepts earlier or later editions, at the candidate's own risk.
Online we sell complete bundles. If you only need one or two books, call us on 910-227-9002.
The books are half of it. The other half is finding the answer fast on a timed exam. Our Study Vault's Highlighting, Tabbing & Lookup module and the exam simulator drill exactly that. See exam prep options
On the Day
PSI's security rules are enforced strictly, and a prohibited item found in the exam room means your results are invalidated. Worth reading the week before, not the morning of.
PSI takes no responsibility for anything left in the storage provided, and unclaimed items are disposed of after 30 days.
You will be asked whether you have any prohibited items. Proctors may ask you to empty your pockets and turn them out, lift the ends of your sleeves and the bottoms of your pant legs, and inspect eyeglass frames or anything else that could conceal a recording device.
If prohibited items are found at check-in you can put them in storage or return them to your vehicle. If one is found in the exam room, your results are invalidated.
No. Anyone who comes with you cannot wait in the exam center, inside the building, or on the building's property — that includes drivers, children, friends, family, colleagues and instructors.
There is also no smoking, eating or drinking anywhere in the exam center.
Check It Yourself
Everything on this page is taken from the official PSI Candidate Information Bulletins and the NC Licensing Board. Do not take our word for it — the primary sources are below, and you should check them before you buy books, because editions change.
The official Candidate Information Bulletin for the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors. Book lists, content outlines, tabbing rules and test center policy. Updated 19 November 2025.
The Candidate Information Bulletin for the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors. Updated 7 July 2026.
The Board itself — license applications, classifications, eligibility and the rules that govern all of it. Anything about your own license or eligibility is answered here, not by us.
Where you register and book a seat once the Board has sent your eligibility letter. The letter is valid for 120 days.
Exam Prep
Our Study Vault includes a Highlighting, Tabbing & Lookup module for every exam we prep, with timed drills on finding answers under pressure. Live classes and the exam simulator are available too.
