3 Mistakes People Make Before Taking the Florida Contractor Exam

I've taken and passed all three Florida General Contractor exams: Business and Finance, Contract Administration, and Project Management. And after going through that process myself and helping hundreds of other students prepare, I've noticed that a lot of people make the same mistakes.

The interesting thing is that some of the people who struggle the most have been working in construction for 10, 15, or even 20 years. And that's because knowing construction and knowing how to pass the Florida contractor exam are two completely different things.

These exams aren't necessarily testing how good of a contractor you are. They're testing whether you understand the material, know how to find information in your reference books, and can answer enough questions within the time allowed. I want to go over three mistakes I see people making before their exams and what I recommend doing instead.

Mistake #1: Trying to Memorize Everything Instead of Learning Your Books

This is probably one of the biggest mistakes I see. Students spend hours trying to memorize questions, definitions, formulas, and building codes. And while understanding the material is important, you're making the exam much harder than it needs to be if you're trying to memorize everything. Remember, the Florida contractor exams are open book.

You have access to approved reference books during the exam. Your job is to understand which book contains the information and how to find it quickly. For example, let's say you get a question about excavation safety. You should immediately be thinking about OSHA 1926. If you get a question about accounting, you should know which financial reference book to open. You don't necessarily need to know the answer off the top of your head. You need to know where to look.

When I was studying for my exams, I spent a lot of time understanding how my books were organized. I wanted to know the chapters, the indexes, and where different topics were located. The more familiar you become with your books, the faster you'll be during the actual exam.

Here's what I recommend: When you're studying, don't just read the correct answer to a practice question and move on. Open the book, find the section, and understand where the information came from. If you do this consistently, you're going to become much more comfortable navigating your books. And trust me, that's going to be extremely important on exam day.

Mistake #2: Memorizing Practice Exam Answers

I see this happen all the time. Someone takes a practice exam and scores 50%. They take it again and score 65%. Then they take it another three or four times and eventually score 95%. Now they're feeling confident because they're getting almost every question right. But here's the problem. Are you actually learning the material, or are you just remembering the answers?

There's a big difference. When you take the same practice exam over and over, eventually you're going to remember that question number 15 is B and question number 30 is C. That doesn't mean you know how to find those answers. And when you get to the real exam, you're going to see questions you've never seen before. I can almost guarantee you that. In fact, that's one of the things I always tell students. Don't expect the actual examination to have the exact same questions you've been practicing.

That's not the purpose of studying. The purpose is to develop the skills necessary to answer questions you've never encountered before. When I recommend that students score at least 80% on their practice exams, I don't mean that they should keep repeating the same questions until they memorize the answers. I want them to understand the questions, recognize which books to use, and be able to locate the information. Here's something I recommend trying. The next time you take a practice exam, even if you already know the correct answer, go into your book and find it anyway. You'd be surprised how much more you'll learn doing that instead of simply clicking the correct answer.

Mistake #3: Spending Too Much Time on Difficult Questions

This is probably the mistake that can hurt you the most during the actual exam. You need to understand that you're working against the clock. For example, the Florida Business and Finance exam has 125 questions, including five unscored pilot questions, and you're given 6 hours and 30 minutes to complete it. That's approximately three minutes per question. Now imagine spending 15 minutes trying to solve one difficult math question. You just used the time you could have spent answering approximately five other questions.

And here's something important. A difficult question is worth the same number of points as an easy question. You don't get extra credit because a question took you 15 minutes to solve. When I was taking my exams, I had a strategy. If I knew the answer, I answered it immediately. If I recognized the topic and knew exactly where to look in my books, I went and found it. But if I came across something that was going to take me a long time, especially a complicated math problem, I marked it and moved on. I wanted to make sure I got through the entire examination before spending too much time on individual questions.

Think about it this way. Would you rather spend 15 minutes trying to solve one difficult question, or use those 15 minutes to answer four or five questions that you might be able to find relatively easily? That's why time management is so important. And this is also why I recommend taking timed practice exams. You need to get comfortable answering questions under pressure, navigating your books quickly, and knowing when it's time to move on. Don't wait until exam day to figure that out.

My Final Advice Before Taking Your Florida Contractor Exam

If there's one thing I want you to take away from this article, it's that passing the Florida contractor exam isn't about being the smartest person in the room. It's about being prepared. I've seen experienced contractors struggle with these exams, and I've seen people with very little construction experience pass them. The difference often comes down to how they study. Learn your books. Understand how to find information. Don't memorize practice exam answers. And most importantly, learn how to manage your time.

Also, don't get discouraged when you come across questions you have absolutely no idea how to answer. That's going to happen. It happened to me, and it happens to other students. You don't need to get every question right to pass. You need to collect enough points to reach the passing score. So when you see a difficult question, don't let it throw you off. Move on, collect the points you can, and come back to it later if you have time.

My biggest piece of advice is to study for the examination you're actually going to take, not the examination you wish you were taking. If you're currently preparing for your Florida contractor exam, I hope this helps you avoid some of these mistakes. And if you have any questions about studying, reference books, or the examination process, feel free to reach out.

Good luck on your exam!

Cruz Vinci Greico
Head Instructor, Florida Exam Prep